This is why I make my own beer! well, it's also fun..

Beer Usually Contains One or More Chemical Additives

GUM ARABIC (acacia) is in common use by many breweries as a stabilizer to prevent any alteration on the beverage before it is sold. It also helps the foaming quality of the beer. Yet medical literature warns that "allergic reactions, liver and kidney damage may follow its use."

SODIUM HYDROSULFITE (Na2S2O4) is a white or grayish white salt of hydro-sulfurous acid which is used in industry as a "reducing and bleaching agent." But the brewer adds this potentially dangerous chemical to his beer to prevent the taste from becoming inferior and stop the deterioration of its flavor to insure a "perfect" brew.

COBALT (Co) has been used by at least two breweries to "prevent over-foaming" in three different brands of beer. Federal officials in the U.S. and Canada, as well as investigating physicians, have strongly implicated cobalt as the cause of 37 deaths and many other serious cases of "beer drinker's heart disease." In every case the heart muscles of the beer drinker slowly degenerated and finally stopped working.

TANNIC ACID (tannin), a yellowish to light brown substance, is used in tanning, dyeing and the manufacturing of ink. Taken internally it can be blamed for "arresting secretion, causing contraction of the tissues and arresting the flow of blood within the vessels." Tannic acid has been known to cause "gastric irritation" and "liver damage." Disregarding these dangers, many breweries use it to eliminate any sediment or "cloudiness" from their brands of beer.

AMMONIUM PHOSPHATE has many uses in industry - "fireproofing" fabrics, fertilizer, impregnating lamp wicks, preventing "after-glow" in matches, and as a flux for soldering tin, copper and brass. Beer companies use it to chemically "improve" or "correct" American water so that it will correspond with the water used in European brewing. (Have you ever been to Europe? DON'T drink the water!)

POTASSIUM METABISULFITE is used by brewers as "an antioxidant" to inhibit the chemical reactions taking place in the beer and prevent deterioration of the flavor. In industry this chemical is used for bleaching straw and as a source of sulfurous acid.

TARTARIC ACID (H2C4H4O6) is a colorless or translucent chemical used in photography and for silvering mirrors and coloring metals. It is occasionally used in medicine as a laxative. Some batches of beer are so cloudy and unappetizing no one would dare drink them. So, the brewer "doses" them with tartaric acid to take away the cloudiness and present "an appetizing appearance."

PAPAIN (papayotin) is a chemical additive akin to meat tenderizer, which prevents beer from "clotting." In medicine it is used as a solvent for warts and other external skin growths, but its internal use carries with it the warning that "certain individuals may exhibit severe gastrointestinal symptoms after ingestion." Yet, this chemical substance is widely used in the brewing industry.

MAGNESIUM SULFATE (MgSO4.7H2O) better known to most of us as a cathartic (or purgative) named "Epsom Salts" is the active ingredient in most of the advertised "laxative waters." Breweries rely on lots of Epsom Salts to "alter" the water they use in the brewing process, ignoring completely medical warnings which state it "can cause respiratory failure" and "renal (kidney) impairment."

DEXTRIN is a white, amorphorous powder used by brewers to insure a better head of light frothy bubbles on the surface of their beer. On the other hand, industry uses dextrin in the manufacture of matches, fireworks and explosives.

Some of the chemicals are byproducts of the brewing process, and are common, even for homebrewers. Tannic acid is extracted from the husks of the grain during the mash. Although not desirable, it is almost always present in varying amounts, depending on process.

Potassium metabisulphate is the main chemical in campden tablets, mainly used in homebrewing beer as a dechlorinator, and also used in wine making.

Dextrin is unavoidable. Dextrine are what gives beer body, and are simply unfermentable sugars. Higher mash temps=more dextrins.

You are correct in stating that the chemicals are potentially dangerous, but the poison is in the dosage, not the chemical. The doses we ingest are far below the dose required to cause harm.

Even oxygen and water will kill you in high enough amounts.

If it has a funny name and used in something other than food, than it must be poison.

Mobstar said:

(Have you ever been to Europe? DON'T drink the water!)

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That's Mexico man. All major European countries I've been to had fine water


Rev.

Had actually done some research on this list you would have found out that it did indeed come from .1timothy4-13.com...which is that really freaky fundamentalist Christian Website that has been largely dismissed and ridiculed.

Their first paragraph is pretty horrofic if you ask me. (Horrofic in the sense that they state the obvious and make it scary.

Beer Always Contains the Drug Alcohol

Beverage alcohol, technically referred to as ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH), is the main intoxicating agent in beer.

Medical literature classifies beverage alcohol as a habit-forming and addiction-producing substance, which has a narcotizing action on the central nervous system.

