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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting, if you can stomach the subtext (overtext?),
By oldtaku (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation (Paperback)
There are many interesting nuggets in here. Since there are other books that give you plenty of information, including recipes, about brewing with unusual or 'primitive' ingredients, I found the passages about native rituals, ancient brewing traditions, and the like to be most interesting.Unfortunately, Buhner has an obvious agenda to push (he makes no bones about this), and can't resist continually beating the reader over the head with it. Even when I agree with a lot of what he says, it's very annoying to be reading an interesting passage about tribal prayer ritual and have him go off on a screed about how much better this is than traditional patriarchal western spritless yada yada yada... again. Furthermore, he seems unable to list an ingredient without mentioning how it cures every disease known to man ('studies have shown') and that 'growing number of scientists' are 'just beginning to realize' how far superior this ingredient is to anything science has ever been able to produce. It gets old very quickly. In spite of my negativity here, he has gathered a lot of fascinating information. If you love the idea of 'Beer Soup for the Soul', this book is absolutely for you. Or if you're looking for some neat information on the history of brewing, and you can stand wading through what my friend calls, less charitably the 'hippie dippie crap', give it a look.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Warning! Warning! Danger, Will Robinson!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation (Paperback)
While the author has obviously worked very hard and done a lot of research, the book he has produced is a lot like many other things in nature - beautiful but also deadly and carrying few warning labels. While I don't advocate kneejerk acceptance of FDA opinion, I do object to presentation of recipes for beers which include henbane and jimson weed and other potentially toxic or damaging herbs. By all means, buy this book if you are seriously into brewing, it contains a lot of good information and background. But at the same time, I also urge that it should not be one's only source of information. Be especially careful when working with unfamiliar herbs, and consult at least two other sources before using them. Herbal field guides are a good place to get accurate, scientific information about herbs. The author's point of view is spiritual rather than scientific. It's ironic in the section about the "Corn Woman" that he makes a nod to science, but in general his view of the scientific method is antagonistic. It would have been nice to see a *balance* between the scientific and the spiritual instead. In closing: nice effort; and yes, worth buying, especially if you are a serious brewer...but BE CAREFUL.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Herbal and Historical Overview of Brewing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation (Paperback)
I didn't expect to find in this book both the wonderful herbal and the beautiful exploration of brewing that I found. The book's deep research reveals the intricate relationship that plants have had with brewing throughout history and shows how hops were added to beer only recently in the history of brewing. The plant information is backed up with lengthy sections about historical usage and scientific review of their efficacy. Though some of the more straitlaced readers of this book have cried wolf: plants with potentially toxic effects that were often used in historical fermentations are clearly labeled and all contraindications for each herb are listed. It is not surprising that this book won four awards. It is simply the best overview of historical brewing, the use of fermented herbal infusions in healing, the sacred place of fermentation and plants in human society, and one of the best general herbals I have ever seen. In addition the author is an extremely gifted storyteller. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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