The search for XINGU Black Beer began in 1986 when Amazon, Inc. was founded in Vermont to prevent the extinction of some of the world’s rarest styles of beer. Dissatisfied with the bland offerings from American brewers and with the imports not offering much diversion from that, the company hired beer historian Alan Eames to research and locate native prototypes of dark, rich beers from around the world. The search began in Brazil where Eames insisted the best examples of black beer could be found. The earliest Western account of black beer brewed by the natives of the Amazon region dates to 1557. Many Amazon Indian tribes placed great spiritual significance on black beer as a beverage used in religious and social ceremonies. This primitive brewing was done with dark roasted corn or manioc root, fermentation being initiated by wild yeast. Anne Latchis, President of Amazon, Inc. and Alan Eames traveled to Brazil looking for a black beer to import that would represent a unique style of beer from the two cultures of that country, the natives of the Amazon rain forest and the descendants of the European colonial settlers. The result of this effort is XINGU Black Beer. http://xingubeer.com