And yet, it seems that the most time honored and “interesting” varieties are the ones that we know the least about, at least in this country!  In fact, it is quite staggering how little the average North American knows about the world of spirituous beverages, at least from a historical and cultural standpoint.  However, with relative ease, one can become better educated on the subject.  All it takes is a little research, some travel, and (of course!) some drinking.  And the more one knows, the more they are want to know, and there is almost no limit to how much one can learn and experience.  The only limits are those imposed by geography; and as we all know, the world is a pretty big place!

Absinthe: Often referred to as the “Green Fairy”, absinthe originated in the north-western region of Switzerland sometime in the 18^th century.  It achieved great popularity by the late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly amongst intellectuals, artists and bohemians.  It is made from anise, herbs, fennel, and the flowers and leaves of the herb commonly referred to as “wormwood”.  The result is a naturally green (but sometimes colorless) strong liquor that ranges anywhere from 50 to 75% percent alc/vol. (and sometimes even more!)  Traditionally absinthe is drunk with sugar and water.  The ritual is both time honored and complex, involving a special, porous spoon, a fire source and a contoured glass.  Before the alcohol is even poured, the spoon and sugar cube are placed across the top of the glass.  The absinthe is then poured over the cube, saturating it with alcohol.  The sugar is then set aflame, water is then poured over it to extinguish the flame and dilute the liquor.  All three are then mixed, and consumed.

Anisette: is a   clear, colorless liqueur that is consumed in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Peru.  It is made using aniseed (the seed of the anise plant which grows throughout the Mediterranean) rather than star anise (from the Chinese evergreen, star anise tree) which is used in making other anise-flavored liqueurs.  It is sweeter than most anise-flavored liqueurs and also has a lower alcohol content (typically 25% by volume).  It was even created as an absinthe substitute and comes in many varieties which includes Ouzo, Sambuca, Anis Mico and Cartujo.

Arak: Arak is another anise flavored drink, produced largely in the Middle East but also popular throughout the Mediterranean, North Africa and parts of Central Asia.  It is clear and colorless and is generally combined with ice and water.  This causes the drink to become cloudy, due in part to the fact that the oil of anise is not soluble in water.  What results is a drink that is milky in color, sweet, and refreshing.

Arrak: Arrack is a drink that is made from fermented fruit, grains, sugarcane, or the sap of coconut palms, mainly in South and South East Asia.  It is especially popular in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines.  In the former case, it is made by taking the milky sap from the flowers of a coconut palm tree before the flowers bloom.  This sap is then fermented to form a mildly alcoholic drink (known as palm wine) which is then placed into vats of wood where it is distilled.  The end product is a strong alcohol with a taste that is somewhere between whiskey and rum.  Where sugar cane is involved (particularly in China and Indonesia) the process involves combining the sugar cane with fermented red rice and yeast in a pot still, giving it a unique blend of flavors.

Beck Se Ju: the name literally translates to “100 years wine”.  This is a Korean wine made from rice that was traditionally used for medicinal purposes.  to This is due to the combination of herbs that were part of the distillate, which included ginseng, licorice, omija (Schisandra chinensis), gugija (Chinese wolfberry), astragalus, ginger, and cinnamon.  The taste is somewhere between sake and herb liquor (like Jagermeister) with a strong ginseng aftertaste.

Grappa: literally “grape stalk”, grappa is a grape-based liquor made from the pomace of wine grapes (the solid remains that are left over after they are pressed for juice).  The distillation process is done without adding water and without direct flame, relying on steam heat, which ensures a strong (between 35 and 60% alcohol per volume) and coarse tasting beverage that is often consumed after meals as a digestive.  The name Grappa applies to any “pomace brandy” that is made in Italy, but there are regional variations of this drink as well.  Spanish Orujo, which is also made from the distilled pomace of grapes, is one such example.

Herbero: is a Spanish liqueur that is produced in the Sierra de Mariola, a southwestern region of Spain renowned for its mountains that are rich with herbs and medicinal plants.  The plants used in the production of herbero include at least four of the following: sage, chamomile, pennyroyal, lemon verbena, blessed thistle root, peppermint, cattail, fennel, anise, melissa, agrimony, savory, felty germander, thyme, and French lavender.  The result is a clear liqueur that is often light yellow, green or red in color.

