If society as we know it collapsed...

[onipar]

Would you still be able to home brew?

No more store bought grains, no more premalted grains, no more sanitizers, no more grain bags, no more electric refrigerators. You'd have to grow everything you needed and do everything from scratch.


I know it's *possible,* but do you have the necessary skills?

Could you do it? :rockin:

 

[broadbill]

Sure, you could do it. Man was doing it for thousands of years before we had star-san, refrigerators and such. Would the product be as consistent and what as good as we have now? Probably not.

The other part of this is: would you still brew? Probably not...expending the resources to find ingredients and brew would probably be pretty low on the the priority list when things like finding enough food to survive is an issue. On the other hand, you'd probably resort to an more easily made product in order to get your "fix" (hooch and/or some sort of distillate).

 

[Bobby_M]

Yes, and those of us who know how to make the hooch will inherit the post apocalyptic world. If you have the alcohol, people will BRING you food.

 

[onipar]

Ha, you're right, Bobby.

I know it's possible, I meant more along the lines of do *you* have the skills to do it. In other words, could you grow the grains, malt them, etc?

I know I can't. I'm DOOMED.

 

[JLW]

I could do it. I would need more land to grow the grains. I already grow a good portion of the vegetables my family consumes. Soon I want to get into hop growing.

I agree with Bobby M. Think back to turn of the century prior to prohibition. Every little burg had a brewery.

 

[Revvy]

We've been discussing this for years on here. Usually in terms of the coming zombipocalyps.
The main reason that beer, wines, meads, ciders...alcohol in general is so important to society after a collapse (or in the old days) is because nothing pathogenic can grow in them. People drank beer because water could kill them.....

So our knowlege will be extremely valuable, from a purely health and safety reason. Also basic knowlege of creating and distilling alcohol will be important too. In fact on the history channel's "The Colony" last season, one of the "survivalists" was a homebrewer and he made alcohol from a sugar wash and distilled it into fuel for their escape vehicle and for wound cleaning.

And like many of us have said on here for years, we can declare ourselves Kings of the sacred barleywater, and trade our wares for nubile slave women.

That's why we had the epic GaP (Grocery and Produce) Beer Experiment thread about fermenting liquid with non-traditional ingredients. The idea would be to raid grocery stores for fermentables and mashables.

I even designed my label for the "snake oil".......er I mean beer...

I figure I'll have my kingdom pretty well covered.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Sure you could. But first, preparations must be made....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/what-preparation-you-making-coming-apocalypse-83196/

 

[onipar]

Revvy, awesome!

It's funny you mention zombies. The reason this topic cmae to mind is because I'm a horror writer.

Glad to see everyone is already getting ready for the end.

 

[JLW]

Revvy, awesome!

It's funny you mention zombies. The reason this topic cmae to mind is because I'm a horror writer.

Glad to see everyone is already getting ready for the end.

You need to write a horror book based on homebrewing. Maybe your last batch turns bad and turns your friends in to zombies.

 

[pwndabear]

i have no qualms with taking any of you out if you get bitten. just fyi.

 

[onipar]

You need to write a horror book based on homebrewing. Maybe your last batch turns bad and turns your friends in to zombies.

I just may. My first novel is actually called Soundtrack to the End of the World It *is* sort of a zombie novel, but in place of the brew is music.

:rockin:

 

[onipar]

So would we only be using wild yeasts for our beer in this post-apocolytic world?

 

[Revvy]

There's a ton of zombipocalypes threads on here. This forum has a penchant for zombies. I guess all of homebrewing does, since Northern Brewer even features an end of the world theme on their catalogs.

 

[Revvy]

So would we only be using wild yeasts for our beer in this post-apocolytic world?

No we'd be using bread yeast, yeast from bottle conditioned beers, we'd be washing our yeast and maybe even be making "yeast sticks" like they did in ancient times, taking a stick and dipping it in the trub, then hanging them to dry. And when we are ready to pitch our yeast we would stir the stick in the wort to innoculate the wort. Then after we bottles we'd do it again.

 

[broadbill]

Ha, you're right, Bobby.

I know it's possible, I meant more along the lines of do *you* have the skills to do it. In other words, could you grow the grains, malt them, etc?

I know I can't. I'm DOOMED.

Sure you could do it...its not rocket science.

The question is would you do it? Chances are: 1. you wouldn't have the time to invest in it, with trying to stay alive. 2. If you had the the time, you would go with the easiest way possible and that depends on how easily grains grow in your part of the world. For someone in the North East it might be easier to cultivate fruit trees for juice or grow starchy tubers instead.

 

[onipar]

Mmm, starchy tubers.

Revvy, you've really thought about this! I hope you aren't planning anything...diabolical.

I'm actually kinda surprised there are so many zombie/beer enthusiasts. I wonder if there are any beer flavors called "zombie." Maybe once I get better at brewing I'll do a bunch of horror related brews. Halloween here I come!

EDIT: Broadbill, no, I probably wouldn't at first. But after a while, assuming the world is somewhat livable and food isn't *too* hard to grow and come by, I'd eventually get around to it.

 

[KoedBrew]

you guys would enjoy this! http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/ I listen every day to and from work. Check it out.

 

[JLW]

Better idea.

BMC turns everyone into zombies. The only way to save the world is with hombrew.

Oh wait, metaphorically that has already happened.

 

[broadbill]

There's a ton of zombipocalypes threads on here. This forum has a penchant for zombies. I guess all of homebrewing does, since Northern Brewer even features an end of the world theme on their catalogs.

