Beer

Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by combining water, a starch source such as malted barley, and a brewer's yeast to produce a fermentation which is then flavoured, usually with hops. The earliest historical records of beer production are believed to date as far back as the 5th century BC, and today it is produced in over 160 different countries across the world.

The practice of cask-ageing is not necessarily required to make beer and is therefore less common in the brewing industry than in distilling. When it is used, it is usually reserved for its stronger varieties such as stouts, porters and ales.

Just as their use is rare in the production of beer, the use of ex-beer casks is rarer still in the production of rum. Distillers like Engenho Novo in Portugal and Richland Distilling in the US have experimented with various beer casks, however their use remains more common among experimentally minded independent bottlers.