Brewing in the context of Millet

Sake, saké (Japanese: 酒, Hepburn: sake; English: IPA: /ˈsɑːki, ˈsækeɪ/ SAH-kee, SAK-ay), or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name Japanese rice wine, sake, and indeed any East Asian rice wine (such as huangjiu and cheongju), is produced by a brewing process more akin to that of beer, where starch is converted into sugars that ferment into alcohol, whereas in wine, alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in fruit, typically grapes. This process is called Multiple Parallel Fermentation.

Although similar, the brewing process for sake differs from the process for beer, in which the conversion from starch to sugar and then from sugar to alcohol occurs in two distinct steps. Like other rice wines, these conversions occur simultaneously when brewing sake. The typical alcohol content also differs between sake, wine, and beer; while most beer contains 3–9% ABV and wine generally contains 9–16% ABV, undiluted sake contains 18–20% ABV (although this is typically lowered somewhat by diluting with water prior to bottling).

A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, the word raisin is reserved for the dark-colored dried large grape, with sultana being a golden- or green-colored dried grape, and currant being a dried small Black Corinth seedless grape.

Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize, rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the grain to sugars, which dissolve in water to form wort. Fermentation of the wort by yeast produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world, and one of the most popular of all drinks. 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.

Beer is distributed in bottles and cans, and is commonly available on draught in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).

A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer has taken place since at least 2500 BC; in ancient Mesopotamia, brewers derived social sanction and divine protection from the goddess Ninkasi. Brewing was initially a cottage industry, with production taking place at home; by the ninth century, monasteries and farms would produce beer on a larger scale, selling the excess; and by the eleventh and twelfth centuries larger, dedicated breweries with eight to ten workers were being built.

The diversity of size in breweries is matched by the diversity of processes, degrees of automation, and kinds of beer produced in breweries. A brewery is typically divided into distinct sections, with each section reserved for one part of the brewing process.

Fodder (/ˈfɒdər/), also called provender (/ˈprɒvəndər/), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves (called forage). Fodder includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and sprouted grains and legumes (such as bean sprouts, fresh malt, or spent malt). Most animal feed is from plants, but some manufacturers add ingredients to processed feeds that are of animal origin.

The worldwide animal feed trade produced 1.245 billion tons of compound feed in 2022 according to an estimate by the International Feed Industry Federation, with an annual growth rate of about 2%. The use of agricultural land to grow feed rather than human food can be controversial (see food vs. feed); some types of feed, such as corn (maize), can also serve as human food; those that cannot, such as grassland grass, may be grown on land that can be used for crops consumed by humans.

Feldschlösschen is a Swiss beverage and brewing company based in Rheinfelden, in the German-speaking canton of Aargau, Switzerland. Founded in 1876, the company operates the biggest brewery in Switzerland by production, the Feldschlösschen Brewery. It bought out Cardinal in 1991, and became a division of Carlsberg in 2000. In addition to beer, it also produces non-alcoholic beverages and mineral waters.

Pub names in Great Britain are used to identify and differentiate traditional drinking establishments. Many pubs are centuries old, and were named at a time when most of their customers were illiterate, but could recognise pub signs or objects such as a boot hung up outside. Pubs may be named after and depict anything from everyday objects, to sovereigns and landowners (shown by their coats of arms). Other names come from historic events, livery companies, occupations, sports, and craftsmen's guilds. Other names derive from myths and legends, such as the Green Man and the Moonrakers of Wiltshire.

Pub names may straightforwardly describe their building, or services other than serving beer provided by the establishment. Several names allude to the stages of growing barley, and brewing and transporting the beer, such as John Barleycorn, Hop Pole, Malt Shovel, Mash Tun, and Three Barrels. Pubs that served wine could have names like the Spread Eagle, indicating the coat of arms of Germany. Sporting pubs had names like the Hare and Hounds or the Bowling Green. Several pub names are literary, denoting books like Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Hobbit, fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes, or authors like Edgar Wallace.

Agar (/ˈeɪɡɑːr/ or /ˈɑːɡər/), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from the Gracilaria genus (Irish moss, ogonori) and the Gelidiaceae family (tengusa). As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, the linear polysaccharide agarose and a heterogeneous mixture of smaller molecules called agaropectin. It forms the supporting structure in the cell walls of certain species of algae and is released on boiling. These algae are known as agarophytes, belonging to the Rhodophyta (red algae) phylum. The processing of food-grade agar removes the agaropectin, and the commercial product is essentially pure agarose.

