Dangers of Homebrewing

[chiefsmurph]

After brewing a couple batches, I found that my friend didn't want to drink my homebrew because he had heard that there were dangers involved with homebrewed beer. Has anyone heard about this? Any way I can convince him its safe to drink?

 

[shecky]

Drink a lot and then walk up to him and say, 'See, not dead.'

Far as I can tell, the only dangers are lighting yourself on fire, cutting yourself on a glass carboy, throwing out your back lifting five gallons of hot liquid. Drinking it? Well, no known pathogens can survive in beer. So unless you left out the yeast and replaced it with arsenic, your friend is getting bad info.

 

[Retarded_Penguin_Brewing]

why convince him? plenty more for you! :cross:

 

[carbon111]

He's probably thinking of home canning.

For the most part, home brewing really dosen't share those risks at all.

 

[GreenwoodRover]

the real danger is finding out how ignorant your friends are....

 

[Revvy]

If there was stuff that could live in beer and kill you, the human race would have died out a hell of a long time ago! If something toxic could come from our homebrewing, it wouldn't be a legal hobby!


I came across this from a pretty well known and award winning homebrewer railing against a fellow brewer (it was on one of those "color coded" brewboards where they are a little less friendly than we are.) I just cut and pasted it and stuck it in a file...here it is.

Can you get a PATHOGEN from beer. No. NO *NO* Did I make that clear? You have a ZERO chance of pathogens in beer, wine, distilled beverages. PERIOD!

Pathogens are described as organisms that are harmful and potentially life threatening to humans. These are some 1400+ known species overall encompasing viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and helminths. Of that group, we are only interested in those that can be foodborne. Quite simply, if it can't survive in food, it isn't in beer. That knocks out all but bacteria and fungi. Viruses need very specific circumstances to be passed around... like on the lip of a glass or bottle, not the beer in it. **Ahhh...CHOOO!**

Pathogens as a rule are very fastidious beasts. Meaning that they want very specific temperatures, acidity, nutrients and other conditions to thrive.

Bacteria that *could* live in wort, cannot survive even a little bit of fermentation. There are several reasons for this. One is in the 'magic' of hops. It is the isomerized alpha acids that provide a preservative effect to the beer, which happens to inhibit pathogens! Good deal for fresh wort!

Another reason is the drop in pH from fermentation. Next, yeast emit their own enzymes and byproducts, all in an effort to make the environment hostile to other creatures. The major one is alcohol, of course, but their enzymes will break down less vigorous organisms and they become sources of trace nutrition. Now the latter is very minor compared to the effect of alcohol, but it exists! Most of the time these enzymes work on the wort, not organisms until late in the process. Good deal for beer! ...uh, wine too.

Oh, Botulism specifically... did you know that this is an anaerobic pathogen? It's toxin is one of the few that is broken down by boiling. Did you know tht it is strongly inhibited by isomerized alpha acids, even in water? Since fresh wort has a healthy amount of oxygen in it, the beastie cannot even get started, then once the O2 is used up, it doesn't have a chance against the hops or the yeast.

All that is left are a handful of acid producing bacteria that'll ruin a batch of beer. Overall, there are less than 200 organisms that can survive in beer and lend flavor effects. None of these for very long, or very often. Lambic being the sole exception, and if pathogens *could* survive, that'd be the style where you find 'em.

It's important to remember that one of the reasons we have beer today (one of the oldest beverages in existence) is because it was made to be drunk in places where drinking the WATER was deadly....By boiling the wort, adding hops (which is an antiseptic), changing the ph, and pitching yeast, you killed of any microorganism that good be harmful.....in fact the third runnings of the brewing process was fermented at an extremely low gravit 1-2% ABV, and it was called "table beer" or "Kid's Beer" this is the stuff that people drank with meals...it was their water replacement, like Iced tea or soda pop...because again the fermentation process insured thatit was safer than the water.

He talks about it here;

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAU4bhjCB08]YouTube - Ancestral Ale: Brewing In Colonial America[/ame]

So please, please, please, I can't stress this enough....don't fear you beer!!!

If something bad could happen, then it would NOT be a legal hobby.....

Our beer is really the same thing as commercial beer...it's the exact same ingredients and process.....it's not like there are two kinds of malts and hops..ones for "real" beer and one for "homebrew"

Hopes this info helps....maybe show it to him.

