No hangover/headache from homebrew

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McMalty

McMalty

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This is an amazing side effect I get from homebrewing. When ever i burn down the house with homebrew, i don't really feel that bad in the morning. this is apposed to drinking commerical brews in which i wake up with a nice little headache in the morning (assuming i had myself a good night).

I've read that a possible reason for this is that brewer's yeast contains essential B vitamins that aide your body in with the effects of a hangover.

Since I don't filter my brew (at least not beyond the secondary), the yeast hangs around, which I actually prefer, i love the yeast. But commercial brewers filter all the headache-saving goodness out of their brew (seems conter-productive to me, no hangover, sell more beer). I'm prone to hangovers, i guess b/c i drink almost no water. My body doesn't say "im thirsty" so i tend to not drink liquids that much (not even with meals, ik, effin weird)

Anyway, anyone else have similar effects?
 
I find that the evenings I over-imbibe on homebrew are a little less horrific the next day than if I were to have partied on commercial brew, or bourbon.. Wine is in a class all to itself for me.. I drink a half bottle of red wine, and i'm entirely useless the next day.

I don't know if its the B complex from the yeast, or what.. But homebrew seems to treat me pretty well.

-Jason
 
i find that if i slam some commercial brews, then stop, a few hrs later i have a massive headache. but i can slam 10 HBs and not feel terrible in a couple of hours. It's great, yeast is great
 
I agree with the lower headache levels, but I have noticed one significant effect of homebrew abuse is toilet abuse about 12 hours afterward. I also brew my own kombucha, which is replete with bugs, and it doesn't do it to me, so I'm thinking that it may be more a product of the fuller bodied beers. I haven't got slammed on comercial craft beers in a long time, so I can't really compare to that.
 
I've found that homebrew helps with the hangover but is much worse on the flatulation. I think it is a good trade off.
 
joel4482 said:
I've found that homebrew helps with the hangover but is much worse on the flatulation. I think it is a good trade off.
Click to expand...

Roger that. Farts are funny, and anyone who says they aren't is lying.

Problem is that too much homebrew has me playing Russian Roulet with my briefs.
 
What is it in beer that gives a headache directly after drinking? Not a hangover, mind you, but instead a sharp headache after drinking 1 glass, or 2 glasses....almost like caffeine withdrawal. I get this almost every time I have certain commercial/ micro brews, but can't remember the affect on homebrew. ABV doesn't change the outcome, either.

On that note (sorry for the slight hijacking, I've wondered this for awhile), my headaches are less during a hangover on homebrew than anything else, but I still feel just as useless, apathetic and sluggish as other consumables. Kyle
 
I have been drinking more yet less since getting my homebrew pipeline started which keeps my hangovers away and I love that!

What I am saying is that I now drink about a beer a day during the week and then drink around 6 on a Friday or Saturday night. These beers are 5-7% ABV so they do the trick but now I'm not burning the midnight oil pounding 4% beers and urinating 6 times per hour, dehydrating the hell out of myself.

I get the buzz we all love while drinking far less all while enjoying what I have created, there is nothing better! :mug:
 
I'm not 100% sure, but it does seem a homebrew only night is kinder on me the next morning. My worst hangovers in the last few months was from my mead. I had a pint of mead a few weeks ago and was absolutely worthless the next day.
 
I've been drinking my homebrew almost exclusively the past two years, and have noticed a big difference the next day after drinking commercial beer.

I'm also convinced it's helping me stay healthier in the winter months (it started out as a joke at work, but after I watched How Beer Saved the World I think there may be something to it). The last two winters I've been the only one in my office that has not come down with the flu or any of the other colds/ailments being passed around. My roommate, who has free and open access to my homebrew, has noticed the same thing. Something to ponder, anyway.
 
beerheart said:
I've been drinking my homebrew almost exclusively the past two years, and have noticed a big difference the next day after drinking commercial beer.

I'm also convinced it's helping me stay healthier in the winter months (it started out as a joke at work, but after I watched How Beer Saved the World I think there may be something to it). The last two winters I've been the only one in my office that has not come down with the flu or any of the other colds/ailments being passed around. My roommate, who has free and open access to my homebrew, has noticed the same thing. Something to ponder, anyway.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I need to watch that. Almost every year since I have been a little kid I would come down with the nastiest flu, usually around Xmas time through January.

This year, every one and their mothers were sick all around me, worse than I've ever really noticed. I, on the other hand, stayed perfectly healthy other than a sniffle or two.

I started homebrewing last spring, and recently I have hardly had anything other than homebrew, i.e. no commercial (I typically drink 1-2 per night on average)

Coincedence? I (like to) think not!
 
Hangover is caused by a lot of different chemicals residually in your body from liver metabolism. One of the major contributors to hangovers is acetaldehyde which is a result of your liver metabolizing EtOH. Acetaldehyde is then broken down to acetic acid as it passes secondarily through the liver by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.

Theoretically, your resistance to symptoms shouldnt be related to the alcohol content because if EtOH were the only player in a hangover it wouldnt matter the source of the EtOH - BMC or Homebrew. If we follow this logic 2 explanations can be made:

1. You are one of the 20%-or-so of people immune to the hangover effects because you have a genetic variation that allows you to clear the Acetaldehyde more efficiently, along with the other toxic breakdown products of EtOH metabolism (NADH, Pyruvate, anc congeners)

2. Something in the homebrew induces your liver enzymes to be more efficient. Namely Cytochrome P enzymes or CYP for short. This is a possibility and anecdotal to say the least because I dont think anyone has set up any experiments looking at this.

Your constellation of symptoms is probably related to your individual genetic makeup of liver CYP enzymes involved in metabolism. I say this because in medicine, there is a drug to treat alcoholism that causes terrible hangovers if the user combines the drug, Disulfiram, with EtOH. It works by inhibiting Acetylaldehyde Dehydrogenase and causing a build-up of Acetylaldyde in the blood stream leading to "hangover effects".

So I would say that maybe your are more resistant to hangover effects on a genetic level and homebrew induces your CYP enzymes to be more efficient. Im sure that your "miracle hangover free homebrew" is just an individual abberation than it is a law.

Psychologically we all want our homebrew to cure cancer and save children and marriages alike, but your reactions are probably more individual than representative of the entire population of drinkers.
-Jefe-
 
Jefethevol - Do you have sources for that? We have quite a few discussions in this forum on this topic (not suprising :drunk::drunk:) and I have been collecting reference links. The more references the better.
 
Another thing to consider might be that homebrew has no additives or preservatives (usually). Not a doctor...just throwing that out there.
 
JefeTheVol said:
Hangover is caused by a lot of different chemicals residually in your body from liver metabolism. One of the major contributors to hangovers is acetaldehyde which is a result of your liver metabolizing EtOH. Acetaldehyde is then broken down to acetic acid as it passes secondarily through the liver by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.

Theoretically, your resistance to symptoms shouldnt be related to the alcohol content because if EtOH were the only player in a hangover it wouldnt matter the source of the EtOH - BMC or Homebrew. If we follow this logic 2 explanations can be made:

1. You are one of the 20%-or-so of people immune to the hangover effects because you have a genetic variation that allows you to clear the Acetaldehyde more efficiently, along with the other toxic breakdown products of EtOH metabolism (NADH, Pyruvate, anc congeners)

2. Something in the homebrew induces your liver enzymes to be more efficient. Namely Cytochrome P enzymes or CYP for short. This is a possibility and anecdotal to say the least because I dont think anyone has set up any experiments looking at this.

Your constellation of symptoms is probably related to your individual genetic makeup of liver CYP enzymes involved in metabolism. I say this because in medicine, there is a drug to treat alcoholism that causes terrible hangovers if the user combines the drug, Disulfiram, with EtOH. It works by inhibiting Acetylaldehyde Dehydrogenase and causing a build-up of Acetylaldyde in the blood stream leading to "hangover effects".

So I would say that maybe your are more resistant to hangover effects on a genetic level and homebrew induces your CYP enzymes to be more efficient. Im sure that your "miracle hangover free homebrew" is just an individual abberation than it is a law.

