Beer: alcoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt flavoured with
hops.
Beer is one of the oldest and most widely
consumed alcoholic drinks in the world, and the third most popular drink
overall after water and tea. Beer is brewed from cereal grainsāmost
commonly from malted barley, though wheat, maize (corn), and rice are
also used. During the brewing process, fermentation of the starch sugars
in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the resulting beer. Most
modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours
and act as a natural preservative and stabilizing agent. Other
flavouring agents such as gruit, herbs, or fruits may be included or
used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, the natural carbonation
effect is often removed during processing and replaced with forced
carbonation.