brew vs ferment

brew

verb
  • To make beer by steeping a starch source in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. 

  • To heat wine, infusing it with spices; to mull. 

  • To make tea or coffee by mixing tea leaves or coffee beans with hot water. 

  • To attend to the business, or go through the processes, of brewing or making beer. 

  • To make a hot soup by combining ingredients and boiling them in water. 

  • To be in a state of preparation; to be mixing, forming, or gathering. 

  • To foment or prepare, as by brewing 

noun
  • A serving of beer. 

  • A cup of tea. 

  • The mixture formed by brewing; that which is brewed; a brewage, such as tea or beer. 

  • An overhanging hill or cliff. 

ferment

verb
  • To react, using fermentation; especially to produce alcohol by aging or by allowing yeast to act on sugars; to brew. 

  • To stir up, agitate, cause unrest or excitement in. 

noun
  • Something, such as a yeast or barm, that causes fermentation. 

  • A gentle internal motion of the constituent parts of a fluid; fermentation. 

  • A state of agitation or of turbulent change. 

  • A catalyst. 

How often have the words brew and ferment occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )