Kirin Brewery Co. has embarked on a project to re-create the fermented brew enjoyed by the ancient Egyptians that is believed to be the origin of modern-day beer.
The brewery has joined hands with Waseda University professor and Egyptologist Sakuji Yoshimura to prove a new hypothesis regarding how the ancient Egyptians made their beverage.
"I hope people will understand that beer is a part of culture," Yoshimura said.
According to Kirin researchers, it has long been the accepted theory that the Egyptians produced beer by baking bread from barley, breaking it into pieces, adding water and allowing the mix to ferment naturally with the aid of yeast in the air.
However, Kirin said that its researchers have come up with a theory that the bread was only partially baked, and that the Egyptians added yeast, possibly from such plants as date palms.
With the aid of Yoshimura and his team of Egyptologists, an attempt will be made to prove this notion, company officials said. An oven-maker has been invited from Egypt to build a kiln to bake bread specifically for the project. The oven was unveiled to the media Tuesday at Kirin's plant in Yokohama.
The brewery and researchers plan to start baking bread later this month and produce Old Kingdom Beer at its plant in the town of Takanezawa, Tochigi Prefecture, by September, the company said.
Kirin said it has not decided whether it will market the beer, but added that it would next attempt to brew beer representative of the Middle and New kingdoms of Egypt, which made the beverage differently.
According to Kirin, no hops will be used to make the Egyptian-style beer, because the Egyptians did not use them.
