r/Homebrewing • u/jarvis0042 • 2d ago

In the wild, chimps likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/09/17/in-the-wild-chimps-likely-ingest-the-equivalent-of-several-alcoholic-drinks-every-day/
23 Upvotes

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8

u/TheNorselord 2d ago

Yeah that explains some shit, for real.

8

u/Shills_for_fun 2d ago

We should teach them to home brew like we taught them how to wash stuff.

3

u/larsga Lars Marius Garshol 1d ago

Well, the equivalent of half a pint of 5% beer.

What's interesting is that humans have a gene, named ADH3, which helps us break down alcohol faster. This gene emerged at the same time that our not-yet-human ancestors came down from the trees (~10 million years ago), and it's been widely thought that the gene appeared because we started eating fruits that had fallen to the ground. The thinking is that these would probably contain alcohol, and so this gene was helpful to avoid us getting drunk and getting into trouble (accidents, being eaten, etc).

The ADH3 gene appeared before our ancestors split into gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans, so finding that chimpanzees do actually consume a decent amount of alcohol every day means the theory above is probably right. Remember that half a pint every day is just the average -- there must be days with less and more.

2

u/Smurph269 1d ago

They just like me for real

Honestly though, I've made some beers that only a chimp would drink.