A while ago Jeff over at Beervana had a post about a beer brewed with Apricot stone fruits called Everything But The Squeal. Interestingly the beer in question received more criticisms then praise from the readers. That’s because the fruit of apricot pits contains a chemical called amygdalin. This chemical is present in most fruit seeds including apples, and normally passes through your body tucked safely away in the seeds protective coating. However when you boil the seeds, open them up, or eat them this chemical is processed by your body and turned into cyanide. The FDA hasn’t thoroughly researched this chemical though, so the degree to which cooking eliminates amygdalin and the dosage at which it becomes lethal is debated. There’s no doubt though that some people are concerned. With the increasing use of alternative flavorings and herbs in beer though just how much are we exposing ourselves to “bad” or “dangerous” chemicals?
Within the alternative medacine community there seems to be a view that as long as it’s a plant it has to be better then the stuff you get from the pharmacy. What with all those nasty side effects of medicines it has to be true. Sadly many herbs contain similar or same chemicals that are found in some drugs. This means brewers should be paying close attention to interactions between plant chemicals, the way the body processes some chemicals, and the effect boiling in wort can have on the chemicals. Instead though many brewers just toss in the herbs without a lot of regard to this. Luckily for us the side effects of some herbs like sweet gale are over exaggerated and like the amygdalin in Cascades “white port/raspberry/apricot seed beer” are present in low enough levels for the body to process.
Just for fun here are some beer ingrediants that are considered dangerous or have known adverse side effects.
Ginko Biloba – Not very common, but you occasionally hear of one off beers brewed with it.
Ginsing – Oregon Trails Ginsing Porter pops to mind first.
Liquorice root – Common in dark heavy stouts, winter warmers, and sometimes barlywines.
Fruit seeds – Contain amygdalin. Cascade is the only one I’ve heard of actually brewing with seeds.
Sweet Gale – Reported in old brewing texts to be narcotic
Sassafras – traditional flavoring for root beer and some herbal beers. considered a carcinogen