 

[chiefsmurph]

Wow thank you all for your good responses. I will have some talking points.

Why is homebrewing hard alcohol illegal?

 

[ChshreCat]

He may be thinking of home distilling.

 

[silverbrewer]

We have been doing it for a few thousand years! The dangers stopped once Watneys red barrel got taken off the market ! (English joke)

 

[eschatz]

Poor decision could result from too much homebrew...

 

[2bluewagons]

If your friend says that the danger comes from chemical toxins rather than pathogens, we can beat that too.

Your friend may be thinking of home distilling where, if you don't know what you're doing, you can produce other organics and alcohols other than ethanol (such as methanol) that are hazardous in quantities sufficient to harm you. But that is because you are concentrating all of the volatiles produced during fermentation, so what is as very low concentrations in beer can be very high in a distilled beverage.

Most finished homebrew has a alcohol content between 4-6 % by volume, most of which is ethanol (the good stuff...). The other 94-96% is pretty much water. If you start out with toxin-laden water, then you're probably going to get poison beer. But maybe not.

 

[Beernip]

Wow thank you all for your good responses. I will have some talking points.

Why is homebrewing hard alcohol illegal?

When distilling hard alcohol if not done properly you can end up with dangerous levels of methanol.

 

[user 30639]

Poor decision could result from too much homebrew...

That needs to be a Keyboard Cat video.

I'd convince your friend that homebrew is deadly, and he's better off not drinking any of yours. More for you!

 

[david_42]

Why is homebrewing hard alcohol illegal?

Same reason anything is illegal, there's a law against it.

Making distilled products can result in high concentrations of methanol. Which makes it somewhat unsafe.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

There is a real danger in brewing beer!

It is called OBSESSION!

If anyone gets in my way of brewing I'll go Hannibal Lecter on their ass!

 

[skadalajara]

If distillation of spirits was outlawed because of the dangers of improper methods, then the BATFE or FDA or regular police would be the ones raiding stills.
Since they're not, and the United States Department of Revenue are the ones that raid stills, you can bet your arse the only reason it's illegal is cos the gummint wants your taxes from the sale of commercial liquor.
It's an unjust law. It needs to be repealed.

 

[babalu87]

Drink a lot and then walk up to him and say, 'See, not dead.'

Key word being






YET!@

 

[harrydrez]

Wow thank you all for your good responses. I will have some talking points.

Why is homebrewing hard alcohol illegal?

Tax purposes... seriously... uncle sam wants it's cut.

it was safer than the water.

Exactly, they drank the beer because it didn't give them cholera.

 

[harrydrez]

Same reason anything is illegal, there's a law against it.

Making distilled products can result in high concentrations of methanol. Which makes it somewhat unsafe.

It's the taxes, you know who busts the moonshiners? The tax men.

 

[homebrewer_99]

the real danger is finding out how ignorant your friends are....

The deficit +1...

 

[Professor Frink]

Wow thank you all for your good responses. I will have some talking points.

Why is homebrewing hard alcohol illegal?

Apart from methanol production, the vapors produced from distilling are very volatile and can lead to explosions when not done safely.

The only danger I've found from homebrewing is spending so much time and money on such an awesome hobby.

 

[SMOKEU]

In New Zealand it's legal for anyone to distill as much spirits as they want.

 

[marantzfan]

why convince him? plenty more for you! :cross:

That is sound advice there..

 

[jerrysfinger]

Not that this has anything to do with the topic but, this caught my eye. Love the names for your brews. I have friends that use that line " alcohol is the lubricant for fun". Your own recipes?

Primary: Social Lubricant
Secondary: Tongue Oil
Lagering: Icy Paralyzer
Bottle conditioning: Liquid Courage
Drinking: Loud Mouth Soup

 

[taylornate]

If something bad could happen, then it would NOT be a legal hobby.....

This isn't true and a lot of people end up hurting themselves with this line of thinking.

Note that I am referring to life in general and not home brewing.

 

[nebben]

Does he mean drunk dialing? Because if so, I 100% agree. I'm doing it right now!! *sip*:cross:

 

[Revvy]

This isn't true and a lot of people end up hurting themselves with this line of thinking.

Note that I am referring to life in general and not home brewing.

