For a number of reasons, beer has always been one of my favorite past time drinks. Starting from settling uneasiness by relaxing the mind from turmoil up to making the mind go blank that an overflowing of various senses can be possible. When influenced by alcohol, some dwell in misery while some prefer sensuality . No need to ask, I prefer the latter one.
Now there is a kingdom where alcoholic drinks are forbidden, and unfortunately its where i am spending the golden years of my youth. Beer is considered ‘haram’ or sinful in the country, and all are expected to abide the rule of the land. That is when caught breaking the rules, one may end up in jail . And since bigotry seems high in the country, if you belong to an unlucky race a number of painful slashes may be added (as rumored).
Much to my surprise, i found bottles of good old Budweiser beer in the grocery but i was instantly despaired to discover that it does not have alcohol content. I did not know that a 0% alcohol beer existed and it tickled me inside so i bought some and saved to try for my precious day off.
How did it taste? It still have the bitter sweet taste of beer.
How did it feel? I was surprised that the 0% alcohol malt tasting beer made me feel drowsy and light headed just like the effect of beer that i am used to. It even made me start wondering about giant octopus and squids in atlantic and made me admire H.P Lovecraft.
And after some probing, I found out that one of the ingredients of the bottled beverage aside from malt is HOPS, a female flower cluster that is primarily used as flavoring for beverages to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor. Hops are also used in herbal medicine as a treatment for anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia. A pillow filled with hops is a popular folk remedy for sleeplessness. Hops may be used alone, but more frequently they are combined with other herbs, such as valerian. The relaxing effect of hops may be due, in part, to the specific chemical component 2 methyl2 butanol a compound that causes drowsiness and hallucination. The compound is active in doses of 2000-5000 mg, making it some 20 times more potent than ethanol. To gauge in simple medical term, its effect is in between chloralhydrate and pareldehyde.
Im sleepy now. Ciao!
sunkissedmandarin 