So, I'm having a chat with a friend who is TBM when the subject gets around to the WOW. As we discussed the WOW he was shocked to read that barley was for 'man'. I suggested that historically, that probably meant beer and not just cereal or bread. He said he remembered reading a story about JS being quoted as saying, "My whiskey, my whiskey! Where would I be without my whiskey?". Has anyone else heard of this?

I remember my mother showing me a book called History of the Latter-Day Saints years ago and I recall seeing a photograph of a Mormon sacrament meeting in the St. George tabernacle. The photo showed a older man with his hands raised (as if in the attitude of prayer) blessing the sacrament. On the table in front of him was bread and a carafe of wine. I don't recall the date of the photograph but, this image is stuck in my mind.

Finally, many years ago I was chatting with some aged Mormons in Brigham City, Utah who had grown up there and knew everything about the town. One of the men told the group that the orchard of peach trees that sit above the town on the south-east side (and above what used to be called 'Snob Hill'), was planted by a German immigrant who had been a convert to TSCC. At harvest time in the fall, the peaches would be gathered into the Bishop's Storehouse and was made into wine. The wine was shipped to SLC and distributed to the ward-houses for sacrament meetings. Again, has anyone else heard of this?

Cake

Noodling around on los interwebz, I found a photo of BY's supposed favorite cup, "...hewn from the wood of the tallest tree in Adam-ondi-Ahman, and lined with the polished skull fragments of apostates and unearthed Lamanites..."

http://beehivebugle.com/2015/08/27/lds-church-releases-photo-of-whiskey-tumbler-used-by-brigham-young-for-spiritual-guidance/

D&C 89:1-2
1 A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—
2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—

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The early Mormons didnt view the Word of Wisdom as a commandment. D&C 89:2 says it was not a commandment and it was for the temporal salvation meaning the health of the body not the spirit.

"Gosh," he asked innocently, "why did they make it a commandment at a later date? Why did ghawd change his mind?"

Beer
The Word of Wisdom states in part,

16. All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground—

17. Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.[50]


The revelation suggests that barley-based mild drinks (such as beer) may be permissible.[17] As recently as 1901, apostles Brigham Young, Jr. and John Henry Smith argued that the revelation did not prohibit beer.[40] However, LDS Church leaders now teach that consumption of any form of alcohol, including beer, violates the Word of Wisdom.[51][52][53]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Wisdom

The argument is from verse 17 that says "and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain." This sounds like it is ok to make a drink out of barley or other grains. Joseph Smith did drink alcohol his entire adult life despite the stories that Mormons tell about him. Joseph Smith was reported to have a bar in his Nauvoo mansion house and drunk wine in Carthage Jail the day he died.

History of The Church: Before the jailor came in, his boy brought in some water, and said the guard wanted some wine. Joseph gave Dr. Richards two dollars to give the guard; but the guard said one was enough, and would take no more. The guard immediately sent for a bottle of wine, pipes, and two small
papers of tobacco; and one of the guards brought them into the jail soon after the jailor went out. Dr. Richards uncorked the bottle, and presented a glass to Joseph, who tasted, as also Brother Taylor and the doctor, and the bottle was then
given to the guard, who turned to go out. When at the top of the stairs some one below called him two or three times, and he went down. Immediately there was a little rustling at the outer door of the jail, and a cry of surrender, and also a discharge of three or four firearms followed instantly. The doctor glanced an eye by the curtain of the window, and saw about a hundred armed men around the door.