From: www.santafenewmexican.com/news/2508.html

American archeologists have discovered the oldest known brewery in the Andes, an ancient complex in the mountaintop city of Cerro Baul where priests turned pepper-tree berries into a fiery brew called "chicha" that was used for ritual feasting and other purposes.

The process is similar to that used by later societies to make beer from barley and hops, but the taste of the brew was quite different. Project botanists are attempting to re-create the drink. Video of their experiments can be seen at: www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions/index.html.

Jennifer