Mead: also known as honey wine, mead is a very multicultural alcohol that is known throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.  Though mead has consistently been honey-based, regardless of where or when it was produced, there are a number of local traditions and varieties.  Some involve spices, fruits, or grain mash, and its strength and level of sweetness vary from place to place.  Its exact origins are unknown, but it is believed to be prehistoric in origin and even predate agriculture itself.  The earliest archaeological evidence of mead dates back to around 7000 BCE, where pottery vessels containing mead were found in Northern China.  In Europe, residual samples were found in ceramics that date back to the 3^rd millennium BCE.  During the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, mead was said to be the preferred drink.  Mead halls were also a common feature in Norse, Danish, and English towns during the Middle Ages where mead was the drink of choice amongst warriors.  It is even mentioned in the Old English epic poem of Beowulf.  For many centuries, mead became an obscure drink, produced mainly in monasteries as a by-product of beekeeping.  More recently, mead has become popular again with the emergence of craft brewing and attempts are being made to revive this prehistoric drink.

Mezcal: is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from an agave plant known as “maguey” that is native to Mexico.  Agave grows in many parts of Mexico, though most mezcal is made in the southern region of Oaxaca.  The exact origins of the drink are unclear, but it is believed to be the product of both the indigenous Mexicans and the conquering Spanish.  The former had been fashioning an alcoholic beverage from the sap of maguey plants for some time (known as Pulque), whereas Spanish settlers began to experiment with maguey sap and distillation.  The result is mezcal, a clear, smoky flavored liquor that is often drunk as an alternative to tequila.

Pisco: Pisco is liquor distilled from grapes.  It was originally developed by Spanish settlers in South America as a cheap alternative to Orujo that had to be imported from Spain.  It is originally named after the conical pottery in which it was originally aged, which was also the name of one of the sites where it first was produced in Peru.  It is now a widely popular drink in Peru, Bolivia and Chile.

Raki: is a grape-based, anise-flavored liqueur popularly consumed in Turkey and the Balkans.  Raki is traditionally produced by distilling grape pomace and then flavored with aniseed.  In this respect, it is similar to Ouzo, Sambuca, Arak, Grappa and Orujo.  It traces its existence back to the Ottoman Dynasty, and is today considered the national drink of Turkey, surpassing the consumption of ouzo, arak and even wine.  It is usually served with mezze (a small meal consisting of appetizers) as an aperitif, though it often accompanies larger meals, usually consisting of seafood.  It is consumed with either a glass of water on the side or is mixed with water and ice.

Soju: a clear, slightly sweet distilled spirit that is traditionally made from rice, though soju makers have been known to add or even substitute other starches such as barley, wheat, potatoes,  sweet potatoes, and even tapioca.  It typically has an alcohol content of about 20% alc. by volume.  Its origin in Korea has been linked to the Mongol invasions of the 13^th century, where the Mongols were believed to have brought arak with them from Persia.  In the region of Kaesong, Korean distillers began to make their own version of this liquor, known as arak-ju. Over time, Koreans perfected the process and substituted rice and other starches for anise to make their product.  Today, soju is by far the most popular Korean drink available, due in part to its inexpensive nature but also its easy drinking taste, which is best described as “vodka-like” but milder and with a certain sweetness.

As Homer Simpson so eloquently put it: “Here’s to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”  Well… be that as it may, alcohol has also served as an outlet for artistic and creative energies for thousands of years.  Beginning with the most basic of ingredients and processes; vintners, brewers and distillers have never stopped honing their craft.  Even today, they are hard at work combining different elements, processes, and ingredients to give our palettes something new and exciting to play with.

Far from being valued solely for its deleterious effects, alcohol has historically served a number of important social functions and as a cornerstone to the culinary industry.  Regardless of where it was produced, alcohol was a means of making contact with the spirit world, marking social occasions, conducting ceremonies, and enhancing gastronomic experiences.  There is scarcely a culture in the world today that did not rely to some extent on alcohol to conduct their rituals, rites, and even daily activities.  In short, alcohol is and probably always will be a part of our culture, and there seems to be no limit to what we can do with it, within reason of course!

