World News for Students of English

04-05-2016 15:00

Jesus is said to have turned water into wine but there was never any mention of Him turning it into beer. And that could be for a good reason, as it didn’t taste nice.

It’s after a brewery in Jerusalem produced a craft beer they believe tastes like the beer that was around during Jesus’ time. A team of geneticists at Tel Aviv University identified the strain of wheat used for beer in the Holy Land 2 millennia ago. But a sip of the concoction may explain why wine is the beverage of choice in the Bible.

“The flavour was surprising, this is something that we, that we never expected. We got like this kind of red fruit, kind of a raspberry flavour, and there is no fruit additions into it, and it’s only because of the grains we used.”

At the time Jesus was around, water was often contaminated so it was safer to drink alcohol. Much of this was fermented but with much lower alcohol percentages than traditionally consumed now.

But, if you were hoping to try this ancient-tasting beverage, you’re out of luck. Staff at the brewery have drunk all 20 litres they produced, and aren’t planning on brewing any more.

Difficult words: craft beer (a beer made in a traditional way), strain (a kind, a type), beverage (a drink), concoction (a mixture), ferment (to let something get old so it preserves it).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com