Besides being a dangerous drug, medical authorities in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology also classify beverage alcohol as

an anesthetic
a hypnotic
an analgesic
a poison
a depressant
an irritant

Alcohol cannot be rightfully called a food. It does supply calories of energy, but these are "empty" and "toxic" calories. Alcohol contains no vitamins, proteins or minerals, and its dominant properties place it among the dangerous drugs and poisons rather than among the foods.

The average 12-ounce can of beer contains one-half ounce of beverage alcohol. This is the same amount of alcohol one would obtain from most other alcoholic drinks.

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The next thing they follow up with is

Beer Always Contains the Drug Lupulin

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THAT'S FROM HOPS!!!!!!!!! If you haven't realized...

Of course they must not heard of gruits, eh?

And the rest of the page (maybe you didn't scroll down?) Says this-

Maybe the question should be
"WHAT'S RIGHT WITH BEER?"

THE BIBLE SAYS:

"Be not among winebibbers; among rioteous eaters of flesh:
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty:
and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions?
who had babbling?
who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

AT THE LAST IT BITETH LIKE A SERPENT,
AND STINGETH LIKE AN ADDER."
(Proverbs 23:20-21,29-32)

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I'm just surprised that they didn't also put in big letters Beer ALWAYS contains Dihydrogen monoxide In big bold scary letters followed by skull and crossbones.


Some of these are natural byproducts of the brewing process, I.e. The yeast produces them, others are added by ANY BREWER commercial or homebrewer who tweaks his water chemistry to make good beer. For example not everyone's water can make a really tasty ipa- so they add certain of these non harmless compounds (mostly minerals) to help make the beer taste good. They don't flavor the beer, they help the extraction process, to pull all the right flavor compounds out of the grain.

Where you got this from is fear mongering and ignorant.

Like others have said, YOUR HOMEBREW had lupulin, Alcohol, tannins and other things already in them...And as you become a better brewer then you'll probably be grabbing for some of the other "dangerous chemicals"[/sarcasm] to improve your brewing.

Next time you post something like this, you might want to a) check the source, and B) find out if they even know what they're talking about....

I really hope you were posting this to be ironic, like countless others have posted this same stuff before you, not because you really believe it.... Because then you'd just look silly.

This is the homebrewing equivalent of getting Rickrolled.

Looks like you're homebrewing for all the wrong reasons then.

Gum Arabic is used in almost everything you put in your mouth, from soft drinks, to candy, to medicines, and it's been used for a very long time. No harmful side effects at sensible doses.

Sodium hydrosulfite is also used in foods, and lists no harmful side effects. Everything is “potentially dangerous” if used incorrectly.

Coballt is known as an “oligoelement”, and it's essential for life. It's an important part of vitamin B12, and its medium toxic level (LD50) is up to 500 mg per kilo, per day. That means, a 220Lb person would have to ingest 20 grams of it to start having problems.

Tannic acid, as srt04 said, is present in all beer, including homebrew, and sometimes added to wine and cider. It's not added to beer, as it produces an astringent off flavor.

Ammonium phosphate is also known as “yeast nutrient”. It's NOT used to correct anything, but to promote proper yeast reproduction in wines, ciders, bread, and eventually beer, both commercial and homemade.

Potassium metabisulfite is, as srt04 also correctly stated, the only ingredient of Campden Tablets. It's used as a dechlorinator (to neutralize chloramine), wort/must sanitizer, and stabilizer (together with potassium sorbate), in both commercial and homemade wine, cider and beer, especially if you want to sweeten after fermenting.

Tartaric acid is another compound naturally found in many fruits, and wine. No known ill effects.

Papain is not a “chemical additive”, it's an enzime, mainly found in the papaya fruit, hence its name. It's only regulated for topical (on the skin) use.

And, finally, dextrin is sugar, and it's naturally produced in beer during mashing.

Most of this data can be easily found in Wikipedia. You should really check your facts more thoroughly.

Inodoro_Pereyra said:

Looks like you're homebrewing for all the wrong reasons then......

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Brother Inodoro, I hope you didn't spend TOO much time doing research to counter this nonsense did you? I did because I know the source of this...but it's not worth taking time out of anyone else's day. The OP got Rickrolled and didn't even know it.....

Revvy said:

I'm just surprised that they didn't also put in big letters Beer ALWAYS contains Dihydrogen monoxide In big bold scary letters followed by skull and crossbones.

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I was actually gonna mention that...

OP: now that Revvy has mentioned it, you should be aware of dihydrogen monoxide harmful side effects. Here's, from Wikipedia:

Dihydrogen monoxide:

* is called "hydroxyl acid", the substance is the major component of acid rain.
* contributes to the "greenhouse effect".
* may cause severe burns.
* is fatal if inhaled.
* contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
* accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
* may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
* has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:

* as an industrial solvent and coolant.
* in nuclear power plants.
* in the production of Styrofoam.
* as a fire retardant.
* in many forms of cruel animal research.
* in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
* as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.

