Introduction and Overview

Beer is widely defined as the result of the brewing process, the outcome of fermenting grains, which over time has been refined and improved across the world. Together with wine, beer is the alcoholic beverage that has experienced the most significant expansion in terms of historical production, consumption and diffusion. Beer, however, presents more versatile and flexible characteristics compared to wine, for which the main ingredient — grape vines — requires a particular climate and subsoil to grow productively. For this reason and others, beer has become the drink of the masses, while wine has acquired the status of an elitist drink in many societies, notwithstanding price convergence between the two beverages, especially in recent times. As for spirits and liquors, the high alcoholic content associated with these beverages makes any combination with food and meals a challenging task, although this may not hold so true in some countries and regions, e.g. Russia and Eastern Europe. The consumption of beer, on the other hand, most frequently transcends consumers’ income, wealth, education or ethnic background — look at customers in any pub, inn or bar in the world. But why is beer so pervasive? What are the features of beer, bars and pubs that make them so special?