Wormwood/absinthe and beer

Hi all. Just out of curiosity, has anyone here ever tried brewing beer with wormwood? Anyone know if boiling would negate the effects of the thujone content in wormwood? My guess is no on that one, since I don't think that thujone can be "denatured" by boiling. The reason I ask this is because I read somewhere long ago (and have mentioned on here once) that mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris) was once used much like hops is today, hence the name "mug-wort." Wormwood is of the same genus, being A. absinthium, and since the two herbs share some interesting properties (wormwood contains the thujone that gives absinthe its "kick," and mugwort has been rumored to aid in achieving altered states of consciousness), it follows that wormwood might be used in creating a beer that has similar, though probably reduced, effects as those of the celebrated "green fairy."

And no, in case you're wondering, I don't swim through life in an inebriated state. This is purely of an academic interest. Really. Honest. :)

Happy Brewing

Jason J. Torrick

Reply to
Jason Torrick
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My first impression... sounds pretty illegal to me, assuming you live in the USA. When I think of absinthe, three words pop into mind... illegal, danger, and death. Of course, I've never had the opportunity to try the stuff myself, so maybe I'm just a naive little boy from the good old USA... if so, go ahead and set me straight, I'm slightly curious.

Funny how you put that little disclaimer on the bottom.... thinking about dabbling in the illegal, dangerous, and deadly, are you? Just be damn careful, that's all I can say.

Looking at the following website, it appears that it may be legal to produce thujone-containing beverages for your own personal use, as long as you don't try to sell or distribute it. On the other hand, it's illegal to have an unlicensed distillery, which might not be necessary for putting thujone into beer, but is required to make absinthe. Laws differ from country to country.

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Since absinthe is a distilled beverage, I don't think boiling would not ruin the thujone... or is the wormwood added AFTER the distillation?? I guess I'm not sure on that.

Thujone is a stimulant, and in high quantities it is actually a poison, and when combined with alchohol, gives you a big high, which is addictive, and if you drink the non-commercial stuff, you can get seizures and die from it.... it is high risk, so that's why it's illegal. Of course, beer causes plenty of deaths itself, although most are driving-related, and it's not hallucinogenic, and is difficult to overdose on. But I would guess it's much more difficult to be a responsible absinthe user than a beer drinker, because I'm sure it's difficult to know when you've had too much or drank the wrong kind. Beer, you cannot die from, including homebrew, unless you drink a few gallons of it, or drown in your own vomit or something stupid like that. Darwin awards. ;)

By the way, I don't know if you could make beer with enough thujone in it to cause a high. Seems like it has to be distilled. Besides, wormwood is one of the most bitter substances on earth. I've never tasted it, but I'm sure it tastes like crap. That's probably why absinthe contains so much spice and anise... to disguise the flavor of the effective ingredient, wormwood. Add a lot of spices to the beer and you might possibly have a drinkable beer, but who knows.

Reply to
David M. Taylor

I'm with you on the fact that absinthe tastes nasty. But then I've never been a big fan of licorice, so that's that. As far as legality, I've researched it a little (I'm a federal agent). It is not illegal to use, or (I think) to produce for your own use. There are in fact kits available in numerous places. It is even legal to bring it into the US as a private citizen (I've done it, with full declaration to US Customs). You can't legally buy or sell it here, and I don't think you can legally have it shipped by an overseas producer (even though many companies do sell individually for shipment to the US). Wormwood is just an herb and is available at pretty much any herbal shop.

As far as the distillery issue, I think one big reason for the alcohol is to extract the chemicals from the herbs. The kit I have for absinthe calls for everclear that you then dilute after infusing all the stuff, and it states flat out that that is its purpose. Commercial absinthe from Europe runs about 50-70% alcohol, and curiously I've found that the lower alcohol ones seem to have more of a noticeable high. I don't know how it was traditionally made or how it is produced in Europe, but a distillery is not absolutely necessary.

As far as the beer thing I asked, I was really just curious if anyone had considered it. I enjoy absinthe (maybe a shot every couple of months, so no, not to excess) enough that I don't need to cross it with beer. As far as the "danger," I understand it only comes from long term excessive use, eating away the liver and kidneys, and supposedly the brain (none of this is proven, just supposed). I would describe the "high" as just a calm and reflective feeling. Anyway, that's that. If I try to brew with wormwood, I'll post the results.

Jason J. Torrick

Reply to
Jason Torrick

.. and now my 2 cents on the topic =)

The toxicity that most people seem to be concerned with is due to the parts per million (ppm) of thujone in your finished product. Thujone is in fact a poison (like nicotine), so larger doses can be fatal. The only real bottle I have ever seen had 30 - 33 ppm of thujone and was 57% alcohol. So I'm guessing that that concentration is generally acceptable; the bottle originated from Paris.

As a note on the brewing method used for the absinthe I saw: it apparently was distilled at low temperature under vacuum; which might mean more to you then me. ;) Brewing a beverage with thujone would be an interesting exercise but admittedly a slightly scare one if you didn't have anyway to measure the amount of free thujone when you where finished.

- offstar

Reply to
offstar

Someone mentioned Absinthe is illegal all over the world. It's currently made in Spain and France and can be purchased over the internet:

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They ship to the US and other countries, so if you want to experiment out of intellectual curiosity, knock yourself out!

It is also illegal in Switzerland although I understand it's bootlegged there.

Cheers!

-Paul

Reply to
Paul S. Remington

I just made a 3 gallon batch of Absinthe based beer, it's still fermenting. I researched a bunch of recipes before I found one I liked. The tricky part is going to be sweetening it, it's very bitter. I'm going to add some potassium sorbate to kill off all of the yeast, add tons of sugar, and bottle it like wine(non-bubbly). I hope it turns out, never tried this before.

Reply to
Plumbum Blimp

You should come off this allright. That's what CokeTM does for their soda pop to contend with the bitterness of all the carbonic acid in their soda. Damn things could clean a carbeurator.

-gc

Reply to
G_cowboy_is_that_a_Gnu_Hurd?

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