As you can see, it's a very dangerous chemical compound, and it's been found to cause more deaths, throughout history, than most other chemicals. You may also know it under its common name, "water".

Revvy said:

Brother Inodoro, I hope you didn't spend TOO much time doing research to counter this nonsense did you? I did because I know the source of this...but it's not worth taking time out of anyone else's day. The OP got Rickrolled and didn't even know it.....

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For me, researching is learning, and learning is fun. I agree the Op got rickrolled. My problem is that somebody else may read this BS, and buy it.

The presence of too much Dihydrogen monoxide environmentally can cause major infrastructure degradation and mass death. Results of this have lately been seen in New Orleans and more recently Japan.

It's so unstable that Olea europaea will not mix with it....

I just dumped all my beer burned down my brewery and grabbed my bible. I feel much better now that I am going to live. But I did drink a lot of beer and water in Europe for Oktoberfest does that mean I am done for because it tasted so good.

Dihydrogen monoxide is so bad, that even Chuck Norris is afraid to inhale it.

Revvy said:

Dihydrogen monoxide is so bad, that even Chuck Norris is afraid to inhale it.

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Yep. And with reason.

It's been found to be a major component of most poisonous liquids.
It's a major component of sulfuric acid, and muriatic acid, among others.
It's the most important vehicle to many diseases, like cholera, for example.
It was a major culprit of the "titanic" tragedy, among many others.
It's also the most important component in snow avalanches.

And the list goes on...

haha.. you found my source..
I couldn't believe the non-sense this person was regurgitating!
I guess this is the sort of crap that brought on the Prohibition..
What I don't understand is most christian paintings and literature actually describe the disciples enjoying wine. Hell, even the Jehovah witnesses drink booze!! Who in their right mind would be so angry and intolerant towards consuming such yummy substances

But I do brew because I don't trust the big brewers and can't really afford to drink craft brews on a regular basis.

Mobstar said:

Who in their right mind would be so angry and intolerant towards consuming such yummy substances

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There's always people ready to twist reality to fit their "needs", and anything based on "faith" is tailor made to be taken out of context. The prohibition you mentioned is a clear example.
Even science can sometimes be distorted, like the dihydrogen monoxide stuff proves. Unfortunately, there's always people ready to eat up that kind of BS.

If you eat grapes you're getting large doses of tannic acid. Apples too.

Edit: Oh... and you know who used to ingest large quantities of dihydrogen monoxide on a daily basis? HITLER!

Mobstar said:

I couldn't believe the non-sense this person was regurgitating!

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Ignorance and bigotry:0, Reason and critical thinking: 1

This crackpot fascist takes issue with atheists, scientists, Calvinists, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses... Who says religion isn't divisive?

Inodoro_Pereyra said:

Coballt is known as an “oligoelement”, and it's essential for life. It's an important part of vitamin B12, and its medium toxic level (LD50) is up to 500 mg per kilo, per day. That means, a 220Lb person would have to ingest 20 grams of it to start having problems.

Most of this data can be easily found in Wikipedia. You should really check your facts more thoroughly.

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I totally agree with your point, but I wanted to clarify a couple misconceptions here. LD50 is short for "lethal dose 50%," and is sometimes referred to as the median toxicity. It is a single dosage (as in one time consumption of a given quantity of the substance) determination that causes death in 50% of the test population. Saying that a 220lb (100kg) person would need to consume x amount (20g in this case) in order to start having problems is a misnomer when based on an LD50 value. One person may be able to safely consume 500 mg/kg while another may die from a similar dose. In order to make an assessment of the risks associated with a certain dose of a substance it is more meaningful to construct or consult a toxicity curve.

Here are some great references in interpreting toxicity values (they only take a couple minutes to read through and are pretty accessible even without a background in the subject):

http://chemlabs.uoregon.edu/Safety/toxicity.html
http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/che480/lectures/lecture12_web/lecture12_web_notes.pdf

Also, I'm not sure where the 500 mg/kg came from, but the MSDS for elemental Co provided by Sigma-Aldrich here gives an LD50 of 6.171 g/kg in rats.

While I can't find a public link to any peer-review published work in this area, I found this interesting article from Time. As always, please take it with a grain of salt, as it is from a news periodical.

Again, I don't have any fear of cobalt in my beer. I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions, as this is a subject where I have some experience.

I was flummoxed when I realized I couldn't buy alcohol on Sunday after I moved to Georgia, but now I realize they were just trying to keep me safe. Thanks Southern Baptists!

