Different kind of buzz??

fredthecat said:

i'd say i get a more openly, mentally active buzz from homebrew and a beer like aventinus (heady, strong, unfiltered).

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Again, if you consume twice the alcohol in the same volume of liquid, the effects will be different. Aventinus is a 12abv eisbock. That is about 2-3x the etoh of a standard beer and 4x the etoh of a light lager. Fill up a beer bong with three beers, slam it, and you will have the same effect.

JefeTheVol said:

I agree that EtOH affects all walks of life a little differently and that, subjectively, to you, it might not matter what bolus of alcoholic beverage you are taking. But to the some others, I merely stated the physiological facts that would explain others' experiences with different beverages. To say its completely neurological and fabricated by your psyche would be naive. I provided physiological facts that would explain the different ammounts of EtOH that would reach your CNS based on the type of bolus ingested and help explain the differences perceived by the OP. I didnt make anything up but again, I cant provide evidence of bolus vs CNS EtOH delivery in the literature, I merely extrapolated on already available evidence involving other drugs. The literature I read doesnt really care about the short term effects of drinking.
-Jefe-

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thanks for the factual medical/scientific insight Jefe... this thread has been fun to read while researching buzz differences. especially the people that have no clue what you're talking about essentially disagreeing with you based on their perceptions. It's like the guy that's never even been to college telling his fellow blue collar coworker buddies at work how dumb his doctor is.

mikeysab said:

I also don't get as bad a hangover when I drink HB

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I think it has to do with drinking more yeast in hb and getting those complex B vitamins back that alcohol strips you of.

I agree with others--this *is* an interesting thread.

I'm no chemist and am certainly no authority on alcohols, except for consuming them. But, I recently had a discussion with the distiller at Black Button Distillery about the "buzz". He's the youngest Master Distiller in the country and runs BB Distillery here in Rochester, NY. He rattled off the chemistry of different alcohols to teach me why there's a difference in a buzz.

Unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough to recite it as he explained it, but it went something like this.

During distillation, three primary alcohols are produced. One has to be removed, since it'll make you blind. Another is often left in, as a money saver for many distilleries that produce a cheaper product. This alcohol (forget the name) is notorious for the hangover you feel the next day.

He was explaining that you can take two bourbons, for example--one cheap and one high end--and drink equal amounts on different days. The cheaper bourbon that's high in this particular alcohol type will leave you feeling sick the next day while the high-end bourbon that had this alcohol type removed will be cleaner. Your "buzz" will be cleaner and your recovery much smoother.

With that in mind, I'd have to wonder what alcohols are produced in a homebrew that produces a different kind of buzz. From what he was telling me, different alcohol types do contribute to the quality of buzz one feels.

Now, our discussion revolved around distilled spirits, so I don't know if this applies to beer fermentation. Someone versed in alcohol chemistry as it relates to fermentation vs. distillation would have to address this.

CrazyP said:

I've noticed this effect not with homebrew specifically but with different classes of drinks. Red wine often makes me feel tired and irritable whereas a good clean vodka or gin relaxes me. Some high ABV brews give me a "fuzzy" kind of feeling without much buzz... hard to explain. Most good beer gives me a pleasant buzz with a craving for more beer.

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I've had very unpleasant effects from red wine also. Usually a tightness in my forehead and bridge of my nose, and often some sharp pain just above my eyes. Not cheap "garbage" wines either. I attribute that to sulfites for lack of anything else to blame it on.
Otherwise beer, wine, whiskey, etc....... all seem to me to have the same effect on me, with the exception of tequila, which is just plain fun!


H.W.