5,000-year-old Chinese Beer Recipe Had Barley as the “Secret Ingredient”

A new archaeological research conducted on prehistoric post recovered from China has revealed that barley might be the secret ingredient present in 5,000 year old beer recipe. The researchers reconstructed the recipe from the prehistoric residues recovered from the pots.

The ancient pots and funnels were recovered from the Mijiaya archaeological site in Shaanxi province in China. An analysis of the residue extracted from the pots found traces of oxalate, which is a beer-making by-product. In a brewing experiment, it helps form a scale dubbed "beerstone."

In addition to oxalates, the analysis also revealed residue from a number of grains and plants, including millets, barley and plant roots tubers. Barley contains a high amount of amylase enzyme that aids in the fermentation process during the brewing of beer. That is, it helps convert starch into sugar.

According to historians, barley has been used in Babylonia and ancient summer for more than 8,000 years ago. However, the researchers are not sure when beer brewing actually began in China. The analysis of the residue, however, has revealed dated the earliest known use of barley in China by about 1,000 years.

The researchers further say that barley was used in the beer-making process in China long before the cereal grain was started being used as a staple food in the country. This is the reason why the discovery of barley from the artifacts was indeed a surprising find for the researchers.

In ancient Egypt and some other parts of the world, barley was already being used in the beer-making process. The researchers believe that the cereal grain must have reached China at that time, along with the knowledge of its application in beer-making industry.

The complete details of the research have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.