Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation PDF
Preview Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation
A dog is rmd to pull the still sleeping mandrake from the earth. [Il1ustratio11 from Tacuinurn sanitatis, i11 Medicina sanitatis, Codex Vindobonensis.) SACRED andHERBAL HEALING BEERS Secrets Ancient Fermentation The of STEPHEN HARROD BUHNER An Imprint of Brewers Publications A Division of the Brewers Association Boulder, Colorado Siris Books, an imprint of Brewers Publications A Division of the Brewers Association PO Box 1679, Boulder, CO 80306-1679 (303) 447-0816; Fax (303) 447-2825 www.beertown.org © 1998 by Stephen Harrod Buhner All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be repro duced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Neither the author, editors, nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for the use or misuse of informa tion contained in this book. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 ISBN-13: 978-0-937381-66-3 ISBN-10: 0-937381-66-7 Siris Books. Who is Siris? She was the daughter of Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer. Anthropologists personify Siris as the beer itself. Please direct all inquiries to the above address. Disclaimer. Many of the formulas (recipes) for beers (fermented beverages) in this book were commonly consumed in historic times, and traditionally included the use of poisonous plants. In such cases the recipes and instructions for these beers are for historical and educational purposes only. The Publisher and the Author do not rec ommend the making or use of these b~ers by the reader. The Author and Publisher shall be held blameless for any injury to the.reader that may occur from the ingestion of any of these beers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Buhner, Stephen Harrod. Sacred and herbal healing beers : the secrets of ancient fermentation I Stephen H. Buhner. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-937381-66-7 {alk. paper) I. Beer. 2. Brewing. I. Title. TP577.B84 1998 98-17064 64 l.2'3-dc2 I CIP It is impossible to dedicate a book to "Nobody." J This one then is or Maria. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. ix AUTHOR'S NOTE ON THE TEXT............... .......... ................................................... xi PROLOGUE ........................................................................................................................ xiii PREFACE .............................................................................................................................. xv CHAPTER ONE: The Well of Remembrance ............................................................ CHAPTER TWO: The Mead of Inspiration: Mead, Honey, and Heather ............ 19 CHAPTER THREE: Yeast: A Magical and Medicinal Plant .......... ............. ........... 61 CHAPTER FOUR: Sacred Indigenous Beers ................................................. .............. 79 CHAPTER FIVE: Alcohol: Aqua Vitae, the Water of Life ... .... .. .... .... .... ...... .... .... .. 135 CHAPTER SIX: The Fennentation and Sacredness of Grains ......... .... ... .. ..... ... ... 145 CHAPTER SEVEN: Psychotropic and Highly Inebriating Beers..... .............. .... ..... 165 CHAPTER EIGHT: Beers and Ales from Sacred and Medicinal Trees .................... 223 CHAPTER NINE: Beers and Ales from Sacred and Medicinal Plants .................. 265 EPILOGUE ........................................................................................................................... 425 The Appendices .......................................................................... 427 APPENDIX ONE: The Ancient Magic of Making Beer ........................................... 429 APPENDIX TWO: Some Meads of the Middle Ages ................................................. 441 APPENDIX TH REE: Herbs Used in Meads of the Middle Ages: A Brief Comlfendium .... 469 APPENDIX FOUR: Sources of Supply and Useful Books··· ............................... ·· · ... 479 CHAPTER REFERENCES ···· .............................................................................................. 483 INDEX····-·"''"''"'""''"''''••••"'"'''····"''"'''" ........................................................................... 513 COLOR PLATES FOLLOWING PAGE 246 SACRED PLANTS AND TREES USED IN RECIPES FOR BEERS, ALES, AND MEADS Agave Dock Molasses Avens Elderbeny Mugwort Banana Elderflower Myrica Barley Elecampane Nettle Betony Eyebright Oak bark Birch Fir Palm Borage Gentian Pennyroyal Bracken fern Ginger Peppermint Broom Grains of paradise Pine Buckbean Ground ivy Rice {or bogbean) Heather Rosemary Burnet Henbane Rue Calendula Honey Saffron Caraway Hop Sage Cardamom seed Horfhound Saguaro Carrot seed, wild Hyssop Sarsaparilla, wild Chamomile Irish moss Sassafras China root Juniper Scurvy grass Clary sage Lemon bairn Service berry Coriander Lettuce, wild Spruce Corn Licorice St.-John's-wort Cornstalk Mandrake Sweet flag Costmary Manioc Tansy Cow parsnip Maple Wintergreen Cowslip Meadowsweet Wormwood Dandelion Millet Yarrow Darnel Mint (See the index for page numbers.) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would not have been possible without: my editor, Toni Knapp, who bugged me for a year to write it {all the blame goes to her); Alan Eames, who opened his extensive library for my research, his home to my presence, and his phenomenal knowledge of beer and brewing to my end less questions; Dale Pendell, whose remarkable Pharmakolpoeia helped me to find the heart of this book; and Mika! Aasved, his tremendous 1,380- page doctoral dissertation Alcohol, Drinking, and Intoxication in Preindustrial Society: Theoretical, Nutritional, and Religious Considerations, his insight, depth of respect, encyclopedic research, and willingness to challenge , Western beliefs about what alcohol is and is not. Thanks to aII.
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