Drink Preparation in Ancient Egypt

The two main beverages of Ancient Egypt were wine and beer. In order to make wine, grapes were harvested off the vine and placed into a winepress. Five to seven men would then enter the winepress and walk over the grapes until liquid drained into vats. After the majority of juice was collected, the grapes were placed into a cloth sack, and then twirled around sticks. This additional step ensured that any leftover juice was not wasted. Once all the juice was collected, it was stored in clay jars and sealed.  

In order to make beer, wheat, barley, or millet was crudely ground. One quarter of the grain was soaked in water and left in the sun to ferment; while the rest of the grain was worked into loaves of bread and baked so that the enzymes were not destroyed. The baked loaves of bread were then crumbled up and mixed with the soaked grain that had fermented. Water was then added and the entire mixture was allowed to further ferment. After the mixture fermented, it was filtered by a cloth to remove any lumpy texture found in the beer. Once the beer was filtered it was stored in large clay jars for later use.