Maybe I should start brewing my own beer
4My lovely, fairly newly crunchy wife is trying to scare me from drinking beer... not sure it will work. I've already (mostly) given up gluten and meat fattened with grains, and all of the chickens out there that love to run free must now like me, since I only buy cage free eggs. On the plus side, I have a whole cow in my freezer right now since it's cheaper to buy the pasture-fed beef in bulk.
http://foodbabe.com/2013/07/17/the-shocking-ingredients-in-beer/
Some high(low)lights from the article:
Beer makers are not required by law to list their ingredients (so they don't).
Commercially produced beer may contain the following:
- Insect-Based Dyes: carmine derived from cochineal insects to color their beer.
--> Who doesn't like a good bug now and then?
Animal Based Clarifiers: Findings include isinglass (dried fish bladder), gelatin (from skin, connective tissue, and bones), and casein (found in milk)
-->as long as the fish bladder is dried, it's fine with meNatural Flavors (can come from anything natural including a beavers anal gland)
-->now this one really bothers me. the poor beavers...Propylene Glycol (an ingredient found in anti-freeze)
--> maybe I should put beer in dishes outside to take care of my neighborhood cat problemFD&C Yellow 5 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
-->this sounds like a good thing to counter the effect of alcohol. coffee and beer just don't go that well togetherBPA (Bisphenol A is a component in many can liners and it may leach into the beer. BPA can mimic the female hormone estrogen and may affect sperm count, and other organ functions.)
-->I don't think this one has had a negative impact on me...
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I have long wanted to try home-brewing. I think I would really enjoy it. But I doubt it would completely replace Beaver Anus Ale for me.
I'm going to be pretty tempted by version 3 or 4 of the Brewbot, once they perfect it. Though I guess they have some Kickstarter competition now in the PicoBrew Zymatic.
Not to distract from the adventures of home brewing.... BUT where did you buy the cow in bulk? I've been trying to research (and apparently spring is the time to buy!) and don't really know what I'm doing, being fairly new to crunchy-ville myself.
@girlgonemild, We got it from Taylor Cooper who is often at the Coppell Farmer's market. Working with him was a bit of a pain since there were a few times he had to delay our order, but he was highly recommended to us, and in the end we are happy with how it turned out.
My cardiologist has pre-determined what kind of foods I eat, including NO beer. -sigh-
I have a feeling that this article is a bit misinformed.
I'm not quite sure I agree that Propylene Glycol is actually used in the beer. Breweries will use that to crash cool the beer after boiling. They'll use a double walled fermenter and cycle glycol that cools down the beer for fermentation. Bars also use this to keep the draft lines cold.
Homebrewers are more likely to use animal based clarifiers. Breweries have special filters that filter out yeast, and extra proteins. For homebrewers, the beer will flocculate on it's own (may take a few extra weeks), but the clarifiers speed up the process. Some yeast strains flocculate faster than others.
I helped my brother with a couple beginner batches a few years back and they turned out so-so. I admit we didn't have a high tech set up and really didn't know what we were doing. Basically just followed the instructions. We drank 'em and I'm still alive but it might explain alot about the "crazy" of the two of us! Best of luck.