Drink to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, served as both a prayer and as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people. Today, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. Cider is a fermented alcoholic drink made from fruit juice, most commonly and traditionally apple juice, but also the juice of peaches, pears ("Perry" cider) or other fruit. Cider may be made from any variety of apple, but certain cultivars grown solely
Apple cider is used for the fermented alcoholic drink in most of the world, it refers to fresh "apple cider" in the United States and much of Canada; "hard cider" is used there instead for the alcoholic drink. While some states specify a difference between apple juice and cider, the distinction is not well established across the U.S. Massachusetts makes an attempt to at least differentiate "fresh" cider and processed apple juice: according to its Department of Agricultural Resources, "apple juice and apple cider are both fruit beverages made from apples, but there is a difference between the two. Fresh cider is