Doomsday Preppers

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

SmokingGunn

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2012
Messages
56
Reaction score
3
I have to admit, I can't get enough of the Nat Geo series "Doomsday Preppers." Some of those people are a little crazy... Some a little practical. Though I'm not much of a prepper myself, it makes me wonder what would be in store for the future of beer in a doomsday scenario.

How would you get ready for the end of the world as we know it, beer wise. You won't be able to have those grains, hops, and yeast packets shipped across the country to your doorstep. Would you try to store bulk supplies somehow? How would you preserve the freshness of your ingredients? Would you grow your own ingredients? What do you do for yeast? I would assume you'd have to switch to wood for fuel and preserve your propane...

Gunn
 
Personally I would give up on beer and go to mead cider and fruit wines. The only reason is getting ingredients for beer would be much more difficult then the ingredients for the other options locally or require too much work( at that point easier to obtain/create is far more important for survival). For yeast I would culture my own local yeast, probably off of the skins of fruit to start with.
 
It's probably in the right place, but on the borderline. It has nothing to do with the technical info usually discussed here, which is likely why you're not receiving the interest you'd prefer.
 
We have had threads like this in the past and the response above is the most correct. Malting barley is a PITA, don't think so try it!
 
I have fruit growing in my yard so would definitely only be making fruit wines. The thought of making wines from my excess fruit is what got me looking into brewing.
 
Lambic wine at that point for me.

I have enough useable trade stock that if I felt I needed a beer then I would eithr trade some of that stock or trade lead, personally though beer isn't on my list of necessities in this sort of scenario.
 
You can actually stock up and store grains.
They make little mylar bags that you could seal them in whole not ground. If you put an o2 absorber packet in them [they are sold super cheap on ebay], they could be stable for 20 plus years. Same with hops, just dry them really really well. The only thing that wouldnt store well is yeast.
Its going to be my streategy at income tax time that way I can have 100-150lbs of grain stored and a few pounds of hops, and not have to buy any for a year or two.

Yeast will be a problem as even if you wash it after 5-6 generations it will go bad.

Wine would be the way to go for the doomsday types. Grape vines and berries would be easy to plant and are super easy to maintain.
 
I have an untested beverage that I plan to make this spring. I am calling Birch Beer. I will go and tap birch trees since they are NOT regulated for "tapping seasons" (major reason why real maple syrup is so expensive this year.) I will also dig up some of the roots.

I will take the "milk" and boil some of it down to a syrup but the majority will get boiled with the cleaned/chopped roots until i hit a 1.054-ish OG and then I will ferment it. How will it taste? I have no idea. But in a end of the world scenario I would be all over the maple trees in the spring as well.

"Beer" as we know it will probably become a rare commodity as it will become harder and harder to plant, harvest and malt barley. The labor for the return simply is not worth the effort.

BTW there is a HUGE difference in edible/food storage and storing malted grains long term. I do not think sticking grains in a Mylar bag w/ O2 absorbing packets will keep the enzymes alive for years and years but I may be wrong.
 
I didn't think about this before posting, but in such an event I think beer will become a highly valued commodity... primarily due to the fact that few will be able to produce it.
 
I'm an avid gardener also (1/4 acre garden), my house would have beer. I grow hops, corn, squatch, and barley is easy to grow, and easy to malt (Just time consuming). As far as yeast goes, no your favorite white labs, or wyeast would not be available, but if you had something in process you could propagate. The otherside of the coin is that there is always wild yeast...works very well for trappists or lambics. I have also tried to propagate wild yeast in samples of my wort from brew days, which has worked out VERY well:ban:! So my house would have beer :mug:maybe with adjuncts, and differing in taste from that which I'm used too (But not that bad). Also I like to think as a brewer in an end of the world situation, your skills would be valuable, and in high demand!!!
 
For anyone who watches the show, did you guys see the episode with the guy who invented some sort of shovel/sword thing then he shoots his thumb off with his sons?

Anyone else catch them "bugging out" in the Wrangler towing a trailer, but then when they are driving and keeping track of their driving time, the interior of the vehicle is obviously not a Wrangler, but some small SUV? Of course when they pull up to their hide site, it's in the Jeep again. That was pretty funny, but when he shot is thumb off I almost died laughing.
 
Yeah, that was hilarious. Especially since he kept going on about a "malfunction" as if it wasn't his fault. The only malfunction was that he had poor muzzle awareness and his finger on the trigger.
 
mb82 said:
Personally I would give up on beer and go to mead cider and fruit wines. The only reason is getting ingredients for beer would be much more difficult then the ingredients for the other options locally or require too much work( at that point easier to obtain/create is far more important for survival). For yeast I would culture my own local yeast, probably off of the skins of fruit to start with.
Click to expand...
Mead, cider and fruit wines would be what I would do.
 