I guess this is as good of a place to ask this as anywhere: What is the fascination with zombies, apocalypse, or the talk about having to prepare for such an event? I see it on this forum, but I see this fascination elsewhere as well.

Is it supposed to be tongue/cheek response to those folks that really believe in the SHTF and/or apocalypse stuff (kind of like what the Flying Spaghetti Monster is to religion (bless his noodly appendages.

 

[emjay]

Malting and toasting is surprisingly easy, if forced to do it. Though I'd work on some good smoke beer recipes, in case all you have to do that with is fire.

First thing I'd do is try to get all the wooden barrels I could get my hands on, and, reminiscent of the Flanders Ale method, inoculate each one with some quality yeasts and blends however I saw fit. I think that's a somewhat more modern version of the old "yeast stick".

I'm not sure how long they would continue producing good beer for though. I do have the ability to maintain and propagate yeast cultures, and I'm only really missing a freezer capable of about -80° temperatures to be able to do so indefinitely. I could quickly set out to steal one, but I think even running that stuff on a generator would be a waste of precious fuel. Sure, you can distill ethanol, methanol, or even biodiesel, but the amount of source material needed for a good supply of fuel is enormous. Though it's possible that the community could recognize the importance of good beer, and all contribute fuel to keep a brewery running. Just make sure you can make a good Bud Light clone, or your head might end up on a stick!

Come to think of it... where did all the electricity in I Am Legend come from?

 

[bernerbrau]

I'm thinking wine would be easier: 1. Find grapes. 2. Put grapes in container. 3. Wait.

Sure, it's no Laughing Magpie but it'll do the trick.

 

[Hex]

I'm in the middle of curing mission olives harvested from a neighbor's tree. Inedible raw, yet surprisingly simple to make, just puncture the skin, and soak in a brine solution for three weeks. Now are delicious.

Last year was a mast year for the valley oaks in our area, I could have filled a house with acorns in a couple of days collecting, possible beer source.

I've been eying the oats and wild grasses left behind by Franciscan monks in NorCal. Some year I'll treat you to a thread on their malting process...

 

[emjay]

I guess this is as good of a place to ask this as anywhere: What is the fascination with zombies, apocalypse, or the talk about having to prepare for such an event? I see it on this forum, but I see this fascination elsewhere as well.

Is it supposed to be tongue/cheek response to those folks that really believe in the SHTF and/or apocalypse stuff (kind of like what the Flying Spaghetti Monster is to religion (bless his noodly appendages.

It's mostly an opportunity for some really good thought experiments, while keeping it fun. (I think)

 

[broadbill]

It's mostly an opportunity for some really good thought experiments, while keeping it fun. (I think)

Got it. So instead of having to deal with the reality that I might have to bludgeon another human to death with a shovel handle to keep get from stealing my food, I can idealize the situation instead and envision myself as a kick-ass, shotgun-wielding post-apocalyptic warrior who enjoys blasting the heads off zombies?

I think you are right, its only fun to think about when its zombies

 

[bgruis]

Got it. So instead of having to deal with the reality that I might have to bludgeon another human to death with a shovel handle to keep get from stealing my food, I can idealize the situation instead and envision myself as a kick-ass, shotgun-wielding post-apocalyptic warrior who enjoys blasting the heads off zombies?

I think you are right, its only fun to think about when its zombies

ha ha ha...LMFAO....awesome dude......you just made my day.

Prost!

 

[pwndabear]

Come to think of it... where did all the electricity in I Am Legend come from?

one person being the sole user of any fossil fuels in a city with hudreds of thousands of cars with full tanks of gas.

also, he gained a mutant power and can create gasoline now.

 

[Hex]

I think you guys are missing the underlying point of this thread, and that is self-reliance.
Not too long ago there was a thread that basically asked 'besides beer, what do you make for yourself.' There were many impressive posts, especially Yoopers.

Why buy something that you can make for yourself? or recycle, renew, and reuse?
Why pay sin taxes, when you don't have to?
Why not be a producer instead of a consumer, especially for your immediate family?

You can fantasize about the post-apocalyptic world, but you are already living it.
Most have lost the desire and subsequent means of self-reliance, homebrewing may be someone's first attempt at recapturing it...

 

[Zamial]

"The Colony" was a fantastic show. There are MANY reasons to watch that show for inspiration and information.

I hopefully soon will be a home owner of a nice country hobby farm on about 15-20 acres half of that should be wooded. I am not thinking about the end of the world, I am thinking about how I can maximize my resources to be able to stay "off the grid" indefinitely. Should the world end and leave me behind it would just be any other day for me.

But we are talking about home brewing...specifically. As someone else stated I think it would be easier to make mead/wines and braggot type drinks than straight beer. This does not make it impossible to make a beer, it just makes it more difficult. If you could plant and harvest barley, you can make beer. To me, this seems like a luxury item considering what all would be required in a limited resource world. HOWEVER homebrew beer has a shelf life of near forever so one could brew up and store enough beer for a near never ending pipeline before the end comes...

 

[scrambledegg81]

I even designed my label for the "snake oil".......er I mean beer...

Should've added diabetes & all forms of Hepatitis to that list of cures.

 

[dfc]

Would you still be able to home brew?

No more store bought grains, no more premalted grains, no more sanitizers, no more grain bags, no more electric refrigerators. You'd have to grow everything you needed and do everything from scratch.


I know it's *possible,* but do you have the necessary skills?

Could you do it? :rockin:

I could do it. I'd probably make hooch, but it would be alcohol.