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Rating: 
Summary: Relax - have a (historic) homebrew
Review: I loved the heck out of this book. Although I'd
never brewed beer/ale before, I was able to
brew a satisfactory batch of gruit ale, from the
information provided and homebrewing guidelines
freely available online.
Next, I'm going to try saffron ale. Maybe others
later on.
Also, in response to an earlier post, the section
on henbane ale is extremely clear on the hazards
involved. Buhner has great respect for the
powers of the plants he uses.
Rating:
Summary: Relax - have a (historic) homebrew
Review: I loved the heck out of this book. Although I'd
never brewed beer/ale before, I was able to
brew a satisfactory batch of gruit ale, from the
information provided and homebrewing guidelines
freely available online.
Next, I'm going to try saffron ale. Maybe others
later on.
Also, in response to an earlier post, the section
on henbane ale is extremely clear on the hazards
involved. Buhner has great respect for the
powers of the plants he uses.
Rating:
Summary: A truly great Book!
Review: Nowadays most people get their alcohol in the shops or bars. They go there, drop their cash, zip their plastic and get the stuff. It's that simple (and plain). Fact is for thousands of years the production of alcoholic beverages was the domain of shamans and priests, a realm that was magic, awe-inspiring and mystical. Alcoholic beverages were used in religious and healing ceremonies and in practices that would support bonding within the community. THIS BOOK CAPTURES ALL THIS.
I recommend this book also to those homebrewers who do not embrace this vision, because they'll find a great deal of inspiration for their concoctions. I am not sure all recipes are safe, but ... we can't live forever! Can we?
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT BOOK!
Review: Reductionists will hate this book (it will give them "greif" as the last reviewer says) but if you want something more than the usual beer book (hops, yeast, malt, water, and a limited ability to reason) this is the book for you. It is a beautifully poetic look at fermentation through time, at our human relationship with the magic of plants and fermentation, and at the very human journey we all take in this life. Mechanomorphs (those who project mechanicalism onto Nature) need not apply.
Rating:
Summary: Plenty safe
Review: Stephen's book on beers is great because you learn about brewing, other cultures (human), and herbs. He is also very clear about how powerful plants can be, and for each herb he gives 2-5 paragraphs of well cited information. Some of the measurements are a little vague or confusing in the recipes but like he says the point is to make a mess and have fun. This is a great read for anyone into health as well, just for the chapter on fermented honey and bee products alone. And if he includes a recipe with jimson weed or henbane, he is very clear about the inherent risks. Lighten up and drink some meade.
Rating:
Summary: What a Wonderful Book!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh good greif...
Review: What promises to be an interesting book is loaded with new-age claptrap and vague sourcing. The recipes would be good; if you are a risk-taker.
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