Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer style which includes dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout.
Adnams is a regional brewery founded in 1872 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. It produces cask ale and bottled beers. Annual production is around 85,000 barrels.
Speight's is a beer brand and a brewery located in Dunedin, New Zealand. The brand is owned by the Japanese-controlled holding company Lion, itself a subsidiary of Kirin. Speight's is best known for its Gold Medal Ale, one of the best-selling beers in New Zealand. The brewery also includes a chain of "Speight's Ale House" gastropubs across the country.
India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.
Little Creatures is a brewery based in Fremantle, Western Australia, operating as a subsidiary of the Japanese firm Kirin Company. It is owned by Little World Beverages, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lion which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirin.
Beer arrived in Australia at the beginning of British colonisation. In 2004 Australia was ranked fourth internationally in per capita beer consumption, at around 110 litres per year; although, the nation ranked considerably lower in a World Health Organization report of alcohol consumption per capita of 12.2 litres. Lager is by far the most popular type of beer consumed in Australia.
In the United States, beer are manufactured in breweries which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs and microbreweries. The United States produced 196 million barrels (23.0 GL) of beer in 2012, and consumes roughly 28 US gallons (110 L) of beer per capita annually. In 2011, the United States was ranked fifteenth in the world in per capita consumption, while total consumption was second only to China.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in New Zealand, accounting for 63% of available alcohol for sale. At around 64.7 litres per person per annum, New Zealand is ranked 27th in global beer consumption per capita. The vast majority of beer produced in New Zealand is a type of lager, either pale or amber in colour, and typically 4–5% alcohol by volume.
Mountain Goat Beer is a brewery in Richmond, Victoria, Australia. The brewery was founded in 1997 by Cam Hines and Dave Bonighton. The company's first commercial brew, 'Hightale Ale' amber ale, was released in October 1997. Mountain Goat Beer was purchased by Asahi in September 2015.
Oriental Brewery or OB is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.
Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain by steeping it in hot water, and then letting it rest at specific temperature ranges to activate naturally occurring enzymes in the grain that convert starches to sugars. The sugars separate from the mash ingredients, and then yeast in the brewing process converts them to alcohol and other fermentation products.
Beer in Asia began when beer was produced in Sumer, Mesopotamia circa 6000 years ago. It was introduced by Europeans in the 19th century, with modern breweries established in British India, the Dutch East Indies, China, and Japan. Asia's first modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European brewing technology.
Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fosters, Sagres, Cruzcampo, Skopsko, Affligem, Żywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Zlatý Bažant, Laško and Birra Moretti.
The Malt Shovel Brewery is an Australian brewery owned by Lion, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Kirin. It is located in Camperdown, New South Wales. Malt Shovel is best known for its James Squire range of beers. The beer is named after the convict turned Australia's first brewer James Squire, who also went on to grow Australia's first hops and is said to have created Australia's first commercial brewery.
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Elmsford, New York. The brewery is owned and run by head brewer Scott Vaccaro. Vaccaro, a homebrewer since 1995, trained in brewing science at UC Davis.
Yeastie Boys is an independent brewing company based in Wellington, New Zealand. Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie established it in 2008. Yeastie Boys have a roster of three regular beers which they produce year round, and also produce a limited release of seasonal beers which they release each spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Bell's Brewery, Inc. is an American craft brewing company, with operations in Comstock and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bell's brews acclaimed beers such as Hopslam Ale, Oberon Ale, and Two Hearted Ale. It operates a brewpub and a store selling merchandise and homebrewing supplies at its Kalamazoo location. Begun as a homebrewing store in 1983, and producing beer since 1985, it is the oldest existing craft brewery in Michigan and the oldest craft brewery east of Colorado. As of 2021, it was the 6th largest craft brewery in the United States, and was the largest independently owned brewery in Michigan when founder Larry Bell sold the company to the subsidiary of the Japanese Kirin beverage group, Lion - an Australian producer of alcoholic beverages, at the end of 2021. The company also owns Upper Hand Brewery, a separately operated division in Escanaba, Michigan.
Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) is an annual brewing competition that commenced in 1992.
The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, or GABS as it is commonly known, is a beer and food festival that celebrates the diversity and creativity of craft beer. It is run by The Local Taphouse beer bars each year in Melbourne and Sydney and in 2015, almost 23,000 people attended the events.
