The town of Taybeh boasts two main things: (1) It is the only village in Palestine that is completely inhabited by Christians, and (2) It is the home to delicious Taybeh beer!

About 1,500 residents live in Taybeh, all of them either Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, or Greek Catholic. The village of Taybeh was originally called Ephraim, and is thought to be the city to which Jesus came with his disciples before his crucifixion. "Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim" (John 11:54). According to stories, a visit by the Islamic leader Salahdin was responsible for the name change. Apparently he found the people there to be “good and kind” – in Arabic, “taybeen” – and the name stuck, to become “Taybeh.”

As for the beer, also named Taybeh, it is produced in a factory in the town and welcomes visitors for a tour. Owned by Nadim Khoury, who returned to Palestine after living for almost 20 years in Boston, Taybeh Beer, the first microbrewery in the Middle East, is now eight years old. Like many other exiled Palestinians, Khoury returned after the Olso accords to participate in the strengthening of the Palestinian economy. Together with his brother and father, Khoury put his beer recipe to the test. The result is a light, full-bodied beer, made according to the German purity law, and utilizing ingredients from around the world: malt from Belguim, hops from Bavaria, yeast from England, brown bottles from Portugal, fresh spring water from a nearby spring in Ein Samia, and labels produced in Ramallah.