I can’t even imagine how hardcore you’d have to be to brew beer in Palestine.

If you had wanted to set up a brewery producing high-quality Pilsner to the specifications of the German Beer Purity Laws of 1516, the occupied Palestinian West Bank would be just about the last place you would think of trying.

Given the difficulties of transporting anything thanks to the Intifada and the Israeli checkpoints, not to mention the fact that the majority of the local market is made up of tee- total Muslims, it seems a crazy proposition. But Nadim Khoury, the dapper, American-accented proprietor of the Taybeh Brewery, doesn’t seem crazy. He just happens to believe that his national pride is best expressed by making Palestine’s first-ever beer.