Hi all,

I haven't brewed in YEARS but I'm starting to get the urge again. I just wanted to issue a warning to all BIAB brewers. I am generally a fairly private person, so I don't usually share my life sob story, but hear me out please because I think hearing/reading it may prevent a lot of unnecessary suffering. I was diagnosed with M.S. in 2005 and had a couple very rough years initially. I had a massive relapse in 2007 which left me paralyzed on one side of my body. I have had suspicions for a while that M.S. might not be what we are led to believe it is. I have also thought it might be multiple diseases given the blanket diagnosis of M.S.. Officially there are 4 types of M.S.. Benign, Relapsing/remitting, Secondary Progressive, and Primary Progressive. I always found it strange that the symptoms can vary so much.

One of the great things about BIAB is the lower equipment requirements. But I think that the rice hulls might be hugely important ingredient. Not for taste or mouth feel but for health! The vitamin deficiency disease called Beriberi became a problem when rice was washed more thoroughly because the Vitamin B1 is found in the husks of cereal grains. I love BIAB and would have never started All Grain without it. But this is just a warning that we might be missing out on some very good stuff by skipping some of the traditional 3V brewing steps.

If you look at all the symptoms of the various vitamin deficiencies, they mirror a lot of so called auto immune disease symptoms. And my off the wall idea of M.S. being more than 1 disease might actually hold some truth. I don't think my health issues are related to home brewing or BIAB because I already had M.S. when I started home brewing

https://listverse.com/2012/03/16/top-10 ... iciencies/

This was my first post in years, but I think I have brought up an important topic. Good luck and happy brewing all, I'll post again if/when I return to brewing. In case anyone cares I'll tell a bit more of my story. In 2007 I spent about 1.5 months in a hospital bed and was transferred to a rehab hospital where I spent another 1.5 months. I went from paralyzed on one side and bedridden. To wheeling myself around in a circle because I only had use of 1 arm. To walking with a walker, to walking unaided. I skipped the cane stage due to male pride and I'd do it again!

Edit: Too much of a vitamin can cause issues as well. So please get your vitamin levels checked and remember this post if you experience any issues. My initial issue was that my left hand would clench into a fist uncontrollably.


JR