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Bappir

Bappir is a Sumerian term used to describe a twice-baked barley bread that was primarily used in ancient Mesopotamian beer brewing. Historical research done at Anchor Brewing Co. in 1989 (documented in Charlie Papazian's Home Brewer's Companion (ISBN 0380772876)) reconstructed a bread made from malted barley and barley flour with honey and water and baked until hard enough to store for long periods of time; the finished product was probably crumbled and mixed with water, malt and either dates or honey and allowed to ferment, producing a somewhat sweet brew. It seems to have been drunk with a straw in the manner that yerba mate is drunk now.

It is thought that bappir was seldom baked with the intent of being eaten; its storage qualities made it a good candidate for an emergency ration in times of scarcity, but its primary use seems to have been beer-making.

A modern homebrewing attempt at baking bappir (and the resultant brew) was done by the Maltose Falcons Home Brewing Society with a recipe of how to brew beer from bappir bread.

See also

• Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer
• Biscotti, a similarly twice-baked modern bread that is often eaten as a sweet course with wine or coffee