Global alcohol consumption: Difference between revisions

Beer is the most popular form of alcoholic beverage in Kiravia, and is an important fixture of the Kiravian diet. Brewing is done at the level of individual households and farmsteads, monasteries, and micro- and craft breweries with regional markets; as well as by large corporate operations with nationwide and international reach. Kiravian beer styles are extremely diverse, with the [[Corcoran Institution]]'s Museum of Kiravian Brewing and Distillation Arts having catalogued 312 distinct styles of beer either native to Kiravia or thoroughly nativised before Kirosocialism, around half of which can be considered "heirloom" or "heritage" styles that are endemic to specific localities and may or may not be commercially available. However, there are a few major styles that account for the majority of commercially available Kiravian beer, namely porters and stouts (mainly from Northeast Kirav), red ales (mainly from the Mid-Continental region), and Kiravian Pale Ale in its several varieties. Barley is grown in nearly all arable parts of the island continent and Æonara, while the main hop-growing regions are the Eastern Highlands, the West Coast and wetter areas of the Western Highlands, and South Kirav. Hops cannot be reliably grown in the far northern fringes of Great Kirav or most parts of Koskenkorva, but this has not deterred denizens of these climes from brewing beer. Instead, they have turned to other botanicals to impart flavour and antiseptic properties to their beer, including conifer buds and needles, heather and elderberry. Spruce ale and pine ale have been adopted beyond their original range and are now produced even in hop-producing areas such as Trinatria and Kaskada.

Wine has traditionally had a more marginal place in the (Great) Kiravian diet compared to whiskey and beer, though its popularity has been steadily growing for decades, especially among the affluent and those in coastal cities. Few parts of the Kiravian Federacy are well-suited to the cultivation of grapes, although a cold-hardy variety introduced by Burgundine immigrants is used to produce table wine in parts of central and southern Great Kirav. Wine is much more popular in Sydona, which alone accounts for over 90% of Kiravian wine production and 45% of Kiravian wine consumption.