Ever Bless your Beer?

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Pezman1

Pezman1

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Before long it will be time for me to brew up some dubbels and Abbey/Trappist style ales. I enjoy these in the fall.

I had a thought to say a blessing at the start of brewing for my Abbey-style Belgians just to be a little more "authentic" to the style.

Does anyone else do this, or am I a beer geek beyond belief?

Pez.
 
I blessed my keggle a few days after a party, before I knew it was a keggle, and so it blesses my beer everytime I brew.

I may have had a few to many homebrews tonight and that may or may not make sense to you. Ok....back to my beverage!
 
I don't bless my beer, but I do have a picture of St. Arnold of Metz hanging in my basement brewery. Patron saint of brewers. :)
 
I once had some mead that was brewed inside a Wiccan circle during one of their sabbats. It was quite magical.
 
I dont PRE-bless my brews, but I do give them the sign of the cross in the air (like the pope blessing the masses) when the keg blows, I also do this when the last few drops are drained from a wine bottle, odd... but I do it all the time.
 
Well unless youre a priest or some other legitimate form of religious leader then youre not really blessing anything.
 
haha, his question was legitimately serious and I believe he thinks that hes really blessing the beer.
 
timmystank said:
haha, his question was legitimately serious and I believe he thinks that hes really blessing the beer.
Click to expand...

This depends entirely on each person's spiritual tradition. In my personal tradition, every person has the power to bless anything he sees fit as long as the intent and focus are true. If the OP belongs to a tradition that excludes this, then by all means, he's boned.
 
I invoke the names of many dark Gods every day. In the name of beer, and otherwise.
 
i have prayed for a few batches (please be good, please don't be infected) but i have never tried to bless a batch. it can't hurt and how knows the beer gods and goddesses may smile on you and give you great beer.
 
Hmm... I live next to a big Jewish center and just down the street from the Unitarian church. I could have my beer blessed by all kinds of different faiths.

Hey, that could make for a great experiment to determine what faith has the best blessings. Make up a batch of beer and divide it into multiple small containers to ferment. Set one aside as a control batch. Have representatives from assorted faiths come and each bless one fermentor, ideally just after pitching the yeast. Bring them back again to bless on bottling day. Let the bottles condition the same amount of time, then taste test them.

Whatever blessing produces the superior tasting beer obviously is the best faith.
 
Salanis said:
Hmm... I live next to a big Jewish center and just down the street from the Unitarian church. I could have my beer blessed by all kinds of different faiths.
Click to expand...

actually the Lost Abby brewery does just that. they have had a priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist priest bless their equipment.

Salanis said:
Hey, that could make for a great experiment to determine what faith has the best blessings. Make up a batch of beer and divide it into multiple small containers to ferment. Set one aside as a control batch. Have representatives from assorted faiths come and each bless one fermentor, ideally just after pitching the yeast. Bring them back again to bless on bottling day. Let the bottles condition the same amount of time, then taste test them.

Whatever blessing produces the superior tasting beer obviously is the best faith.
Click to expand...

i vote for the church of Tenenit.
 
timmystank said:
Well unless youre a priest or some other legitimate form of religious leader then youre not really blessing anything.
Click to expand...

You are correct only in the semantics. I guess I should have said "Ask for God's blessings." As a Protestant, anyone can ask for God's blessings.

For example, at the start of the school year, all the school-age kids bring their back packs to church, and we all say a prayer asking for God's blessings and gifts for our children during the school year. The annual event is called the "Blessing of the back packs". Technically, I guess it should be "Praying to God to ask for his blessings for the backpacks" but that's a mouthfull.:)

In the case of beer, I would ask for God's blessing in my brewing, and for his blessings for the people who produced the malt, hops, and yeast.
 
I always try to remember to begin the brewday with prayers asking for the Lord's blessing on my endeavor, and also ask the same through the intercession of St. Arnold of Metz, and through other saints including St. Benedict and St. Brigid.

http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/patron_saints.shtml

So far my beers have turned out fine... with the exception of faults due to errors out of ignorance, which I try to not repeat. Of course with brewing, study and practice are needed, but prayer is also beneficial, even if it is just keeping charitable thoughts and heart.

It is interesting that one of the key patrons of brewing is St. Luke, whom was a physician. Could that explain why to this day people insist that in moderation beer can actually be good for you?:mug:
 
I smeared blood all over my mash tun while I was putting it together, so I guess that's the pagan equivalent.
 
it aint blessing but I listen to system of a down while brewing the beer and bottling or transferring. also on the last bottle of a batch I listen to linkin park for good luck on the next batch. me and my buddy did this years ago and only 3 times did we ever forget to do it. twice he couldnt find his system disc and the beer turned out sub par and the third we didnt listen to linkin park and the batch we brewed next day blew the lid off after a week wasting almost half the batch...you could say im superstitious of sorts either that or the beer gods like SOAD
 
The blessing of beer or more specifcally brewing is an old custom that has deep roots thoughout history. Before the understanding of fermentation and how yeast really worked (early middle of the 19th century, and mostly attributed to Louis Pasture) , brewers thought that god was involved in the process of making beer ferment. If you check out the history of the star in brewing , you will find that brewers used to hang a star of David (but no jewish connection ) over or near their brew pots to bless each batch of beer they made. This star is symbolic of god's presence in the making of each batch and a look at some famous breweries from Europe the star is everywhere. Even term "God is Good God is Great " is a quick blessing that was born out of the making of beer. Here is a good link to many other interesting signs and meanings of this ancient practice:
http://www.schlenkerla.de/biergeschichte/brauerstern/html/ausschankzeichene.html
 
Thanks for everyone's input. An informative AND funny thread for me.

Pez.
 
timmystank said:
Well unless youre a priest or some other legitimate form of religious leader then youre not really blessing anything.
Click to expand...

I don't need a priest or 'legitimate' religious leader to bless my beer for me. what makes them closer to god and more able to 'bless' anything than me?
 
GregR said:
I don't need a priest or 'legitimate' religious leader to bless my beer for me. what makes them closer to god and more able to 'bless' anything than me?
Click to expand...



who says there is a god?


no i dont "bless" any of my beers
 
I guess I've made sacrificial offerings... mainly in the form of chickens and pigs... I usually run the smoker when I'm brewing outdoors. Mmmm, beer and bbq.... :mug:
 

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