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nosnhojm20

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So after reading this article (Electrolyte-Enhanced Beer: READ HERE, it is freakin' awesome) I was curious if I could do something similar at home. Pedialyte came to mind and thought that since it was mostly water the might work. I know this wont make the most delicious beer in the world but would help me fight a hangover as once I catch a buzz I forget (don't care enough to) to hydrate .

My plan, if I ever do it as its just crazy, is to top off with pedialyte to reach the desired amount like in a typical extract brew.

My question: Does anything think that electrolytes would get killed in primary fermentation? I am no scientist but I was thinking the residual sugars could get fermented away, would leave all the electrolytes, and I would hop the heck out of it to cover off flavors.

Any feedback, thoughts won't life, etc are welcome!
 
Wouldn't pedialyte add some funky flavors and weird sweeteners? They don't use sugar in pedialyte, but some sort of sweetener. Check out the link for ingredients in pedialyte.

I'm the guy from the other thread about this. We should put our heads together about this.

Good question on the electrolyte loss in primary fermentation. Perhaps adding electrolytes at bottling would do it.
 
Whats up, Other Guy? I didn't mean to hijack the thread. I hope we can keep them both going but on separate topics.

Anyway, What about mixing in some "unflavored" pedialyte? I would think at fermentation it would neutralize some flavors? Or maybe at kegging/bottling. I would think just dumping in a liter of the unflavored stuff wouldn't make a HUGE difference in something like an IPA or a Stout, something that is a palette wrecker to begin with.

Unflavored Pedialyte ingredients: "Water, Dextrose. Less than 2% of the Following: Potassium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, and Zinc Gluconate."
 
nosnhojm20 said:
Unflavored Pedialyte ingredients: "Water, Dextrose. Less than 2% of the Following: Potassium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, and Zinc Gluconate."

In other word table salt, sugar and lime juice.

It's a nice idea but you would need to ensure that it stays in suspension once bottled or kegged. That's actually why dextrose is used. Makes the liquid dense enough to keep the salt in suspension. I think based on physical properties you could mix salt and lime juice in a session beer that was mashed toward the higher end to ensure enough sugar is present to maintain suspension. You shouldn't need as much electrolyte as a Gatorade would have, just enough to ensure water retention. Maybe 1/8 teaspoon per beer (I'm not that kind of doctor) maybe less. I'm just not sure if this could be added to the boil or if it would need to be post ferment. The salt can be added to the boil just not sure of everything else. My wife is a biochemist so ill try to run it by her when I see her.
 
nosnhojm20 said:
I can't wait to hear what the good doctor has to say about this.

Just checked with the wife and she briefly said you could add .5 tsp baking soda, 2 tbsp lime juice and 1 tsp salt per liter of water/wort either during the boil or post fermentation as neither will denature much. However this combo can lend to the acidic side so if you are worried about it affecting the ph of your wort then you should do it at bottling time. She also mentioned you could use agave nectar in place of the lime juice. And if you are doing this just to prevent hangovers then half those amounts of ingredients as those quantities are what you would need to replace the electrolytes lost during a vigorous workout.

Disclaimer: this is simply an educated guess. Take it for what it's worth.
 
Good lord, that is amazing. I can't imagine that effecting the taste that much. I may have to dabble. Thank her for me.
 
Good lord, that is amazing. I can't imagine that effecting the taste that much. I may have to dabble. Thank her for me.
thats .4 cup of salt alone per 5gal batch. that would have to change the taste a bit.
 
dmpullen said:
thats .4 cup of salt alone per 5gal batch. that would have to change the taste a bit.

3 tbs per my math unless you are wanting Gatorade concentrations you would half those ingredients to try and prevent hang overs. If you are wanting a recovery type drink then yes you are correct.
 
Has anyone attempted this? I just did, so I'll be able to give feedback in a few weeks.
I went with the agave method, so I hope the added sugars won't over-carb the bottles. I halved the recipe, because my main interest is to keep the dehydration down a bit.
The older I get, the more apparent that side effect is. I like beer too much to give it up completely!
 
