You may think I am insane for claiming that beer should be considered a preparedness item, but I am not. Here in the Pacific NW, beer is a HUGE part of life. There are over 200 microbreweries in Cascadia and tens of thousands of homebrewers. If there were ever a major natural disaster or economic distress the likes we have never seen, a common component of life that people in this part of the world will be unavailable or only available at prices that would make one have to choose between food and beer. Unfortunately, I know quite a few people who would choose to have a beer rather than food in that situation (sad, I know). Why not make beer a preparedness item?
Most preparedness sites and videos I have watched on YouTube recommend storing "comfort foods" in your supply. I and many other Cascadians consider beer to be "comfort food". Why not store beer?
I am not recommending that you go out an purchase a few cases of your favorite beer for storage. Production beer that you find in your local grocery store, specialty beer shop, liquor store, etc. will not last very long. I have concluded that there are two reasons for this: (1) Production beer is force-carbonated with carbon dioxide and will go flat over time as the carbon dioxide leeches out through the bottle cap (or through the...shudder...pop-top of an aluminum can); and (2) Production beer is pasteurized which also reduces shelf-life. There is a reason why production beer has a "Best If Consumed By" date on each bottle or can. These are the reasons.
My solution is to homebrew. Homebrewing is easy to do and you create high-quality and very tasty beer. This beer is bottle conditioned and not force-carbonated, so the yeast in the beer carbonates the beer by adding corn sugar (or other fermentable sugar) at bottling time. The beer is also not pasteurized. Legendary homebrewer Charlie Papazian has had bottles of his homebrew taste great, being safe to drink, and remain carbonated for over 20 years when kept in cellar conditions. Homebrewing is rather inexpensive. You can make a high-quality five gallon batch of homebrew for under $50. If you do not want to invest in the equipment for homebrewing, check with your local homebrew shop and see if they have a brewing kitchen to rent (usually fairly cheaply) where you can become your own mad scientist in a laboratory. This is where I got my start. I bought my own equipment over time (a full kit is about $200) and now produce 5 gallons per month. You can either buy new bottles or reuse the ones you already drink from, as long as they are not the twist-off kind. There is too much to go into on this subject, but inquiring at your local homebrew shop is a great place to start.
In a situation in which commodities are scarce, beer may become a valuable bartering tool. If someone is desperate, you never know what you could trade a few 12oz or 22oz bottles of beer for. I know other preparedness people have said to store hard liquor and wines for consumption and barter in tough times. I plan to do this as well, but I know many people who drink beer but do not drink wine or hard liquor. You never know what comfort you might get or what you might get in trade for a 6-pack of homebrewed IPA. Beer is something that should not be overlooked in preparedness.
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