Psychologically we all want our homebrew to cure cancer and save children and marriages alike, but your reactions are probably more individual than representative of the entire population of drinkers.
-Jefe-
Click to expand...

you are not mentioning one main cause of hangovers... that is dehydration! alcohol inhibits the release of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) which is why you can piss forever sometimes. salty/greasy food are so good the next day because the increase of sodium in our body temporarily causes your kidneys to retain more fluid.
 
joel4482 said:
I've found that homebrew helps with the hangover but is much worse on the flatulation. I think it is a good trade off.
Click to expand...

What he said.

I have found that I mistakenly get ripped on my HB pretty often since it's almost always a higher ABV than I mean it to be.

Sigh, what a terrible problem to have.:mug:
 
I've always heard that your body gets accustomed to whatever you usually drink and processes it more efficiantly. For example, if I drink wine I notice a much worse hangover, whereas someone who drinks wine on a regular basis may not have a hangover from wine, but have one from drinking some sort of beer. Not really sure, I have nothing but my own experiance to base this off of.

The way I see it, I'm making my liver more efficient...one beer at a time.
 
JebCkr said:
I've always heard that your body gets accustomed to whatever you usually drink and processes it more efficiantly. For example, if I drink wine I notice a much worse hangover, whereas someone who drinks wine on a regular basis may not have a hangover from wine, but have one from drinking some sort of beer. Not really sure, I have nothing but my own experiance to base this off of.

The way I see it, I'm making my liver more efficient...one beer at a time.
Click to expand...

Maybe you're right!

We've been drinking far more commercial beer lately, since we are not at our usual home and I'm hoarding my homebrew.

I noticed that I can't really handle too many commercial beers, especially BMC before I have a weird headache the next day, if not a hangover. (I almost never drink enough to get drunk).

Bob insists that he can't drink more than one or two commercial beers per night without side effects. But he can pound homebrew all day and night long.
 
Conan said:
What is it in beer that gives a headache directly after drinking? Not a hangover, mind you, but instead a sharp headache after drinking 1 glass, or 2 glasses....almost like caffeine withdrawal. I get this almost every time I have certain commercial/ micro brews, but can't remember the affect on homebrew. ABV doesn't change the outcome, either.

On that note (sorry for the slight hijacking, I've wondered this for awhile), my headaches are less during a hangover on homebrew than anything else, but I still feel just as useless, apathetic and sluggish as other consumables. Kyle
Click to expand...

Like i said in my original post, i believe it's the B vitamins. Drinking robs your body of water and nutrients. Apparently B vitamins play a vital role in whether or not you have a headache from drinking. Brewer's yeast is very high in B vitamins. So when you drink a filtered brew (most commercial brews) that have had all the yeast filtered out, your B vitamin level becomes depleted. But when you drink a unfiltered beer (most HBs), there is yeast in there, which sort of replenishes your B vitamin level. Of course if you drink way too much, i think ur gonna have a headache regardless. But, for this reason, i always eat a banana or two after i've had my fill, b/c bananas are also high in B vitamins (not as much as brewer's yeast tho).

Additionally, since drinking dehydrates you, your body pulls water from other parts of your body (like your brain) to ensure that vital organs have enough water to operate efficiently. I believe this also can contribute to headaches.

At least this is how i understand it to be. I'm not a scientist, so i could be off base, but it makes sense to me.
 
StarCityBrewMaster said:
I have been drinking more yet less since getting my homebrew pipeline started which keeps my hangovers away and I love that!

What I am saying is that I now drink about a beer a day during the week and then drink around 6 on a Friday or Saturday night. These beers are 5-7% ABV so they do the trick but now I'm not burning the midnight oil pounding 4% beers and urinating 6 times per hour, dehydrating the hell out of myself.

I get the buzz we all love while drinking far less all while enjoying what I have created, there is nothing better! :mug:
Click to expand...

Bingo, you've got the formula down. you feel better now than you did when you were pounding commercials, right? I follow the same type of pattern, but on the weekends, sometimes, i'll have an imperial bomber (approx 4 beer equivalent) and i'll nurse that and sip it like i'm drinking a bottle of wine (except i feel like a man since i'm drinking beer, no offense to the winos)
 
The homebrews I create are in the 6-7% range, and the wife and i generally (AKA almost always) have 2 per evening with our popcorn and a movie or decent TV from Netflix/Roku. The 2 homebrews seem to be about right to provide some great relaxation (AKA moderate buzz) and leave no trace of a hangover the next day. The wife previously would have a glass or true of wine, and sometimes not feel that well the next day. Yippee for homebrew on one more level.
 
