Beer from King Midas tomb - how a drink from 2700 years ago was recreated
Imagine that scientists can look inside vessels from almost three thousand years ago, read from the dried residue what exactly was in them, and then recreate this drink and serve it to contemporary people. It sounds like science fiction, and yet this is exactly how a beer inspired by the contents of a tomb attributed to King Midas came about. From the remains of a drink preserved in ancient vessels, researchers recreated a spirit from almost two and a half thousand years ago. What is more, it turned out to be something surprising, because it was neither pure beer, nor wine, nor honey, but a mixture of them. This discovery overturns our notion of what ancient beverages were. Here is the story of the beer from Midas tomb, how it was recreated and what it tells us about the boundaries between beer, wine and honey.
The legendary King Midas
We know the name of King Midas mainly from the myth of a ruler whose touch turned everything into gold. Behind this legend, however, lies a real historical context. Midas was a name borne by the rulers of an ancient kingdom in Phrygia, in the territory of present-day Turkey. In one of the burial mounds at an ancient archaeological site, a rich tomb was discovered that was linked with King Midas or his father. The burial was dated to a period about two and a half thousand years ago, or perhaps somewhat earlier. It was precisely in this tomb, among the funerary gifts, that numerous drinking vessels were found. They were the remains of a lavish funeral feast held for the deceased ruler. These vessels, or rather the dried residue inside them, became the key to recreating a drink from centuries past. The legend of the golden touch met here with real archaeology and science.
The tomb and its treasures
The tomb attributed to Midas was a rich burial, full of objects worthy of a ruler. Among them were numerous vessels that once held the drink served during the funeral feast. After thousands of years the drink had long evaporated, but on the walls of the vessels a dried residue remained. To the ordinary eye it is just worthless remains, but to scientists it was a priceless chemical record. The residue held within it information about what exactly was in the vessels centuries ago. The richness of the burial testified to the importance of the deceased, and the funeral feast was an important element of the rituals of the time. Thanks to the fact that the vessels survived along with the residue, it became possible to recreate not only the objects but also the drink consumed during this ancient ceremony. It is a rare case in which archaeology allows reconstructing not only what people possessed but also what they actually drank.
The detective work of archaeologists
Recreating the drink was possible thanks to the work of a specialist in biomolecular archaeology, that is the field studying the chemical traces left by ancient organisms and products. The scientist analyzed the dried residue from the vessels, looking for characteristic compounds that reveal what exactly the drink contained. It is a kind of chemical detective work, in which the composition from millennia ago is reconstructed from microscopic traces. The analysis showed the presence of particular substances indicating individual ingredients. Each of them, after all, leaves its chemical signature, detectable even after centuries. Thanks to this painstaking work, it was possible to establish what the drink served at the rulers funeral feast was made of. This shows how modern science can extract astonishingly precise information from something as seemingly insignificant as dried residue on the walls of an old vessel. The past turned out to be recorded in chemistry.
What the vessels held
The results of the analysis turned out to be fascinating. The residue revealed that the drink served at the feast was a mixture of three ingredients. Traces were found indicating barley beer, grape wine and honey. In other words, the drink was a combination of what we today consider three separate categories of beverages: beer, wine and mead. For the ancients, however, it was no strange hybrid but simply the drink of the feast. Combining different sources of sugars for fermentation was then something natural. This discovery shows that our contemporary, rigid divisions between beer, wine and honey are a later invention, not an eternal law. Old people brewed and fermented what they had at hand, mixing ingredients to obtain the desired drink. The contents of the vessels from Midas tomb therefore became proof of how fluid and conventional the boundaries are that we today treat as obvious.
The recreation of the drink by a brewery
On the basis of these discoveries, a contemporary American brewery, known for bold, unusual projects, decided to recreate the ancient drink. In collaboration with the researcher, a beer inspired by the composition of the drink from Midas tomb was created. The recipe reflected the established ingredients, combining barley, grapes and honey in one drink. This undertaking was more than ordinary brewing. It was an attempt to revive the flavor of the past, to carry into the present a drink consumed almost three thousand years ago. The result was a drink of unusual, complex character, far from typical contemporary beer. The recreated drink turned out to be a success and gained recognition, winning awards in competitions. This shows that an ancient recipe, based on combining different sources of sugar, can give a drink attractive also to the contemporary palate. History and brewing met here in a single bottle.
Saffron instead of hops
An interesting element of the recreated drink is the absence of hops, to which we are today accustomed. Hops, giving beer bitterness and aroma, came into common use in brewing far later than the drink from Midas tomb was made. In ancient times, therefore, other additions were used to give the drink flavor and character. In the recreated recipe, the role of spice was played among other things by saffron, one of the most precious spices in the world. This shows how much old drinks differed from contemporary ones not only in basic composition but also in flavoring additions. Without hops, but with precious spices, such a drink had a completely different character than the beer we know today. It is another reminder that the history of beer and fermented beverages is far richer and more varied than our contemporary, standardized notion of what beer should be suggests.
The fluid boundaries of old drinks
The most important conclusion from this whole story is how fluid the boundaries between beverages were in old times. Today we sharply separate beer, wine and mead, treating them as separate categories with clear definitions. Yet the drink from Midas tomb shows that for the ancients such divisions did not exist or were far looser. Different sources of sugars were combined and fermented together, creating drinks that escape our categories. This makes us realize that our definitions are a cultural and historical invention, not an eternal truth. Old people were guided by the availability of raw materials and the desire for a good drink, not by rigid rules. This perspective enriches our understanding of the history of fermented beverages and reminds us that what today seems an obvious division was once merely one of many possibilities, and the boundaries between beer and wine were sometimes almost invisible.
What this story tells us about beer
The story of the beer from Midas tomb broadens our understanding of what beer was and can be. It shows that fermented beverages have a far longer and more varied history than we think, and that their old forms often combined what we today separate. It also makes us realize how fascinating the collaboration of science and craft can be, when chemical analysis of residue leads to the recreation of a flavor from centuries past. For the beer lover it is an eye-opening tale, because it shows that beer did not always look and taste as it does today. It is an invitation to look at fermented beverages from a broader, historical perspective. The next time you reach for a beer, it is worth remembering that its roots reach millennia back, to times when the boundaries between beer, wine and honey were only just forming, and the drink of a feast could be their surprising combination.
Key takeaways
From the dried residue in vessels from the tomb attributed to King Midas, dated to about two and a half thousand years ago, scientists recreated the composition of the drink served at the funeral feast. It turned out to be a mixture of barley beer, grape wine and honey, far from our divisions today. A contemporary brewery recreated this drink, using among other things saffron instead of hops. This shows that the boundaries between beer, wine and honey are a later invention, and old drinks were far more varied. If you enjoy discovering the history and unusual faces of beer, GustoNote will guide you through it.