But how and why beer came to be is still the subject of debate.  The first recorded indications of beer are from ancient Mesopotamia, dated from ca. 4000 BC, where clay tablets with cuneiform writing informed scholars of the importance of beer to the people’s daily lives.  It was considered equal only to bread making, and was done primarily by women.  The best that historians can gauge, at some point in Sumerian history, someone must have accidentally dropped a loaf of bread into a clay urn and forgotten about it.  The bread then fermented to form Wort, the mash that is created when natural sugars in grain are allowed to combine with yeast to produce alcohol.  When they returned, the mixture must have then been sampled, with deleterious effects!  From then on, beer was in indispensable part of Sumerian society.  In fact, other cuneiform records indicate that beer was rationed in Sumerian (and later, Babylonian) society.  Peasants were entitled to three liters a day, the aristocracy was entitled to four, and priests rang in at the top of the hierarchy, drinking a whopping five liters a day.  (On a possibly related note, did you know that the average life expectancy was in the mid-twenties?)

Much like agriculture, beer making then spread throughout the Fertile Crescent, to North Africa, and then Europe.  Egyptians are known to have produced both, possibly indigenously. Like the ancient Mesopotamians, they combined baked bread with water to produce the alcoholic Wort.  And like their predecessors, they considered it to be the nectar of the Gods.  Priests drank the lion’s share of it, mainly to assist in their spiritual practices.  The Greeks and Romans drank it heavily, and continued to do so even after the invention of wine.  Wine became the drink of choice of the aristocracy, but beer remained popular amongst the plebeians, and was seen as the choice of the “barbarian hordes”.   By this, of course, they meant Europeans.  Many Roman sources claim that the German tribes were especially fond of beer, which they fashioned from wheat and fruit.

Aside from the mention from Roman sources, oral traditions tell us much about beer making in Europe.  Modern archaeology now places the introduction and spread of beer through Europe at about 3000 BC.  This was carried out largely by Celtic tribes, who were themselves renowned agriculturalists.  Beer was brewed mainly on a domestic scale, and alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers contained fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices and other substances such and “special” herbs.  As already mentioned, wheat was also a favorite among the later Germanic peoples when making their brew.  “Whitbear” and “HeffeWeizen” (Wheat beer) remain staples of the German brewing industry to this day.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, beer once again became a favorite amongst social drinkers and alcoholics alike during the Middle Ages.  Often, creative brewing processes led to bad batches of beer that caused people to hallucinate, get sick and even die.  This was attributed to “beer witches”, who were then burned at the stake.  It was not until sometime later that brewers began to understand that perhaps it was their choice of ingredients.  As a result, mushrooms and herbs (like wormwood) were no longer added.  Instead, brewers began to rely increasingly on a flowery plant known as hops.  These, when combined with wort, were known to give beer a crisp, bitter taste, and even helped it to keep longer.  The first recorded mention of hops in Europe was around 822, by a Carolingian Abbot and again in 1067 by the great historian Abbess Hildegard of Bingen.  The Trappist Monasteries of Belgium began using it exclusively by the 15^th century, and in 1516, the Bavarian Purity Law was passed stipulating that beer be made using only water, hops, barley (or wheat), and yeast.  This tradition remains in effect to this day, though many breweries are returning to their “noble” roots by adding fruit and other flavorings to their product.

Several other developments took place during this time.  Traditional beer was known as “Ale”.  Ale relied on top fermenting yeasts, a fermentation process that took place at warmer temperatures, and was not strictly controlled.  This resulted in a beer that was fruitier, maltier, and more complex to the palate.  Several types of beer, which we are still familiar with today, emerged all over Europe.  The best known amongst these are “Pale Ale”, “Auburn Ale”, “Stout”, and “Porter”, which are still served in large quantities to this day.  In addition, by the late Middle Ages, a new type of beer was being made.  This beer was fermented at lower temperatures, resulting in bottom fermenting yeast, and the result was a crisper beer, best when served cold, and generally more refreshing.  This new form of beer was known as “Lager”.  Several types of it emerged since the Middle Ages, which included “Marzen”, “Bock”, and “Pilsner”.  These all gained widespread popularity all over continental Europe while the British Isles remained havens for more traditional Ales.  For beer drinkers, the debate still rages over which is better, lager or ale.  (It should also be noted that at this time, beer became more and more the task of men.  Whether this was due to the myth of “beer witches” or the realization that beer was big business, men gradually supplanted women as the brew masters.  For shame!)

