Be the Toast of the Town With This Beer History Quiz

In the 15th century, near the German town of Einbeck, a sect of Christian monks decided to brew a heavy, malty beer to get them through the fasting required during Lent. The beer soon became a regional staple, named “beck” after its birthplace. But Bavarians from the south who tried the popular dark beer pronounced it “bock,” which is also German for “goat.” Bock brands today still often use goats in their label designs.

When boiled, hops used in brewing break down into an acid that binds with the rest of the ingredients, creating a beer’s flavor. But if these acids are exposed to too much sunlight, it causes a chemical reaction that turns them into a new chemical that’s nearly identical to the scent released by skunks. Bottles of beer are often made with brown or green glass to stop the sun from ruining a tasty beverage.

In 1897, archaeologists discovered a strange set of gold and silver tubes near an ancient burial site in Mesopotamia. Historians at first thought they were scepters or building supports, but the traces of barley and pollen found on the inner layers led them to conclude that the cylinders were used for drinking beer out of a communal pot. The site dates back to 3000 BCE, making these the world’s oldest straws.

Though early U.S. Presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison were passionate brewers, none had done it at 1600 Pennsylvania until 2011, when President Barack Obama bought a home brew kit with his own money. Inspired by the growing craft beer trend in America, Obama and his kitchen staff created a brew they called White House Honey Brown Ale, using fresh honey from the White House garden.

Founded by David Yuengling in 1829, Yuengling has been brewing at its headquarters in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, since 1831 (the original brewery burned down shortly after the company’s birth). Yuengling has found success by offering an inexpensive yet smooth and tasty beer, and by focusing on regional markets: The iconic lager is still only available on the East Coast and in certain parts of the South.

In medieval Dublin, St. James’s Gate was the entrance to the east side of the city. The actual gate was demolished about 25 years before Arthur Guinness signed a lease to take over the small, rarely used brewery near where the gate stood. The founder of Guinness must have been confident his brand would last: in 1759, he agreed to lease the brewery for a term of 9,000 years at an annual rate of £45.

Frustrated with having to dump big batches of product ruined by bacteria, brewers in the town of Plzeň (in what is now Czechia) came up with a plan to improve on the standard lagers being brewed throughout Europe. Brewer Josef Groll used light barley instead of the normal smoked variety, creating the pilsner — a lighter, refreshing alternative to the era’s more popular dark beer styles.

In 1984, Jim Koch was working in a comfortable finance job when he found his great-great-grandfather’s beer recipe. Inspired to create a better brew than the major companies dominating the industry, he founded the Boston Beer Company with a brew named for one of America’s Founding Fathers: Sam Adams. Today the company does over $2 billion in annual revenue and is credited with pioneering the craft beer sector.

The IBU measurement helps brewers indicate the sensory bitterness of beer on the label. By indicating the number of bittering units in the brew, drinkers can anticipate how bitter it will taste. Beers rarely fall outside the IBU range of 5 to 120, with the higher numbers tasting more bitter. Most popular beers are between 15 and 80 IBUs.

As beer ages, the suspended particles in the liquid fall to the bottom, reflecting less light and making the beer darker and slightly changing its flavor. This is typically a good thing until too much oxidation happens. Then, the flavor can become muted, or even worse, the beer will taste stale.

The hops plant is responsible for so much of the brew, but one thing it cannot do is ferment it into alcohol; we have yeast to thank for that. Hops do give beer its foamy, bitter, and flavorful characteristics. Hops are divided into two categories: bittering and aroma, which contain more essential oils that will add notes of flavors like citrus, pine, mango, resin, and melon.

Also known as Belgian lace, the foam that sticks to the empty glass after you’ve finished your beer is called lacing. It’s similar to the “legs” of wine streaks down a glass. Popular among the craft beer crowd and stout lovers, any beer with a thick, foamy head will leave a lace.

What started as a holiday to honor St. Patrick’s death has turned into a day of Irish-themed parties and green beer. The Lenten restrictions on food and drink were temporarily lifted for the feast on this holiday, causing excessive consumption of both, which has turned into a cultural phenomenon. While the feast originated in Ireland, the spirited parades became an American tradition thanks to Irish immigrants.

The thick foam, or the head, that tops a beer impacts taste in a few ways. The flavor of beer slightly changes as the liquid travels through the bubbles, and the foam also causes the physical perception of a softer or smoother palate. Smell directly impacts taste, and the foam traps the odors near your nose, bringing the full range of flavors to the drink.

Bottling beer became commonplace in the 19th century, but it took trial and error for producers to realize that clear glass made the beer taste terrible. Brewers began using dark brown glass to protect the beer, and to avoid getting “skunked” or “lightstruck” from UV rays.

Traditional stouts are sweet and roasty, which offsets the bitterness in the brew, making for an easy, creamy drink. This style of beer originated in England and Ireland and includes Guinness, a dark Irish dry stout that is one of the most popular on the market today. Stouts have mid to high alcohol levels and come in other styles like American, oatmeal, and milk.

If your pint of beer seems a little larger in the U.K., you can thank the imperial measurement system. A British pint is 20 imperial fluid ounces, while an American pint is 16 U.S. fluid ounces. Keep in mind, even the fluid ounces differ in size between countries (imperial is 4% smaller), so after some conversion, an imperial pint would be equal to about 19.2 U.S. fluid ounces.

In the early 1800s, the East India Company was having trouble shipping beer from England to trade partners in Asia. During the six-month trip, barrels of beer would often spoil or become infected. In 1822, London brewer George Hodgson decided to send over a batch of pale ale instead of the typical porters, adding hops before shipment to help preserve the brew. The beer, later dubbed India pale ale or IPA, was well-received and has been in demand ever since.

In 1933, the Busch children surprised their father, August Busch Sr., with a six-horse Clydesdale hitch to celebrate the end of Prohibition. Realizing their marketing value, the company arranged for another group of the horses to be sent to New York with a case of Budweiser for former governor Al Smith, a staunch Prohibition opponent. Clydesdales have been featured in the company’s ads ever since.

Life as a medieval villager had its trials, including finding clean drinking water. This made beer the most popular beverage of the time; it was safer to drink than water due to fermentation, and cheaper than other alcohol options, like wine.