into fermentable sugars. Inca women found
the enzymes in their own saliva: they made
chicha by chewing on ground corn, then
mixing that corn with cooked corn. In the Far
East, brewers found the enzymes in a mold,
Aspergillus oryzae, which readily grew on
cooked rice (p. 754). This preparation, called
the chhü in China, koji in Japan, was then
mixed with a fresh batch of cooked rice. In the
Near East, the grain itself supplied the
enzyme. Brewers soaked the grain in water
and allowed it to germinate for several days,
then heated the ground seedling with
ungerminated grain. This technique, called
malting, is the one most widely used today to
make beer.
Beer in Ancient Times Malting is much like
the making of sprouts from beans and other
seeds, and may have begun in the sprouting of
grains simply to make them softer, moister,
and sweeter. There’s clear evidence that