Sickness From Your Beer?

So the other night I had two of my newest batch. A couple hours later I threw up. I felt bad, but woke up the next morning and had breakfast and felt normal. No other symptoms with this, just vomit.

The beer in question had a questionable fermentation and clarity. The fermentation did not take off, after the first week it only went from 1.06 to 1.03 and stopped. I then added a different yeast (Belgium) and it finished and got to 1.012. The beer is a hoppy double IPA that has a bit of belgium taste to it. The only problem I see with it is that it never got the clarity that I am used to getting. The beer is really cloudy worse that an unfiltered wheat beer. I usually get beer that is much clearer than this out of similar recipes.

So, is my beer spoiled and a vomit inducer?

I doubt it. Probably something else cause you to puke.

That is what I am hoping. I figured with the high IBU's and high ABV it should be good.

2 beers to puke - Lightweight!

Just kidding. I guess that it tasted OK, so I would agree that it was probably something else.

Tomorrow when you have 2 more, if you puke again, then I would say it is the beer. Then give the whole batch to someone you don't like.

I've found a lot of my brews have something in them that makes me vomit. I think it's just a slight imperfection though because I really have to drink a lot of it for it to happen. Weird, no?

No your beer is fine, there is enough alcohol to kill anything that could make you ill. More than likely something you ate.

Your tasters will tell you first if something is 'wrong'

Just remember, 'wrong' by many is intention by others. Although some accidents don't fix well...

Sensitivity to a particular strain of yeast maybe, or the hops? I love really hoppy beers but the guts can only handle two or three a session.

Do you have heartburn problems? Flying Dog Raging ***** and Stone's Cali Belgique (or whatever it was called) both messed with my heartburn enough to the point where I could see myself puking from them before getting very drunk. A lot of hops and Belgian yeast = a lot of acids that don't sit well in my stomach. I actually love Belgians and hoppy beers, just not together.

Could be you were so worked up about possible problems with your beer that you psyched yourself out. Concern about the quality of the beer, uncertainty about the healthiness of consuming your beer, uneasiness with suspected problems in the beer, all caused your immune system to reject the sample you drank. Could be the second yeast had not settled out and your body recognized it as a potential risk. Conventional wisdom is that your body will protect itself from unknown foods by regurgitating or vomiting them. If you're feeling unsure about your beer with your conscious mind, what must your subconscious be feeling?

I agree, if you feel something is going to make you sick as you eat it, it just might happen even though it was fine.

I'd suggest having a more experienced brewer taste the beer. May be there is a flaw or character to it you are more sensitive too.

Do you think the lack of clarity is due to yeast in suspension? If so you may have a sensitivity to the yeast. Theres nothing in there that can actually hurt you though, except alcohol...

Usually when people get sick it is something they ate 12 hours or so earlier, my SIL(health inspector) told me. Wait a week and try it again, if you get sick again then might be the beer. You could ship me some and I will try it.

Dean

I puked one time after having a few homebrews... And some shots of hot damn, and some shots of cactus juice...

It's certainly possible something in your beer is messing with your stomach, though it's rather unlikely. It does happen though. I've made many batches so far and all have been great, though the extract pumpkin I made... something about it makes me queasy. The pumpkin was boiled and put into the fermenter and strained out at bottling time. Overall it was my worse brew made. I'd had a pint or two with no problems but then had two pints one night after having a crap load of Heartland Breweries pumpkin and threw up. Of course, the likelyhood is I hurled because I simply drank way too much.

However, the following weekend I had only one of my pumpkins in the morning and my stomach started feeling really queasy as I walked over to the ACE hardware store. I didn't throw up or anything but that told me there may be something about my poor extract pumpkin that just isn't sitting well with me. I'm planning on dumping the remaining bottles. I have Northern's Smashing Pumpkin all grain in the fermenter now and I am pretty confident it will come out nicely.

So, is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? Not really. Only way to tell is to drink it again and see how your stomach feels.


Rev.

Case Closed, it is definitely the beer. I had one last night and got the exact same reaction. Puked up all my stomach.

I drink hoppy beers and belgium all the time. Something is not right with this one. It has had plenty of time to settle, about 5 weeks, but is still super cloudy.

Gonna have to dump it, all that hard work down the drain, literally.

It has to be the yeast. I gather yeast myself and keep it in the fridge. I have made many batches with this yeast, but it is a year old and did not take on the first try. Time to start with new yeast, that is if I can get my taste back for beer.

I will post of pic of the beer too to show it clarity.

Here are some pics.

Where are you Reevy?

does it taste funky?

TwoGunz said:

I've found a lot of my brews have something in them that makes me vomit. I think it's just a slight imperfection though because I really have to drink a lot of it for it to happen. Weird, no?

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Same thing happens to me too. Whatever it is also causes a loss of memory and motor control.

Were you, by chance, watching the nightly news when this incident occurred? Some time ago, I used to get the urge to hurl by the time the news was finished so I decided not to watch. Since then, I've never felt better! Actually, I have a funny feeling that it was coincidental as I've been drinking homebrew since the late 80's and have never had any problems, except when I'm full. The 'hurl' is the body's mechanism to create more room for more beer. Now go have one and put this incident behind you!

B-Hoppy said:

The 'hurl' is the body's mechanism to create more room for more beer. Now go have one and put this incident behind you!

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Nope, that's what urination is for. The hurl is the way your body tells you "I DISAPPROVE!!!!!!!".


Rev.