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If you are thirsting for knowledge about your favorite carbonated beverage, then you will appreciate what these 8 facts about beer will teach you.

1. A custom beer is brewed by the White House

Photo: WhiteHouse.Archives

Pres. Obama was fond of brewing his own beer at the White House. You can even see the recipes for The White House Honey Porter and White House Honey ale on their official blog.

2. The original beer recipe is over 4000 years old

Photo: Wikipedia

A clay tablet from 3100-3000 BCE was found in Mesopotamia and is now in the British Museum. It shows an upright jar with a pointed base, which stands for beer and you see it three times in this image.

The people who worked on the Egyptian pyramids may also have been paid with beer as well, according to the Smithsonian magazine. Four or five liters were provided per day. According to Dr. Patrick McGovern, an archaeologist: “you would have had a rebellion on your hands if they’d run out. The pyramids might not have been built if there hadn’t been enough beer.”

3. Women were the first professional beer brewers

Photo: Pexels / Elevate

Beer was brewed by women in ancient Egypt. The economy made a shift to agriculture and industry, and at that point, beer became a commercial product sold by men.

4. People use to drink beer hot

Photo: Pexels / Edward Eyer

Most of us reach for an ice-cold beer and love it, but it seems as if beer may have, at one time, been consumed warm. It might even be a meal replacement and when this practice was common in the 17th century, people who drink warm beer said it was healthier than a cold beer.

5. Light exposure can spoil beer

Photo: Pexels / RawPixel.com

When hops are exposed to light, it can make the beer go skunky by producing certain compounds. According to Dr. Charles Bamforth, a professor of brewing science at the University of California at Davis, it is a phenomenon that can make beer go bad. No wonder they make beer bottles brown to keep the light out.

6. Beer is good for your bones

Photo: Pexels / Pixabay

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there is a connection between drinking beer and bone mineral density. The study from 2009 found that “moderate consumption of alcohol may be beneficial to bone in men and postmenopausal women.”

7. You can take a beer bath

Photo: Pexels / Craig Adderly

A spot in the Czech Republic offers a 20-minute soak in ingredients used for brewing beer. Chodovar is the company that makes the offer and they say it can improve blood circulation, soften the skin, open the pores and put vitamins in your body. I’m ready to go now, how about you?

8. You can legitimately study beer in college

Photo: Pexels / RawPixel.com

You may not be able to go to college to study beer and beer making as Zythology but that doesn’t mean you can’t go to college for the subject. Colorado State University has a BS in fermentation science and technology at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Looks like I may just have to go back to college again!

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