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
Cider a distinct sweet-tart taste, and in these regions, the fermented beverage is known as "hard cider". In Canada, the terms "cider" and "apple cider" are interchangeable although they generally refer to alcoholic and juice beverages, respectively. Cider is produced commercially in every Canadian province except Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan, usually with a 5–7% alcohol content although the term is also used for some non-fermented apple juices. According to the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations, alcoholic cider is an alcoholic fermentation of apple juice that does not contain more than 13% absolute alcohol by volume (ABV) or less than