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. It 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.
Pilsner is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň, where the world's first pale lager was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery.
Sapporo Breweries Ltd. is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo. The company purchased the Canadian company Sleeman Breweries in 2006.
St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Draught Guinness.
Beer in Norway has a long history, stretching back more than a millennium. Until some 200 years ago, most farms where it was possible to grow grain south of the Arctic Circle, brewed their own beer. From the early 20th century brewing was industrialized and home brewing was restricted. Significant consolidation in the brewing sector reduced the number of major breweries to just a handful. With the exception of the farmhouse ales, most beer styles brewed in Norway trace their ancestry to central Europe.
Beer in South Africa has a long history, with a corporate history dating back to the early 20th century.
Beer in Africa, especially lager, is produced commercially in most African countries, and indigenous people also make varieties of beer. Beer is served in various locales, from neighbourhood shebeens to upscale bars. Many countries have standardized beer bottle sizes, which are cleaned and re-used, so when buying beer at a store, people often must pay a deposit on the bottle and the price of the beer. An alternative to glass-bottle beers is local beer sold in tetra-pak style paper cartons.
The beer market in Denmark is dominated by the brands Carlsberg and Tuborg. Since Tuborg was acquired by Carlsberg in 1970, Carlsberg has held a near-monopoly. A number of regional breweries, however, managed to survive, and most of them merged into Royal Unibrew in 2005. As of 2020, Ratebeer lists over 300 active breweries in Denmark, most of which are microbreweries.
Oriental Brewery or OB is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.
George Killian's Irish Red is a red beer, produced and sold in France by Heineken France, and under license in the US by Molson Coors. Despite the differences in the brewing methods, the marketing of both beers claim legacy to an Irish "original recipe".
Taedonggang is a brand of North Korean beer brewed by the state-owned Taedonggang Brewing Company based in Pyongyang. There are four brands of beer marketed as Taedonggang, though the brand known simply as "Taedonggang Beer" is that described below.
R. W. Randall's Brewery is a brewery based in St Peter Port, Guernsey, founded in 1868 by Robert Henry Randall. The company was continued by his son, Robert William Randall, who gave the brewery its name.
Grebbestad Bryggeri is a brewery in the town Grebbestad on the Swedish west coast. It is a relatively small and local brewery producing their products mainly for the use of the local county Bohuslän. Their main production are in two lager beers called Koster and Granit, but other brews occur as well.
The 14 governorates of Syria, or muhafazat, are divided into 65 districts, or manatiq, including the city of Damascus. The districts are further divided into 281 subdistricts, or nawahi. Each district bears the same name as its district capital.
The modern history of beer in Bulgaria dates back to the 19th century, when it was introduced to the country by foreigners shortly before the Liberation of Bulgaria. Until then, beer was practically unknown in what used to be a mainly rakia and wine-drinking country. Today, Bulgaria ranks 15th by beer consumption per capita, with 73 litres a year.
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.
Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.
Southern Sudan Beverages Limited was a brewery based in South Sudan and previously owned by ABInBev. The company closed operations in 2016.
Beer and alcohol is an integral part of Tanzanian society and local brands hold a strong sense of national pride among the Tanzanian population. There is a considerable amount of brewing and drinking done in the country. Tanzania ranks 6th in Africa for beer consumption and contributes to over 3% of the African consumption. However, over 90% of the national consumption is either homemade or from the informal sector. Bottled beer is expensive for the majority of the population and is almost 6 times more expensive than the maize beers. Nonetheless, beer sales and taxes are a vital part of the Tanzanian economy.
Gilroy's Brewery is a microbrewery and restaurant in Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa. The brewery was founded in 2000 by Stephen Gilroy at his pharmaceutical printing company in Roodepoort, Gauteng. Gilroy's Brewery was one of the first microbreweries in South Africa, along with Mitchell's Brewery, Nottingham Road Brewery, and Drayman's Brewery. In 2008 the operation was relocated to the current premises at Ngwenya Glass Village in Muldersdrift, where it expanded to include the restaurant, beer garden, and a gift shop. The brewery produces 5 styles of beer – a lager, pale ale, ruby ale, and a dark ale. The brewery has recently introduced a ginger beer.
