In this Gemara it appears that the entire discussion focuses around beer made from dates which was apparently a popular kind of beer due to the abundance of dates in the region (as described in many places in the Talmud).Rav Pappa writes (daf 113) that he became wealthy from brewing date beer, and in a number of Talmudic references this beer is mentioned before beer from hops (Bava Basra 96b, Moed Katan 12b) implying that it was the main beer.

This from a history site: "the favourite alcoholic drink of the ancient Babylonians in the first millennium BCE was date beer, a beverage fermented from the fruit of the date palm which was widely consumed, and ancient records from Babylonia constantly refer to its production and resale in pubs or taverns.

"Although the research literature tends to call it "beer", the beverage is actually closer to cider. It is produced from fruit and water and fermented using natural yeast in the dates."

One last comment: The ancient sites and the Talmud refer to terrible headaches from date beer. I don't think that regular beer's alcoholic quantity would cause such headaches, so this must have had a powerful alcoholic kick.

Yoel Domb