I know I answered earlier but in all honesty there is probably little chance I would brew anything at all.

Brewing and fermenting takes a lot of time which means you need equipment and a singular location to conduct the process. In a SHTF situation I want to remain as mobile as possible since remaining stationary means defending stuff, yeah I like my house but when and if things go lawless I won't put my life and my families life in jeapordy for it.

Now if there were a community with safety involved I would find ways to brew since it would be a very valuable skill to the community.
 
First, I'm assuming that this is a post SHTF scenario, when society is trying to rebuild in any way that it can, allowing me to sit still long enough to brew, age, bottle, and bottle condition my beer/wine/mead/cider.

Second, my first successful brew would go into storage, never to be consumed (after it was confirmed as a successful brew). That way I have several cases of a viable yeast that will only be on it's second generation for as long as the yeast can stay dormant. Of course, once the yeast cells start to break down, then I'm in trouble. All brewers would have to get creative with how the yeasts are havested/cleaned/stored. Perhaps there's a more efficient way to grow the yeast than in wort. Maybe we can find alternative ways of growing the yeast we need without contaminating the whole batch.

Third, you thought sanitization was important now, try it without Star-San and running water. Sterilization will be king. We'll have to boil the crap out of everything to make this work. And hope that we can find something to cover it to keep the dirt out while we go about the business of brewing.
 
Felixio said:
First, I'm assuming that this is a post SHTF scenario, when society is trying to rebuild in any way that it can, allowing me to sit still long enough to brew, age, bottle, and bottle condition my beer/wine/mead/cider.

Second, my first successful brew would go into storage, never to be consumed (after it was confirmed as a successful brew). That way I have several cases of a viable yeast that will only be on it's second generation for as long as the yeast can stay dormant. Of course, once the yeast cells start to break down, then I'm in trouble. All brewers would have to get creative with how the yeasts are havested/cleaned/stored. Perhaps there's a more efficient way to grow the yeast than in wort. Maybe we can find alternative ways of growing the yeast we need without contaminating the whole batch.

Third, you thought sanitization was important now, try it without Star-San and running water. Sterilization will be king. We'll have to boil the crap out of everything to make this work. And hope that we can find something to cover it to keep the dirt out while we go about the business of brewing.
Click to expand...


Wild yeast. Might not be style correct, but this would be getting down to the roots of brewing.

As for sanitization, yeah. There will probably be a higher prevalence of sours floating around.
 
If the bottles are radio active, then wouldn't it just be a matter of time before the contents have the same problem, even if they were spared the original blast of radiation?

And true, wild yeasts may not be the correct style for what we're brewing, that's why it'd be more likely that you'd end up brewing to match the yeast more than adding yeast to match your brew. It's also why cider and wine was such a strong suggestion, they'd grow with enough natural yeast to start furmentation. Though, if you could track down a bottle in the style you're looking for on lees, then you'd have hit a gold mine! But that'd be tough.

Also, I know it's not supposed to be mentioned, but if there is a collapse, then distilling is back on the table. Whatever nasty, nearly drinkable beer/wine you brew could easily become something marketable.
 
Can you stash brew kits that have malt extract and a vacuum sealed milar bag of hops etc.? I use milar bags to store my long term food storage (some of it) and am wondering if I could buy kits and repackage or put them in food grade locking lid tubs etc. Wine is always a great option, and even brandy from a good wine if you have a distiller. Nice to have options in a disaster!! I went through hurricanes when I lived in VA and one of the best things was when a neighbor brought me beer from the store she worked at because the power was out and it was getting warm!

Nettie
 
Nettie said:
Can you stash brew kits that have malt extract and a vacuum sealed milar bag of hops etc.? I use milar bags to store my long term food storage (some of it) and am wondering if I could buy kits and repackage or put them in food grade locking lid tubs etc. Wine is always a great option, and even brandy from a good wine if you have a distiller. Nice to have options in a disaster!! I went through hurricanes when I lived in VA and one of the best things was when a neighbor brought me beer from the store she worked at because the power was out and it was getting warm!

Nettie
Click to expand...

Dry malt extract could be stored, but hops or liquid extract would not have a long shelf life. . Wine is your best bet.
 
Look into gruits. Hops arent necessary. There are many other plants and herbs that can be used for the bitterness and flavors unless you are in hop country like the Willamette Valley.
 

Similar threads

R
Prices for yeast and other items
Replies
4
Views
521
AlexKay
A
lutherieguy
Mystery problem about 8 days into ferment - TWICE
Replies
4
Views
244
lutherieguy
lutherieguy
P
A few beginner questions...
Replies
9
Views
1K
PeterG
P
F
cleaning and storing PET bottle (pop bottles)
Replies
9
Views
1K
fluketamer
F
Luxy
Beer enhancer required if brewing purely from DME?
Replies
37
Views
2K
Rish
R

Latest posts

Back
Top