Neolithic Jiahu Juice: Beer from a 9000-year-old Chinese recipe
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Q: What happens when you pair a molecular archaeologist with preserved pottery found in the Neolithic village of Jiahu, China
A: Well, naturally, you get a beer brewed by beer geeks for beer geeks—all thanks to a geek. More specifically, you get Chateau Jiahu, an exotic ale inspired by a mixture of fermented rice, honey and fruit that was crafted in those very same clay pots roughly 9,000 years ago.
Dr. Patrick McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania teamed up with Dogfish Head Craft Brewers of Milton, Delaware, to create a beer based on what was discovered in a number of ancient pots unearthed in Jiahu and the barley beers and grape wines common to the Middle East in that era. The concoction was brewed with pre-gelatinized rice flakes, wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, Hawthorn fruit and chrysanthemum flowers, and the resulting wort was then pitched with a sake yeast strain.
Are you as compelled to taste this as we are?
Compelled to try an alcoholic conconction that predates Chinese history by 4,000 years and harks to a time when Beijing was nothing more than a watering hole for dinosaurs? Sign me up.
I finally had a chance yesterday, from a bottle of Chateau Jiahu kindly brought by Mr Hao from the United States.
My first reaction? Before it got within a foot of my face, I smelled bananas. Up closer, I smelled mild tropical fruits, a steady dose of slightly funky honey, and some floral and grape aromas–guessing the latter come from the Muscat.
The beer itself was slightly sweet–that honey again–and had a lighter body than expected and a bit of spice at the end. I found it well made and enjoyable, even if it not something I would regularly drink. This is one worth getting a friend to bring back from the U.S….
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