Another major development in the history of beer occurred shortly thereafter: the Industrial Revolution.  Beer produced before this time continued to be made and sold on a domestic scale.  With the introduction of steam engines and automation, however, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century.  The development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process and greater knowledge of the results.  Louis Pasteur’s research was another boon, in that the newfound knowledge of bacteria allowed for the development of yeast cultures, filtration, and pasteurization.  All of this meant that beer could not only be made on a large scale, it could also be counted on to keep longer, which allowed for large scale export.  By the end the 19^th century, beer became a business without borders, with major breweries exporting from all over the world.

Today, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. As of 2006, more than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons), the equivalent of a cube 510 meters on a side, of beer are sold per year, producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion (£147.7 billion).  It remains an industry run for, and targeted overwhelmingly to, men, but women are becoming increasingly involved in both the production and consumption aspects once again.  Craft brewing is also becoming fashionable again, as the growth of brewpubs and microbreweries clearly indicates.  Who knows what the future holds?  How will future technological or social developments affect our attitudes towards beer?  One thing remains clear though: beer is and probably always will be an indispensable part of our culture.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer

http://www.alabev.com/history.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lager

http://www.alabev.com/history.htm

http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/raley_timetable.shtml

http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventions/a/beer.htm

http://www.fosters.com.au/enjoy/beer/history_of_beer.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wort

http://www.thebeerguy.ca/

Chaudhri and colleagues from Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center introduced rats to an environment with distinctive smells, sounds and visuals, then exposed them to a tone before pouring alcohol in their drinking dish. Rats became accustomed to the alcohol whenever they heard the tone. These same rats were then placed in a completely new environment where the tone was played. At first, they visited their drinking dish to look for the alcohol, but without the presence of the distinctive environment, they quickly learned not to expect alcohol after the tone was played. These same rats were then placed into the original distinctive environment and upon hearing the tone, immediately returned to their drinking dish in anticipation of alcohol. This affect can be reduced if the same cues are introduced a number of times under different circumstances presenting treatment centers with a possible cognitive behavioral model of treating alcoholism involving repeated mental exposures to environments that trigger drinking.

The upshot is that if you want to continue to socially attend spots where you previously drank alcohol, do different activities that don’t involve drinking. This could prove difficult in a bar!

See the full press release at Eureka Alert.

In Europe, the laws are more relaxed, but there social norms keep these offenses to a minimum.

In Canada, no distinction is made and the terms are used interchangeably. The legal limit is .08, as in the U.S. There is a lesser charge, if the court can be persuaded that results in no criminal record, minimal to no jail time and minimal to know prohibition against driving. This is known as Driving Without Due Care and Attention or Driving Without Consideration.

There are various studies examining the affect that drugs have on driving ability; especially since there has been such an increase in people taking anti anxiety or antidepressant information. Legal limits are being set for such substances as Ativan and pseudoephedrine.

Bottom line in my opinion: it is not worth risking ruining the life of innocent strangers, your own life, your kid’s lives and the lives of any of your potential victims just to save money on cab fare home.

Secondly, Diet Coke uses Aspartame as its artificial sweetener. Coke Zero uses acesulfame potassium (ace-k) and aspartame as sweeteners. Again, some claims have been made about the safety of acesulfame potassium. Ace-k allows Coke to cut the amount of aspartame in half.

Coke Zero is purpoted to appeal to a different demographic than Diet Coke; the demographic that doesn’t like to see the word “diet” in products they buy. Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of reading food labels. I hope that people don’t think they are avoiding aspartame (if that is their concern) by drinking Coke Zero.

Here is my little diatribe on Aspartame. There have been hundreds of reports from pilots that have had seizures and tremors that they believe is linked to their consumption of Aspartame in products like soda, gum and artificial sweeteners. There are many, many arguments on both sides, but the conclusion that I have reached for my own family is, “why take the chance?”

Are you wondering if beer can spoil like milk and actually make you sick, the answer is no. Even after decades, you can drink a safely drink a beer and not worry if it’ll be the last think you ever drink.

But unlike hard alcohol and wine, most beer doesn’t taste better with age. In fact, if a beer isn’t reasonably fresh, it will start to go off and taste stale. And pity the person who drinks a beer that was exposed to sunlight for a long period of time. A mouthful of skunky beer is something you’ll never forget.

