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Review of Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers  

By Paulie Weese

Dr. Buhner comes from an accomplished lineage of physcians.  In his talk that I listened to at the herb conference, he referred to himself as the ‘black sheep’ of his family because he has chosen non-conventional ways of healing and health.  I believe this adds all the more to his book.  His approach to the book is creative and informative, rather than as a book of recipes.  Most of the recipes are non-traditional, have history, and include ingredients that won’t commonly be found at a local brewing supply store.  The writing is smart, not heavy, and inspires a different way of thinking about beer and brewing.   

Over the years, i have become more involved with herbs and healthy eating.  Brewing my own beer came from desire of self-sufficiency and a higher quality of life.  Buhner’s book has led me to beer that has depth and character, as well as ingredients that assist in health.  What is also included in this book is a reverence for history and spirit.  Buhner’s book brings to brewing a quality that I knew existed, but did not know much about it.  Buhner discusses the origins of beer for a number of indigenous peoples, the making of mead in old England, the use of herbs and trees in beers, psychotropic beers, and more. 

One of the most interesting conversations within Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers for me is a discussion of hops, how they originated within beer, and how they were integrated into popular brewing.  Many stories that I have found online and in my library of beer texts speak of how they were slowly adapted into European culture.  Eventually, the German Purity Act came to be and standardization of brewing with hops was mandatory and regulated.  Some of Buhner’s discussion talks about those who resisted this change, and how those with political strength pushed the law through.  Though this law is no longer an issue today, it changed brewing for centuries, replacing heather and yarrow with hops.  Hops, as I have found out, is an herb used as a sedative.  Personally, I really do like the flavor of hops.  Not having experimented enough with other bittering herbs, I if I had beer without hops if I would be able to stay awake all night long. 

A delightful book and full of good history, real recipes, and information that you would never think went hand-in-hand with good brewing, Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers is a treasure in my library.  It is my main resource for finding recipes that are not mainstream and allow my creative brewing to manifest.  The beers I have made from this book are really good.  Now that the book is in front of me, my cupboard full of brewing supplies and herbs from a summer harvest, I am looking forward to making Gruit beer and a couple other recipes. In fact, my first mead came from this book.  I love mead.  Having read about the history of mead and the health qualities of mead, I sought out a big batch of honey and went for it.  The mead I made was excellent! 

Published October, 2009

Paulie Weese, www.thebarleyreview.com         Back To Main Article Menu