Has anyone attempted this? I just did, so I'll be able to give feedback in a few weeks.
I went with the agave method, so I hope the added sugars won't over-carb the bottles. I halved the recipe, because my main interest is to keep the dehydration down a bit.
The older I get, the more apparent that side effect is. I like beer too much to give it up completely!

You'll have to let us know.
 
Why are we doing this experiment? Are you trying to come up with a beer that doubles as a sports drink?
 
As the OP I am delighted someone has done this. Please keep us posted! Ultimately if it tastes good, throws ya a buzz, and is hangover free why wouldn't ya? Personally, I don't think anyone is trying to make a sports drink per se but a delicious sessionable beer that doesn't kill ya in the morning. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 
I have gotten in the habit of throwing 2 palm fulls (2 tablespoons or so) of sea salt into my 5 gallon boils. One of my BJCP buddies once said " the difference between first and second place is usually three points", so I now add sea salt to every brew, and I tell people about it, and some at look at me funny about this, I respond with,"You put salt in your oatmeal, don't you? You're making oatmeal when you add hot water to your grain, too." You can't taste the salt in any fashion, but I do believe my beer tastes a little better because of it. I might be in my head, I don't know...
 
image-1416646730.jpg

Plants crave it
 
The older I get, the less recovering ability my body has. I'm not talking about preventing a horrible hangover after getting wasted.
I'm talking about wanting to have 2-3 pints in an evening, and not wake up super dehydrated and fuzzy brained. This used to be easy. Not so much anymore.
I'm not even drinking "big beers." Around 5-9%. I drink my quota of water everyday, too. I'm sure it's a combination of getting older and taking allergy medicine, which I can't stop either. Hopefully this new brew will help ease it.


PLOVE said:
Why are we doing this experiment? Are you trying to come up with a beer that doubles as a sports drink?
 
I cracked open the first bottle (a little early) and was pleasantly surprised. Before, when opening a little early, the WHHA seemed a little "thin," but then a week later, it tastes fuller and has great balance (as it should.)
With this one, it's already extremely full and very flavorful. It still has the core of the WHHA, but the subtle honey is now a big agave toasted marshmallow caramel flavor. I can tell the salt is working to enhance the flavors, but it doesn't seem extremely salty to me.
It's definitely more carbonated, but not to the point of obnoxiousness.
I look forward to seeing if it gets more flavor, or if it mellows down over the next week.
 
Awesome. Pardon my apparent lack of vocab, what is a WHHA? Also, you've gotta drink several of them and report back the results! Twisting your arm I'm sure.

I am going to experiment with a partigyle, this might be a perfect time to experiment with this. Mind sharing your recipe ?
 
This is an experiment with the White House Honey Ale, which I've brewed several times. For this batch, I added agave, baking soda and salt during the bottling process. I don't remember the exact measurements, but if you dig through this thread, you'll see. I'll definitely report back after trying another bottle next week!

nosnhojm20 said:
Awesome. Pardon my apparent lack of vocab, what is a WHHA? Also, you've gotta drink several of them and report back the results! Twisting your arm I'm sure.

I am going to experiment with a partigyle, this might be a perfect time to experiment with this. Mind sharing your recipe ?
 
I cracked open the first bottle (a little early) and was pleasantly surprised. Before, when opening a little early, the WHHA seemed a little "thin," but then a week later, it tastes fuller and has great balance (as it should.)
With this one, it's already extremely full and very flavorful. It still has the core of the WHHA, but the subtle honey is now a big agave toasted marshmallow caramel flavor. I can tell the salt is working to enhance the flavors, but it doesn't seem extremely salty to me.
It's definitely more carbonated, but not to the point of obnoxiousness.
I look forward to seeing if it gets more flavor, or if it mellows down over the next week.
I believe the point of all this was to prevent/mitigate hangovers. Get to work, man! :tank:
 
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