Trivia, study it, impress your friends

Both red wine and dark beer are rich in flavonoids. The substance that gives these drinks their color is also believed to have a positive effect on blood pressure and cholesterol levels. SOURCE: "HealthSmarts" in The Verge Magazine, 3/31/98

The first US lager was brewed in 1840 by John Wagner, who had a small brewery in the back of his house on St. John Street in Philadelphia. Wagner brought the first lager yeast to the United States from a brewery in Bavaria. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

The music for "The Star Spangled Banner" was derived from a British drinking song called "Anacreon". SOURCE: Adobe Systems catalog

In his 1868 book, "The Beer of the Bible," James Death, head brewer of the Cairo Brewery in Alexandria, proposed that the manna from heaven that God fed the Israelites in the desert was wusa, an Arab bread-based, porridge-like beer. SOURCE: Alan "The Beer King" Eames

Guinness sells an average of 7 million glasses a day. SOURCE: Beer Magazine

Many years ago, a 33-inch fish was caught in Lake St. Clair that seemed a tad too heavy for its size. When they popped the fish's top,startled fishermen found a full bottle of ale inside. SOURCE: Beer Magazine

Anaheim's Edison Field has the priciest beer in Major League Baseball. SOURCE: ESPN the Magazine, 1/25/99

Sir Leonard Woolley discovered gold and lapis-lazuli beer-drinking straws in the tomb of Lady Pu-abi at Ur, ca. 2650 to 2550 B.C. SOURCE: Fritz Maytag

The Hymn to Ninkasi, inscribed on a nine- teenth-century B.C. tablet, contains a recipe for Sumerian beer. SOURCE: Fritz Maytag

The code of Hammurabi prescribed stiff penalties for offenses at beer taverns. SOURCE: Fritz Maytag

In England, post-operative patients and blood donors used to be given Guinness at the hospital. In Ireland, Guinness is still made available to blood donors and stomach and intestinal post-operative patients today. Guinness is known to be high in iron. SOURCE: Guinness FAQt & Folklore (www.ivo.se/guinness)

Cenosillicaphobia - Fear of an empty glass SOURCE: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1501/quotes.html

James Madison wanted to establish a National Brewery and appoint a Secretary of Beer to the Cabinet. SOURCE: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1501/quotes.html

Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.'s lager was the first bottled craft brew available on commercial airlines. SOURCE: Jerry Carroll's Lively Arts column in the San Francisco Chronicle, 3/3/98

George Washington owned a brewery. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

Ancient Egyptians used to greet one another with the phrase, "Bread and beer." SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

A Chinese imperial decree - about 1116 BC, western time - averred it was a requirement of the heavenly powers that people regularly take a moderate amount of alcoholic drink. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

The oldest known recipe is for beer. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

Each of the Jivaro Indians of south Ecuador reportedly drinks on average more than three gallons of quite-light beer a day. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

Students at UNC-Chapel Hill drink more beer per capita than students at any other university, according to a study that compared study body count to local beer sales. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

It was customary in the 13th century to baptize children with beer. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

What we now call "light beer" was known as "small beer" in the Middle Ages, and the historical footnotes aver it was the drink of the lower classes. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

Two gallons of beer a day was part of the rations allocated to each youngster in the Children's Hospital of Norwich England. This, in 1632. Beer is food, the English said. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

Researchers at the Department of Agriculture say laboratory rats that drink beer live six times longer than rats that drink only water. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

Drink beer after strenuous exercise. So advised a prominent German doctor. In a symposium, he told scientists: Beer is high in carbohydrates and vitamin B. Its malt compensates for sugar deficiency after athletic activities. SOURCE: L.M. Boyd's Grab Bag

King Frederick the Great once banned coffee to bolster sagging beer sales. SOURCE: National Geographic

In his 1846 work "Gatherings from Spain", Englishman Richard Ford decried Spain as a "tealess, beerless, beefless land." SOURCE: Pete's

Many brewers of the 19th and early 20th centuries incorporated a six-pointed star -- known as the "Brewer's Star" -- in their logos. The star was the official insignia of the Brewer's Guild as early as the 1500s, and its association with beer and brewing can be traced as far back as the late 1300s. The six-pointed Brewer's Star was intended to symbolize purity, with the six representing the most critical ingredients in brewing: the water, the hops, the grain, the malt, the yeast and the brewer. SOURCE: Pete's

The little-used term "cerevisiological" means "of or pertaining to the study of beer". SOURCE: Pete's

If you're a homebrewer looking for a fancy name for yourself, try "braxator" - Latin for "brewmaster". SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

The familiar Scandinavian toast sköl derives from scole, the drinking bowl shaped like the upper half of a human skull. Originally, these bowls were fashioned from the actual skulls of enemy killed in battle. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

George Washington's recipe for porter is handwritten in an old notebook available at the New York Public Library. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

According to the ancient Gilgamesh Epic, the primordial man Enkidu was commanded to "Drink also beer, as it is the custom of the land." After drinking, he became enlightened and became a human being. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

The legendary King Gambrinus of the Middle Ages is known as the "patron saint of beer" (not to be confused with St. Arnold, patron saint of brewing). SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

The fifth century Irish Saint Bridget allegedly performed the miracle of turning water into beer. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

The legendary "King Gambrinus" is known as "the patron saint of beer." For more info on the jolly king, see Beer History. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

In 1888, German beer consumers in Munich staged the "Battle of Salvator" over sharp beer price increases. SOURCE: Pete's Wicked

Prohibition lasted 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, 17 hours, 32 1/2 minutes. SOURCE: Real Beer Page

Portland, Oregon goes by the nickname "Beervana" because of all the microbreweries in the area. SOURCE: Real Beer Page

The patient's diet for St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London between 1687 and 1860 included - probably due to the state of the water - three pints of beer a day and occasional doses of medicinal drinks called caudle and possett. Caudle was thin gruel mixed with ale or wine and spices, while "possett drink" provided warm milk curdled with ale and sweetened with sugar. Bart's even had its own brewery to supply the (unsurprisingly) full wards. SOURCE: Real Beer Tour

The Finnish national epic poem, the Kalevala, includes an early ode to beer in Verse XX: "Sing the songs of beer immortal!" SOURCE: The Kalevala

In the 13th century, King Wenceslas convinced the Pope to revoke an order banning the brewing of beer in Czech territories. SOURCE: www.radio.cz

Bohemian hops were so prized in the 800s that King Wenceslas (yes, that King Wenceslas) ordered the death penalty for anyone caught exporting the cuttings, from which new plants could be grown. SOURCE: www.radio.cz