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As hal2814 said, he's talking about pathogens and not bacteria in general.

From what I understand, nothing bad (e.g., botulism) can grow in beer, due to the low pH (acidicity) caused by the addition of hops. Yes, bacteria and other yeast can grow in beer, but I haven't heard of any that can cause serious health issues. They'll often cause undesirable off-flavors, though. On the other hand, for some beer types, you want certain bacteria to grow (e.g., lactobacillus in the case of lambics).

However, there is a possibility where beer made from improperly stored/used/made canned (unfermented) wort may contain botulism toxin, and the brewing process may kill all of the botulism bacteria but not neutralize all of the toxin. For this case, there is an issue. Reference: http://www.byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/58-yeast/437-canning-yeast-starters

Also, see this thread, towards the bottom of the page: http://www.brew-monkey.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=862

OTOH, you could thereby have the adventure of a new and different beer, or toxic waste as the case may be :) Surely *someone* doing home-brewing must grow or gather their own hops, and there are a lot of known cultivars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops) And I'd think you could make a good guess as to how they'll affect your beer by making a plain tea from the flowers first. If your mouth falls off, they're too bitter. :)

As to malting, you can do that yourself, if you want the full-fledged adventure of brewing absolutely from scratch :) http://byo.com/feature/284.html
Feed-grade barley (untreated, unhusked) used to be about $2/50 lbs. back when I bought it for pigeon feed, so it's probably around $6-$8 now. And it would sprout at the least excuse. Step one!

Just speculating here, I don't drink enough beer to make it worth the bother, but as a closet medievalist I find the concept interesting.

Of course. My favorite dishes are usually more along the French lines-- they are often weirdly counterintuitive.

But my favorite subjects for food preparation are beer and bread. Yeast is such an amazing and versatile organism. Think-- beer and bread are quite similar: the basic ingredients for beer are grain (usually barley, but also wheat), water, yeast, and hops. Bread is grain (usually wheat), water, yeast, and salt. But they are so different! With beer, you utilize the alcohol-producing phase of the yeast organism's lifecycle; with bread, you utilize the gas-producing phase. And there's so much to know-- in fact, this article reminded me of another brewer/cook: George Fix, who was a professional mathematician, but whose hobby, brewing chemistry, probably contributed more to the knowledge of brewing science than any other single person. He was a frequent poster to many of the brewing listservs during the 1990's.

Anyway, cooking really makes me wish I had studied chemistry. Of course, it's never too late to open a book.

Were visiting dignitaries allowed a glass of wine with dinner while visiting the White House in 1978? Nope! Alcohol was banned in the White House by Carter.

I can't find any reference for that. Are you sure you are not confusing this with Rutherford Hayes' wife Lemonade Lucy in 1878?

As an avid homebrewer myself, I am certainly appreciative of Carter's signature on HR1337 in 1978 that legalized brewing beer in your home.

Here is one recipe from that link (I just might have to try it):

Coffee Imperial Stout
(5 gal/19L, all-grain)
OG: 1.067 FG: 1.016
IBU: 70 SRM: 35
by Doug McNair, Redhook Breweries

Ingredients
8.0 lbs. (3.9 kg) 2-row pale malt
2.25 lbs. (1 kg) crystal (60ö80¡ L)
1.5 lbs. (0.7 kg) wheat malt
1.25 lbs. (0.6 kg) chocolate malt
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) roasted barley
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) black patent malt
18.75 AAU Northern Brewer hops (bittering)
(2.5 oz./71 g of 7.5% alpha acids)
1.5 oz. (42 g) finishing hops
(Northern Brewer or Cascade)
15 oz. (445 mL) of espresso
Ale yeast (your choice)

Step by Step
Mash in all grains at 149¡ F (65¡ C). Hold until converted, about 1 hour. Mash off at 170¼ F (77¡ C) and begin lautering. Sparge to achieve eight gallons (30 L) of wort. Bring to a boil and add 2.5 oz. (71 g) boiling hops. Total boil is 70 minutes. After the boil, turn off the heat and add 1.5 oz. (43 g) finish hops for five minutes. Cool to 70¼ F (21¡ C) and ferment with ale yeast. Original gravity goal is 17.5¡ Plato (1.069 SG). Terminal gravity will be pretty high, approximately 1.016. Add espresso at end of primary fermentation, bottle and enjoy!

You might also want to read the following papers:

A Comparison Analysis of the Greater Carbohydrate and Increased Photosynthetic Element Count of Budweiser Versus the Similar Enzyme Content of Bud Light

Next to medicine and biowarfare, brewing and fermentation technology is a major funding source for microbiology.

Some research suggests that drinking beer may stop your hair from turning grey

And possibly the most expensive PDF's in the world

Temperature sensors are good and all, but what would really rule would be a networked hydrometer or refractometer inside the fermentation tank giving you gravity readings. For non-homebrewers, the hydrometer reading shows the amount of dissolved sugars in your beer. This value decreases as the beer ferments (yeast eats sugar and turns it into alcohol), thus showing you when the beer is done fermenting. Normally it's a royal pain to measure because you have to extract small amounts of beer from the tank without contaminating the contents with airborne bacteria. However, with a hydrometer floating in the tank the whole time with some kind of sensors attached to it, you would know the instant your beer is ready to drink. Not only that, but correlating the slope of the hydrometer graph (fermentation velocity) with fermentation temperature would be a homebrewers wet dream. This is because certain yeast have ideal temperatures to ferment at. Too hot and the fermentation goes too quick, generating weird tastes and esters. Too slow and the yeast falls asleep. Armed with an rrdtool graph of temp and gravity though and your beer would always be juuuusst right.

Big fan of BYO (Brew Your Own) magazine... As well as Eurotuner (drive a VW) and last but not least the free subscription I got to Autoweek for attending Mazda Rev It Up (autocross)

• Increased consumption of substance (currently a third of Americans have used Marijuana)
  
• Expenditure on substance increases because a.) demand for it is inelastic and b.) it becomes more scarce.
  
• Violent gang wars over illicit profits.
  
• People criminalized for activity that harmed no one but themselves.