The Oldest Beer Recipe in History from Ancient Sumeria, 1800 B.C | Hacker News Reader

The Oldest Beer Recipe in History from Ancient Sumeria, 1800 B.C

openculture.com

25 pointsdiodorus15 comments

I believe this is actually the first written recipe, period.

Interesting. I'm gonna read this at our poetry gathering in Kunming, China this evening maybe along with some translations from original texts on theistic views of intoxicants. Should make for some fun discussion.

"sumeria"? think it's called "sumer"

I translated this recipe back while I was in school! Lots of fun.

Pity historians will look back at this period and ask themselves "seriously, what's with all the darn IPAs??"

Whats wrong with ipa's :P I've found them to become a godsend recently, instead of only having water, some more "mainstream" bars are carrying "ok" ipas.

(Though I'm more of a scotch ale man myself)

Well, I'll put it this way: at the local craft brew bars in town, they have a pretty wide range of styles with 4-5 in each category.

And then there's IPAs, which have triple that.

They're a weird fad right now and, while I enjoy the odd IPA, there's more to the beer world than hops!

My theory is craft breweries realized that they could take a mediocre ale, dry hop the crap out of it, and then charge a premium for the result. ;)

Obligatory xkcd:

https://xkcd.com/1534/

Please save your one-line-puns for reddit, or some other forum where that is appropriate.

Sure thing HN policeperson who joined last month!

I have the most mixed feeling about that XKCD.... it's funny, but really misses the mark for people who _enjoy_ craft beer.

I think that the explosion in choices, availability, and quality have been great for consumers, American manufacturing, and the community that these breweries build around themselves.

[full disclosure: I work in the beer industry)

I could be wrong but I don't think the point of the comic is that all beer objectively tastes bad since there are two people in the comic and one of the two clearly enjoys beer/craft beer.

I interpreted that differently: one of them has bought into the game of pretending to like beer; the other is breaking the 4th wall and makes the first one uncomfortable.

Could be. I file this one alongside other comics about (presumably the author) not liking wine, lobster and sports.

I didn't know that. Wow, I've found my soul mate!

I can't stand beer, but I'm 100% behind the explosion of smaller breweries if it's even indirectly responsible for the sudden appearance of multiple excellent ciders in every supermarket and restaurant.

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