OK, friends, here's a question I've been scouring the interwebs for for days, and to no luck. The idea that the eleusinian mysteries were centered around some kind of beer brewed from ergotized wheat or barley malt. I've been experimenting with beer brewing along with my other side activities lately, and I am seeing very little experimental evidence to back up these theories. Has anyone actually TRIED doing this? And, more importantly, does the whole "poison part isn't water soluble" thing really hold up? I'm a dabbler, not a chemist, so I don't know this kind of stuff very well. I'd be willing to be the first homebrewer to resurrect the MYSTERIES, but I feel like I should at least be sure that the resulting brew wouldn't be toxic. Can any of you serious Chemists chime in here? Also, if this is possible, is it possible (or legal) to obtain a strain of ergot with which to innoculate my rye malt?

Actually, some sources suggest that alcoholic beverages had no part in the mysteries. The Hymn to Demeter explicitly states that Demeter did not partake of wine.



If you have not checked it yet, in this thread you can find ideas, links and interesting mental masturbations.

hmmmm.... This seems like the consensus is far from clear, but I'm going to keep working on it. My dad suggested buying a couple feeder mice to make sure that the brews arent toxic... Is that legal?

I have read that it is created from a cold water basified extraction of ergot rye and mint. This was from various unconfirmed sources though and wasnt tested to my knowledge.

Ya lol I dont think it is illegal to have test mice. And in any case it would not matter anyway becuase of the legal nature of the substance being worked with.

It's interesting that it may actually be LESS legal to make psychoactive substances than it is to kill animals with psychoactive substances.