Enemy #1 – Sunlight!
Beer has several natural enemies. The first is light, especially direct sunlight. Nothing will get a beer to go bad faster than days of direct sunlight. This is reason that most beer bottles are dark brown color. Although the clear Corona bottles show off the beautiful yellow color of the beer, the bright Mexican sunlight can get in and turn the beer against you.

The hops flowers used to give beer its flavor are extremely sensitive to the ultra-violet radiation streaming from the Sun. Even if exposed to sunlight for less than an hour, beer will undergo a chemical reaction that creates an organic compound called 3-methyl crotyl mercaptan. Give that a sip, and you’ll understand why a beer can be called “skunky”.

Most supermarkets use display cases lit by fluorescent light. They’re bright, and cheap to operate, but they blast out the ultraviolet radiation that can set a beer going skunky. If you want to best beer you can buy, look for bottles kept in a dark box, away from the sunlight and fluorescent lights. Cans are safe too.

Brewers can battle this process by using hydrogenated hop extracts instead of fresh hops, but then you’re not getting the best quality beer.

Enemy #2 – Temperature Changes
Beer wants to remain the same temperature as long as possible. When you’ve got imported beer from Europe that’s traveled across many timezones, who knows what kinds of temperature changes it’s had to experience: freezing winter, blasting deserts, hot trucks, beer store cooler, and finally your icebox.

Beer goes stale faster at higher temperatures. If your beer is allowed to warm up and stay that way, it shortens its life expectancy. You’ll want beer that was kept cool for as long as possible.

Find a beer that didn’t travel too far. This is one of the best reasons to go with a local microbrewery. In some cases, the total journey was from the brewery’s kegs to the shop front. The shorter distance your beer had to travel, the most consistent a brew you’re going to get.

Enemy #3 – Bacteria
Here’s an enemy that you don’t have a lot of control over. Bacteria is everywhere, and it’ll get growing as long as there’s a source of food, water and air. Fortunately, beer doesn’t support the kind of bacteria that’ll make you sick. So even if you’ve got a runaway bacteria colony going in your beer because of a brewer with poor quality standards, it’s not actually going to make you sick.

What the bacteria is going to do, however, is grow and put their waste products into the beer. This is something that you’ll eventually taste if enough builds up. Of course, alcohol is a natural inhibitor to the growth of bacteria – it’s one of the worst environments they can try to live in.

Enemy #4 – Air
This isn’t so likely a problem for any beer that you’re likely to buy from the store, but it can be a problem for homebrewers. The more oxygen you get, the more oxidizer you’re providing for bacteria in the beer. Not a big risk, because the brewer will make sure there’s very little air in each bottle.

Oxygen also changes the flavor of the beer. It oxidizes the beer and makes it go flat. This is why kegs of beer only last a few days before the flavor changes significantly. It’s much better to use carbon dioxide instead of oxygen to drive the beer, since it won’t change the flavor.

Enemy #5 – Low Alcohol Content
Darker beers with higher alcohol levels are often brewed at higher temperatures with a greater percentage of darker malted and unmalted grains and more hops. Beers with a higher percentage of alcohol, like 7%, can actually change and improve with age, bringing out some of the more fruity and winey flavors. The lower 4-5% alcohol beers that age will go stale and skunky over time. If you keep the beer cooled, it’ll last for as long as possible.

How Long Will Beer Taste Good?
Regular beer will last about 6 weeks in normal conditions. If you treat it carefully, keep it cool and out of sunlight, you can make it last even longer. But after a few months, even the most carefully nurtured bottle of beer is going to go “off”. You can buy bottle-conditioned beer, which contain living years, and can be stored at room temperature out of sunlight for up to 5 years.

There are also higher-alcohol beers which have been known to improve with age, easily lasting 5-10 years. One manufacturer boasts that their beer will still taste good after 20 years.

How Can You Make Beer Last Longer?
If you’ve been reading this far, you’ve probably got the answers to keeping your beer lasting as long as possible. Keep it cool, in a cellar or refrigerator. Minimize its exposure to sunlight. And if you’re planning on keeping your beer around a few years, get something with a higher alcohol content that won’t go bad, and might actually improve with time.