Brew your own beer?

[IJesusChrist]

Does anyone else brew beer?

I find it rewarding... Not exactly what we would call a psychodelic, but alcohol does give me intense introspection sometimes.

Plus, I tend to drink it with a better mind set, rather than to get drunk, I really enjoy it. tis good.

 

[ararat]

I don't, but it sounds interesting.

alcohol fits into certain evenings pretty well, like this one right now

christian rätsch wrote a big book on beer, apparently there exist many different ways to make many different beeers with different effects, you should check it out.

 

[IJesusChrist]

It looks like it is all in german...

Some people believe the ingredients in beer (alcohol) can alter effects, just go to any american college and ask what their favorite and least favorite alcohols are and why - you'll be overloaded with misinformation about what liquors do.

"Dark liquor makes you fight"
"Clear liquor makes you happy"
"Beer makes you sick if you drink it before alcohol"
"Dark liquor gives you a big hangover, clear liquor doesn't"

etc...

I don't know if I believe that the effects of cinnamon, root beer extract, vanilla, or other additives in any alcohol or beer will have a noticeable affect over the amount of sugar and alcohol you consumer ...

but I'm in the minority on that one.

 

[gammagoblin]

I certainly get drunk differently on beer, wine, or spirits. I always thought that was because of the herbs they put in beer and wine. Hop in beer, but I don't know whether they put herbs in wine. Come to think of it, I don't think they do. Could also be the rate of absorption of alcohol in the body. If you take a shot of vodka for example, it may be absorped in the body quicker than let's say a beer and that's why the effect feels more powerful, even if you took less alcohol. This is all speculation though.

 

[ararat]

hop definitely has effects, you can buy it in pharmacies to make some tea with it. it apparently has a sedentary effect, which explains why I always get kinda tired with beer. not so with wine, which I prefer, it feels different. I'm sure there are different chemicals in wine, since it's quite a complex thing, this fermentation. consider one thing, there are tannins in wine, which inhibit digestion-proteins, which might add to a different feeling - and this is just one thing.

what I meant with the different ways to make beer was not so much about adding cinnamon, but make it in an entirely different way, different herbs etc.
it's too bad the books by Christian Rätsch are all in german (are you sure?). he seems like a brilliant ethnobotanist.

 

[IJesusChrist]

bah I think alcohol is just set and setting.

If you drink wine you're setting yourself up to a different mind set than if you are taking shots from a vodka bottle... and god knows alcohol tends to amplify your state of mind.

all I could find was german :\

 

[Sticki]

Here's some information on brewing that may be helpfull - http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

Information on Hops - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops (Look at the brewing section and the noted medicinal effects especially)

Wine contains sulpfites, Some times naturally but in some cases they are added as a preservative or to arrest the fermenting process in some wines. Sulfites can have adverse effects more info here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfite

Have fun reading and good luck brewing

 

[Cha(s)do]

Here is a shop where you can find books and hardware to brew your own beer...

Of course, it's a belgian one!

They have a lot of other interesting thing for Kombucha, Cheese, Sauerkraut...

(And no, i don't work for them, neither do have share, I'm a simple customer)

 

[ImTrippingStupid]

I haven't started brewing my own mostly because of limited space and finances. I can say however that I currently work part time for a micro brewer/brew pub. I would at some point like to brew my own beer in the future as I have gotten to where I am becoming a beer snob after working where I work. I simply can't afford to drink the kind of hand crafted beers that I enjoy most as they all cost a lot of money. The most expensive microbrew that I have drank in the last year costs around $200USD for a case of 24floz bottles. I am truly in love with Imperial Stouts and IPAs though a good Barley Wine is heaven. If anyone has any pictures of their brewing equipment I would love to check them out. I have been trying to snag some of the recipies from where I work and see about improving most of them because we typically don't brew imperials. The average ABV of the beer that we have on tap is 5%-6.5%. We had a Russian Imperial Stout that we had on tap for about a month that was around 9.5% ABV. I wish I had gotten the chance to try some of it but unfortunately I was literally too broke to even afford a 10floz glass.