These days, many bars and restaurants have extensive beer lists. But most people just grab a cold can from the refrigerator after mowing the lawn. They can't tell an ale from a lager, and they don't care. They want refreshment, not snob appeal. Finally, you have the homebrewer who is so dissatisfied by commercial brews and imports, he has to make his own.
Beer is water, hops, and barley malt fermented by yeast.
Some beers, primarily Belgian styles and specialty ales, include fruit, cane and candy sugar, molasses, honey, herbs, chili peppers, and even maple syrup as brewing adjuncts. In the hands of a skilled brewmaster, a simple product can indeed become quite complex. History of Beer Beer has been around since prehistoric times and shares a close relationship with bread baking. Cultures who grew grain to bake bread almost always made beer, too. It did not take long before these wild yeasts were deliberately cultivated for baking.