Commercial brews just have me peeing like every 10 minutes once I get past a certain point. It's annoying, being the guy that has to run to the bathroom so often haha. But bud light and miller are pretty much just tainted water, and it runs through me just like that. I haven't really noticed this with home brews, but then again I can't really say that I've gotten hammered from my brews....yet
 
despite whatever scientific evidence, it seems that most posters agree that homebrew is good for you. I bet Tommy Jefferson got just plain hammered drunk on homebrew the day before he wrote the Declaration of Independence.......see, that turned out well.
 
FarmerJoe said:
Commercial brews just have me peeing like every 10 minutes once I get past a certain point. It's annoying, being the guy that has to run to the bathroom so often haha. But bud light and miller are pretty much just tainted water, and it runs through me just like that. I haven't really noticed this with home brews, but then again I can't really say that I've gotten hammered from my brews....yet
Click to expand...

Joe, you're wasting water with all that flushing, drink more homebrew, get real hammered on it, it likes you
 
McMalty said:
despite whatever scientific evidence, it seems that most posters agree that homebrew is good for you. I bet Tommy Jefferson got just plain hammered drunk on homebrew the day before he wrote the Declaration of Independence.......see, that turned out well.
Click to expand...

McMalty- sig line material! (If you don't mind if I steal it...:D)
 
I have noticed that I can drink many of my hefeweizens with little or no ill effects. I attribute this to the high yeast content (I always go mit hefe) and relatively low ABV (tend to be around 4.2).

I attempted to brew a hangover-proof hefe yesterday, with a significantly lower OG than usual. I will be forced to do an experiment to test it out in two weeks or so.
 
ANY beer made with rice in it kills me the next day, I always attributed the rice to my headache when drinking Budweiser, Now I proved it when I made my first light ale with rice. I let my friends have it, no more for me!
 
My experience tells me it's all about dehydration. I Drink a few glasses of water between beers and a glass or two before bed and I wake up fine. Doens't matter what I drink.

Try it, drink nothing but booze and go to bed. Hangover. Drink a glass of water between every beer or every other beer and you will notice the difference.

To that effect: The BMC you can pound all night just keeps running through you, dehydrating you quicker. The Homebrew doesn't go through you like that.
 
TheMan said:
My experience tells me it's all about dehydration. I Drink a few glasses of water between beers and a glass or two before bed and I wake up fine. Doens't matter what I drink.

Try it, drink nothing but booze and go to bed. Hangover. Drink a glass of water between every beer or every other beer and you will notice the difference.

To that effect: The BMC you can pound all night just keeps running through you, dehydrating you quicker. The Homebrew doesn't go through you like that.
Click to expand...

I think the dehydration is key to the headache. Get a bottle of pedialyte and pound it after a night of hard core drinking(before bed). It will help immensely for the next day. It has vitamins (unlike water) but doesn't have all the sugars the gatorades/powerades and some vitamin waters.
 
bufitfn said:
ANY beer made with rice in it kills me the next day, I always attributed the rice to my headache when drinking Budweiser, Now I proved it when I made my first light ale with rice. I let my friends have it, no more for me!
Click to expand...

sounds absolutely terrible. you should probably never ever do that again
 
TheMan said:
My experience tells me it's all about dehydration. I Drink a few glasses of water between beers and a glass or two before bed and I wake up fine. Doens't matter what I drink.

Try it, drink nothing but booze and go to bed. Hangover. Drink a glass of water between every beer or every other beer and you will notice the difference.

To that effect: The BMC you can pound all night just keeps running through you, dehydrating you quicker. The Homebrew doesn't go through you like that.
Click to expand...

As my uncle once said, "if I had room for a big glass of water, I'd have another beer"
 
bufitfn said:
As my uncle once said, "if I had room for a big glass of water, I'd have another beer"
Click to expand...

seriously. the water thing makes sense, but who ever does that? ever? There's a reason George Washington crossed the Delaware instead of drinking from it; it was made of water, who the hell wants that. Onward to Dogfish head.
 

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