Malt, Mould, or Saliva

larsga@garshol.priv.no (Lars Marius Garshol)
2025-12-03 15:35:00 CET

Michael Jackson famously classified beer into ale and lager based on how it was fermented, but this is a rather superficial feature. What defines beer and sets it apart from other alcoholic drinks is that it's made from grain, which contains no sugar. Making mead from honey, cider from apples, or wine from grapes is far simpler than brewing beer, because the sugar is already there. With beer, however, you need to convert the starch to sugar first, and the need for this step is what defines beer as a drink.