5,000-Year-Old Beer Recipe Brewed at British Museum Was ‘Absolutely Delicious’

Brewer Michaela Charles, food historian Tasha Marks, and beer expert Susan Boyle recently teamed up with the British Museum to recreate a 5,000-year-old beer recipe from ancient Egypt.

Using clay vessels and methodology from the period, the group brewed several iterations, one unflavored, and others including ingredients such as pistachio, rose petal, cumin, coriander, and sesame.

The result was beer similar to that which would have been brewed during the building of the pyramids of Giza, the Daily Mail reports.

The recipe included two-stage mash, a cold mash and hot mash, then a two-day fermentation.

“I expected a thick, tasteless, gruel-like mixture that was mildly alcoholic… But to all of our surprise, it didn’t just work, but it was absolutely delicious,” Marks, the food historian, said.

Charles, who is the head brewer at AlphaBeta Brewery in London, used the Hymn to Ninkasi as inspiration.