KAVA has anyone heard of this hawaii root?

Has anyone ever brewed with KAVA??? Just curious

I can't say many people would be willing to brew with something that can cause hepatic toxicity.

Never thought of it. Kava is a drink made from the root of the Awa plant.
Here is a link w/some information.

http://www.canoeplants.com/awa.html

Kava Kava is tahitian its used in Holistic medicine for its calming effects on the brain

Had it before as the traditional drink but never thought about brewing with it.

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I'm just curious. Never heard about it being bad for you though

I found this quickly, but it's an accessible read for a non-scientist.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080222111446.htm

I have drank it before, you don't want that **** in your beer.

I've thought about it. The traditional way to make the drink is to soak the root in cold water and the drink does not taste very good.

I'm not sure how to use it in beer. Adding it to the boil like a spice would seem to make sense but I'm hesitant to add it to the boil b/c the traditional way to make the kava drink doesn't involve cooking, just letting it steep in cold water.

I think the way that I will eventually try it will be to add a small amount to a finished beer. I'll pour a dark beer over some roots, let it soak for a bit, fish the roots out and give it a try.

The effects of drinking kava are...well...meh. But I do want to try it in beer.

There used to be a kava bar in town and before they served it to you they asked if you had alcohol in the last 6 hours. If you had, they wouldn't serve you.

Kava causes a gaseous reaction in your stomach if you have had alcohol prior to drinking it causing you to vomit.

I personally have never tried but those that have, said it tasted like mud.

I don't know what would happen if you tried to brew with it.

I have drank both alcohol and kava at the same time and noticed no ill effects, although I did not drink either to excess. The kava kind of gives you a "fat and happy" feeling. The downside is that it tastes and looks like dirty, muddy water, and leaves somewhat of an unpleasant numbing sensation in your mouth and throat.

Anyone watch drinking made easy on hdnet? Zane lamprey had a segment with it. Think the place is www.mauikava.com

That is where I saw it. He didn't mention any bad things if mixed with alcohol.

Kava root is ground up and used to make a drink that resembles muddy water and leaves a bitter, numb sensation in the lips, mouth and throat. Drink enough and it is supposed to induce relaxation. Consume too much and it is bad for your liver. It can also be taken as an herbal supplement in caplet form. That being said, I have no idea how it would work in a beer as I am pretty new to the whole home brew thing.

edit: It is a pretty nasty drink, and tastes like dirt.

IffyG said:

I can't say many people would be willing to brew with something that can cause hepatic toxicity.

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You might be surprised.

The "doctor" who did the study about kava toxicity was trying to prove his own agenda. It has since been disproved. The kavalactones that give kava its' efficacy are destryed by heat. Have your kava on the side and enjoy. It doest taste like bitter dirt, but quaf away and the effects are enjoyable.

Rockape66 said:

The "doctor" who did the study about kava toxicity was trying to prove his own agenda. It has since been disproved. The kavalactones that give kava its' efficacy are destryed by heat. Have your kava on the side and enjoy. It doest taste like bitter dirt, but quaf away and the effects are enjoyable.

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I have some friends who went on a trip to the South Pacific last year and drank a ton of the stuff. No one got sick.

You can add a pinch of soy lethicin to your kava tea while it's brewing to create a smoother texture and improve extraction of the kavalactones. While brewing it or making a kava drink, you should use cold liquid, never use hot liquid because the high temperature destroys kava's main active ingredients.

Hello, I am getting read to brew a kava stout to enjoy this winter. I am writing to ask how you prepared the kava before racking onto it. How did you prevent contamination of your beer as you racked it onto the bacteria (and God knows what else) laden kava? Did you boil it, soak it in alcohol, have a witch doctor bless it, etc, (just kidding about the witch doctor....or may be not, it is kava kava).

I plan to allow it to sit on the root for about 1 day during secondary, or simply placing some kava chips in a sifting bag and putting it in the keg before I rack into the keg. Thoughts?

My big concern is bacterial contamination of the beer with a root that has not been boiled ( as I have heard boiling the root yields it useless).

Just don't mix kava and xanax. They potentiate each other amd can cause respiratory issues/distress

Echoing others, but I wouldn't combine kava and brewing. Fine on their own, can be pleasant efffects, but it doesn't need to go in my beer. As others have mentioned, it tastes like slightly spicy mud water. That's what it looks like, too.

dfyiyirty said:

I can't say many people would be willing to brew with something that can cause hepatic toxicity.

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Yeah, best to let the ethyl alcohol do that on it's own.