But considering what homebrewing had to do to become legal again, and what still isn't legal in this hobby i.e.Distilling, it IS VERY TRUE abut making beer......Nothing that can harm you can happen by making beer...

Drunk dialing is another story...

 

[rico567]

why convince him? plenty more for you! :cross:

THIS.

Maybe I'm getting too old to evangelize people, but there's an old saying, something like "Never try to clean up a pig. It frustrates you, and annoys the pig."

 

[HellenicHomeBrewer]

any "friend" that doesn't want to come over and drink beer is NOT a friend! /thread

 

[skadalajara]

Not that this has anything to do with the topic but, this caught my eye. Love the names for your brews. I have friends that use that line " alcohol is the lubricant for fun". Your own recipes?

Unfortunately, no.
Not even anything I'm currently brewing.
I just thought it was humorous all the names alcoholic beverages have been called over the years.
Although, if I ever do refine a handful of signature recipes, I may use those names after all.

 

[Boondoggie]

In New Zealand it's legal for anyone to distill as much spirits as they want.

Do people do it? Is it a hobby like homebrewing there?

 

[thedigitale]

Homebrew CAN be dangerous.

After having a homebrew I got incredibly sick. The symptoms were really nasty.

I spent a fortune irationally on brewing equipment.
I filled my house up with glass steel and grain tubs.
I was unable to go out with anyone at least one day a week.
Oh and at least once a week (usually the day after I don't go out) I wake up with a bit of a headache.

Tell your friend to grab a 6 before coming over unless he too wants this terrible disease!

 

[BubbaK]

I wish I could get my friends to stop drinking my homebrew.. or atleast start paying for some ingredients..

 

[carl spakler]

In the 3rd trimester it is generally OK for up to a glass of wine or a beer, a friend of mine was ready to have a half a homebrew when she realized they were not pasteurized and said it wouldn't be safe for her. Is there any truth to this?

 

[BioBeing]

I have a friend who has had allergic reactions from homebrew in the past. Her husband is one of my brew buddies, and she can drink the beer we make just fine. Apparently, I am a much more careful brewer than the guy who made the beer she had a reaction too, who just kind of threw it all together.

 

[kaiser423]

In the 3rd trimester it is generally OK for up to a glass of wine or a beer, a friend of mine was ready to have a half a homebrew when she realized they were not pasteurized and said it wouldn't be safe for her. Is there any truth to this?

My wife is a public health researcher, and this is absolutely not true. All of the latest research shows that at any and all stages in development, alcohol is detrimental to development. A half beer may not be enough to raise cause measurable harm, but the literature shows that it will almost definitely cause *some* harm. The studies have enough data now that they're able to track a half glass of wine to an IQ point or two, and it's showing that no amount of alcohol is safe.

 

[carl spakler]

My wife is a public health researcher, and this is absolutely not true. All of the latest research shows that at any and all stages in development, alcohol is detrimental to development. A half beer may not be enough to raise cause measurable harm, but the literature shows that it will almost definitely cause *some* harm. The studies have enough data now that they're able to track a half glass of wine to an IQ point or two, and it's showing that no amount of alcohol is safe.

I would agree that at higher levels alcohol is not a good idea, but I doubt an IQ test can be accurate to within 1 point and prove 100% causality. I also highly doubt a controlled study was performed that prescribes varying levels of alcohol to pregnant women.


A quick search found this:

It has been proven that IQ test scores can vary by as much as 15 points based on certain factors which include:

* Applicant’s mood.
* The time of day.
* Applicant’s biochemistry.
* Applicant’s level of anxiety while taking the test.
* Emotions can also have a profound impact on IQ test scores

Can I see the studies you refer to? Per the poster child for no drinking during pregnancy:

There are no scientific studies

 

[MMW]

The studies have enough data now that they're able to track a half glass of wine to an IQ point or two, and it's showing that no amount of alcohol is safe.

A half glass per day perhaps?

 

[taylornate]

I don't know what kaiser423 is referring to, but I do know this:

The only amount of alcohol we know to be safe during pregnancy is zero.

 

[carl spakler]

I don't know what kaiser423 is referring to, but I do know this:

The only amount of alcohol we know to be safe during pregnancy is zero.

And the only amount of alcohol we know to be safe to a human is also zero, yet here we all are...