Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation

"This book takes the reader to places most homebrew books never dare or dream to go. Most homebrew books are a rehash of boring methods, and recipes. This is NOT one of those books.
This book brings brewing back to its human level. It tells the tales of people around the world and the methods they have used since before most of the cultures could write. Making fermented drinks is a prehistoric art and doesn't need to be performed by people carrying scales and wearing white lab coats. Not all brewing has been done by the German beer "purity" law; in fact most has not, and hop only beer is a new (and boring) invention. The journey to cultures around the world and the insight into their fermentations of "beer" is exciting and wonderful (I use the quotes because some of the fermentations seem more like wonderful wines, meads, or fermentations that do not have easy modern labels but well worth experiencing).
This is really the best book on brewing I have ever read and I own a couple shelves full. The ideas and concepts alone are worth the price but it also contains easy to follow recipes to get you started on some lesser known brews which are not set in stone. The recipes are a stepping stone to get you to be a brewing artist and create your own masterpiece fermentations. If that were not enough the stories are priceless.
I have seen that some of the reviews seem to employ scare tactics that would lead you to believe that following the brewing recipes will get you sick or dead. The author is very careful about explaining the use of any herb that could be dangerous in any way, but he did not feel the need to be your nanny and delete the historic recipes from the book for your own protection. He has enough confidence that you can use some common sense and not be a total idiot. If you can't refrain from being a complete fool don't buy this book because it might be dangerous for you. Be sure to not drink the bleach when doing your laundry and avoid driving into brick walls when you get behind the wheel. Most of the readers of this book wont need this advice. The ones that should be worried will be too busy drooling in front of the latest game show on TV to actually read the book.
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~ Written on 2008-02-14

"Sacred Herbal Healing Beers offers detailed information about the historical use and healing properties of many herbs, along with recipes for using these herbs in the making of beer. This book is neither an herbal text, nor a step-by-step homebrew guide, but it does contain very useful information for both herbalists and home brewers. Be warned, there is a lot of folklore here and the spiritual and healing properties of each herb are discussed in depth, but there are some really awesome recipes too. As an amateur home brewer the most exiting thing for me is that the book offers you a chance to go beyond the usual self-contained beer kit recipes and encourages experimentation, often with great results (the Yarrow beer was outstanding!). If you use recipes as guidelines and cook with abandon this book is for you."
~ Written on 2007-10-28

"The author's axe has been ground down to a thin edge. The main faces of the blade are

1) Western medicine is bad and doesn't work
2) Plant medicine does largely because of some mystical "sacredness"
3) The same can be said for the Abrahamic religions and the ostensibly more authentic and "spiritual" traditions from anywhere else.

That's not my main beef with this book. It's downright dangerous. Many of the formulae are unknown quantities, and I'd be interested in trying them. Some of them are hazardous to your health like hensbane, mandrake root and jimsonweed. DO NOT TRY THESE RECIPES. YOU CAN END UP SERIOUSLY INJURED OR DEAD. There are others which won't kill you because you couldn't possibly choke down enough to hurt yourself. Any beer brewed from oak leaves and oak twigs will be indescribably bitter. One has to wonder where the guy came up with this."
~ Written on 2007-09-27

"Negatives: This book is not geared towards people who already know how to homebrew. The author uses very liberal definitions of what constitutes an "ale" and a "beer". Most of the "ale" and "beer" recipes range from 33% to 100% adjuncts, usually table sugar, molasses, and brown sugar. The author doesn't seem terribly concerned that high percentages of processed sugars in a wort create cidery and cloying off-flavors.

The recipes would be better if the user substituted honey for the processed sugars and made meads and braggots instead.

In addition, the author isn't terribly concerned with placing any kind of controls on the fermentation process. The author's argument is that +300 years ago, brewers didn't have the technology to control their fermentations and measure the gravities of their beers. Therefore the user of the book doesn't need to either. I would counter that argument with three points: 1) If they had the technology, they would have used it. Brewers readily accepted new technologies when they new it would enhance the quality of their beers. 2) Brewers only resisted technologies when they suspected it might adversely effect their beer's flavor. And even in those cases, they tinkered with the new technologies until they were able to replicate the desired beer flavor with it. 3) If you don't control your brewing and fermentation processes, you'll never be able to fully predict or duplicate your results.

Positives: This book has a lot of information on a lot of different herbs. If you are interested in making Metheglins (meads made with spices and herbs), Hydromels (low ABV meads), or Braggots (meads made with malt) you might get some good ideas for formulating your own recipes."
~ Written on 2007-06-27

"Very cool book if you like to find oout the old ways of brewing and see what they used for ingredients."
~ Written on 2007-05-12