Also prolonged contact with dihydrogen monoxide in the solid form can cause loss of limb or death. It's serious stuff.

weagle05 said:

Also prolonged contact with dihydrogen monoxide in the solid form can cause loss of limb or death. It's serious stuff.

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Same could be said about it's gaseous state--scary stuff!

Mobstar said:

But I do brew because I don't trust the big brewers and can't really afford to drink craft brews on a regular basis.

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Since you've decided to turn this around into an Ironic laugh at noncritical thinking, lets try some critical thinking.

What evidence do you have to not Trust big brewers?

Not to be a touch hole or anything, but the chemical in beer that most of us need to worry about, statistically speaking, is alcohol. I suspect that if beer was potentially dangerous, we may have learned about prior to now. Thanks for the rescue attempt!

April fools, I hope.

I also have been reading things on the internet. Sadly, it appears all home brewers are in cohoots with the evil corporations in producing carbon dioxide. We need to reduce our cabon footprint. Brewing beer without yeast is a great first step. If we all make an effort we can reduce the presence of this dangerous gas.

trigger said:

Also, I'm not sure where the 500 mg/kg came from, but the MSDS for elemental Co provided by Sigma-Aldrich here gives an LD50 of 6.171 g/kg in rats.

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Well, I could say I'm not a rat, but that's an old joke...

Either way, I took it from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_poisoning

In any case, 6.171 g/kg is even better. The alcohol in the beer would kill you way before the cobalt gave you any problems.

@GuildStern,

I'm glad you asked..
Like every other large companies, Shareholders and Upper Management are out to make a buck and are set to increase production while decreasing costs. Lets take Bud or Canadian for example. It's been stated over and over they cut costs and increase profits by using cheap ingredients like corn sugar, Malt flavoring and hop extracts for "flavor". They're also refusing to put an ingredients list on their bottles. It's one of very few consumable product that doesn't include ingredients.

The only proof that I can really provide is what happens to my wife when she drinks mainstream beers. She gets hives her asthma starts.. Never happened with my home brew or local breweries. I'm not sure if it's related to ingredients or what they use in the manufacturing process.

Umm I'm damn sure Calaggione, the Conway Brothers, Fritz Maytag, and Ken Grossman along with all the other craft brewers out there are also "out to make a buck and are set to increase production while decreasing costs" That's how Buisnesses work.

And didn't anyone ever tell you why corn and rice are used in American Pilsners? Depressingly the logical extension is the basic sugar, and more depressingly thats what most people buying their product like.The extracts and Flavors are used for very practical reasons and do not impact the safty of the beer.

Name one alcoholic beverage that does need to list ingredients. Craft brewers do it to brag, but I can bet you that plenty of the Reinheitsgebot Groupies have plenty of other "ingredients" that come in contact with their beer other than just water, malt, hops, grains, and yeast. (Diatomaceous filters, sanitizers, cleaning agents, yeast stopping chemicals, etc)

While I can sympathise with whatever allergic reaction your wife is having, you can call up any of these companys and ASK what might be causing it. People take alergic reactions, especialy ones that impair breathing, seriously. The Government even publishes a list of all the ingredients approved in beer. It's all there to see. Just assume it's all in there. If they refuse to tell you even though you asked, now youre starting to build a case for not Trusting them.

You may not like BMC, and that's fine I'm not a super fan either (not worth the calories if I can get something tastier!), but what you presented is not grounds to not trust them. It's just a knee jerk gut reaction.

Mobstar said:

@GuildStern,

I'm glad you asked..
Like every other large companies, Shareholders and Upper Management are out to make a buck and are set to increase production while decreasing costs. Lets take Bud or Canadian for example. It's been stated over and over they cut costs and increase profits by using cheap ingredients like corn sugar, Malt flavoring and hop extracts for "flavor". They're also refusing to put an ingredients list on their bottles. It's one of very few consumable product that doesn't include ingredients.

The only proof that I can really provide is what happens to my wife when she drinks mainstream beers. She gets hives her asthma starts.. Never happened with my home brew or local breweries. I'm not sure if it's related to ingredients or what they use in the manufacturing process.

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Not entirely true. The reason american light lager Is the way it is has nothing to do with cost.

This is a common misconception that has run amok.

Read post #22

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/bi...eal-themselves-232869/index3.html#post2744453

BuckeyeGambler said:

I also have been reading things on the internet. Sadly, it appears all home brewers are in cohoots with the evil corporations in producing carbon dioxide. We need to reduce our cabon footprint. Brewing beer without yeast is a great first step. If we all make an effort we can reduce the presence of this dangerous gas.

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Another way to reduce CO2 is to stop breathing.:cross: