Archaeologists recently proved that Natufian people who previously inhabited the region of modern Israel had brewed beer as long as 13,000 years ago. The proof was found in the form of stone mortars that still held the remains of wild cereal grains. As the scientists reconstructed the recipe used at that time, they realized that the beer brewed for ritualistic celebrations probably resembled a broth rather than a beverage.
However, up until now no one had a chance to find out what the historic beer tasted like. A few attempts have been made to brew beer following old recipes, but modern yeast strains and other ingredients were always used. This time, the scientists of the University of Jerusalem made beer out of 5000-year-old yeast strains to find out what it tasted like thousands of years ago.
According to the scientists, the concentration of yeast found in those clay jugs was significantly higher than in other relics from archaeological excavations–which proves they were actually used to produce and store alcoholic beverages. "The greatest wonder here is that the yeast colonies survived within the vessel for thousands of years – just waiting to be excavated and grown," says one of the paper’s authors, microbiologist Ronen Hazan.
The researchers then analyzed the genes of the yeast strains to find out that this 5000-year-old yeast is similar to yeast cultures still used in Africa, to produce Tej, an Ethiopian honey wine, among other things.
According to Tzemach Aouizerat, head of the research team, the following practical experiment was also a success, as the scientists brewed beer out of this yeast–and tasted it!
Source: Forschung und Wissen
