Beer is an alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of grain, usually barley, with water and hops. The brewing process begins with malted barley, which is heated with water in a large kettle called a "mash tun" to extract the sugars. Hops are then added to the mixture and boiled to provide bitterness and aroma. After fermentation, the young beer is transferred to conditioning tanks to age, a process that can take from a few days to several weeks or even years depending on the style.
Beer is one of the oldest types of alcoholic drinks in the world and is the most widely consumed. It is considered to be a social lubricant in many societies and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals and a rich pub culture involving activities like pub crawling, pub quizzes, and pub games.
The word "beer" comes from Old English bēor, itself from Common Germanic, and is found throughout the West Germanic and North Germanic dialects. In early forms of English and in the Scandinavian languages, the usual word for beer was the word whose Modern English form is ale. At one time, the words beer and ale were not synonymous. In the days before hops became ubiquitous, beer referred specifically to a fermented cereal beverage brewed with hops, while ale was brewed without hops.
Beer is considered to be a craft product and is brewed in many countries around the world. It is also used for various purposes such as hair care, fixing brown lawn spots, and loosening rusty bolts.