Agar has been used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Asia and also as a solid substrate to contain culture media for microbiological work. Agar can be used as a laxative; an appetite suppressant; a vegan substitute for gelatin; a thickener for soups; in fruit preserves, ice cream, and other desserts; as a clarifying agent in brewing; and for sizing paper and fabrics.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (/ˌsɛrəˈvɪsi.iː/) (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been originally isolated from the skin of grapes. It is one of the most intensively studied eukaryotic model organisms in molecular and cell biology, much like Escherichia coli as the model bacterium. It is the microorganism which causes many common types of fermentation. S. cerevisiae cells are round to ovoid, 5–10 μm in diameter. It reproduces by budding.

Many proteins important in human biology were first discovered by studying their homologs in yeast; these proteins include cell cycle proteins, signaling proteins, and protein-processing enzymes. S. cerevisiae is currently the only yeast cell known to have Berkeley bodies present, which are involved in particular secretory pathways. Antibodies against S. cerevisiae are found in 60–70% of patients with Crohn's disease and 10–15% of patients with ulcerative colitis, and may be useful as part of a panel of serological markers in differentiating between inflammatory bowel diseases (e.g. between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease), their localization, and severity.

Awamori (Japanese: 泡盛; Okinawan: アームイ, āmui, aamui) is an alcoholic beverage indigenous and unique to the Ryukyuan cuisine of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is made from long grain indica rice, and is not a direct product of brewing (like sake) but of distillation (like shōchū). The majority of Aamui made today uses indica rice imported from Thailand, as the local production is largely insufficient to meet domestic demand, which has risen considerably in recent years.

Awamori is typically 60–86 proof (30–43% alcohol), although "export" brands (including brands shipped to mainland Japan) are increasingly 50 proof (25% alcohol). Some styles (notably hanadaki (Japanese:hanazake)) are 120 proof (60%) and are flammable. Aamui is aged in traditional clay pots to improve its flavor and mellowness.

Lager (/ˈlɑːɡə/; German: [ˈlaːɡɐ] ) is a style of beer brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German word for "storage", as the beer was stored before drinking, traditionally in the same cool caves in which it was fermented.

As well as maturation in cold storage, most lagers are distinguished by the use of Saccharomyces pastorianus, a "bottom-fermenting" yeast that ferments at relatively cold temperatures.

Drinking culture is the set of traditions, rituals, and social behaviors associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Although alcoholic beverages and social attitudes toward drinking vary around the world, nearly every civilization has independently discovered the processes of brewing beer, fermenting wine, and distilling spirits, among other practices.

Alcohol has been present in numerous societies over the centuries with the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages date back to ancient civilisations. Drinking is documented in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, in the Qur'an, in Greek and Roman literature as old as Homer, in Confucius' Analects, and in various forms of artistic expression throughout history.

Wort (/ˈwɜːrt/) is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. Wort also contains crucial amino acids to provide nitrogen to the yeast as well as more complex proteins contributing to beer head (froth) retention and flavour.

Ninkasi was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing. It is possible that in the first millennium BC she was known under the variant name Kurunnītu, derived from a term referring to a type of high quality beer. She was associated with both positive and negative consequences of the consumption of beer. In god lists, such as the An = Anum list and the Weidner god list, she usually appears among the courtiers of the god Enlil, alongside deities such as Ninimma and Ninmada. She could also be paired with Siraš, a goddess of similar character, who sometimes was regarded as her sister. A possible association between her and the underworld deities Nungal and Laṣ is also attested, possibly in reference to the possible negative effects of alcohol consumption.

A number of works of Mesopotamian literature refer to Ninkasi, for example the myths Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave and Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird. A hymn dedicated to her, known simply as the Hymn to Ninkasi, is also known. It is commonly discussed and quoted in modern literature.

Burton upon Trent, a market town in East Staffordshire, England, has a long history of brewing, at one time exporting beer throughout the world and accounting for a quarter of UK beer production; emulation of Burton water in brewing is called Burtonisation. Much of the town was given over to the industry throughout the 19th century and brewers dominated it politically and socially.