If there is anything that can unite us, it is our love of beer.
Beer is the most-preferred alcoholic beverage in the United
States, and is also preferred over other types of alcohol in
Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Russia, the Czech
Republic, Turkey, Hungary, and various other countries in
Central and Eastern Europe. Wine also has a strong showing. The
Census reports that wine consumption is up 2.5 gallons per
capita, up from half a gallon in 2000, and 28 percent of
Americans list wine as their favorite alcoholic drink. Americans
also love bread, though it may go unheralded for most of us.
Flour and cereal products are third in food categories that we
eat, after dairy products and eggs. These are all made possible
by yeast. The oldest known yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
which humans have been using for over 9,000 years. Although the
yeast is not used as often today it still has its place the
production of wine, beer and bread. Interestingly though, young
grapes do not naturally have the yeast