4% vs 6%

[badmajon]

Science question time. How come it seems like I could drink a few 4% beers and not feel a thing, but give me a couple of 6% beers, and I'm done for the night?

Do you know what I mean? I've got a Pilsner on tap made that is about 4%, which I really can't even consume fast enough to get a buzz. However, after one bottle of 6ish IPA I made a couple of months ago, I was feeling it.

Weird... You'd think that 1.5 glasses of 4 would equal the same effect as 1 glass of 6, but it's just not true- even if I drank them in the same amount of time.

 

[two_hearted]

Your body has more time to process the 4% pilsner between beers than the 6% that comes in all at once? I don't know. Hop Euphoria?

Did you have 1.5 Pilsners and then have an IPA?

 

[BrewKnurd]

I'm pretty sure the absorption rate into your bloodstream is concentration dependent. So even though 1.5 4% beers have the same volume of beer, the concentration being higher with the 1 6% beer means there's a stronger driving force (concentration gradient) to drive alcohol from your digestive tract into the blood stream.

 

[unionrdr]

I know what you mean. Drank a 16oz Milwaukee's Best...not much there. Then drank one 25oz from my previous batch of pale ale,& wow. That pale ale was a tad over 5.3%ABV. Another thing I've noticed is that HB has a lighter form of ethyl alcohol than BMC's with corn & rice adjuncts. More like being high than drunk...till you try & get up & walk away...:cross:

 

[Patirck]

It would be interesting to see if increased hop utilization plays some sort of physiological role in how your brain handles alcohol. I don't know of and have not looked for any studies on this but given the genetic relationship between the hop plant and marijuana perhaps there is some sort of interaction.

Just pure speculation..... Perhaps someone can volunteer to make a very low gravity / high ibu batch and see if there is anything to it.

 

[rycov]

hops are a sedative, so that could have some effect.

 

[two_hearted]

This is somewhat discussed here and here

Lots of talk of unfiltered vs filtered, hops and brewers yeast combining to make for euphoric buzz, yada yada. Also lead me to read more about making tea with hops for use as a sleeping aid.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,it is in the same,general family as cannabis sativa,but not possessive of,among other mystic molecules as delta1 & delta6 tetrahydracanabinol. Not in any usable quantities,anyway. But the lipulins may have something else in the plant to have a similar effect when dried & used in beer.?...

 

[rycov]

i don't know anything about the chemicals or what causes it, i've just read a few places that hops are a mild sedative.

 

[weirdboy]

Is it a sedative or a soporific?

 

[Homercidal]

makes me sleepy a bit...

 

[40watt]

I have an overly hopped American Wheat that leaves me mysteriously buzzed, despite being only 4%ish.

 

[mkwasnie]

A lot of it's mental. There are studies where people are given regular bmc and a placebo near beer (o'duals or what have you), and the results are surprisingly similar. Alcohol definitely has an effect on the body, but when you are used to something giving you a buzz it can be as much mental. I think a lot of the reason that you don't get a buzz with 4% is because you don't expect it to, and that two 6% beers knock you out is because you think they should. Have you ever been drinking and something bad happens? Think how quick you sober up.

 

[unionrdr]

you "sober up quick" because of the endorphin rush in your brain.

 

[AnOldUR]

I'm pretty sure the absorption rate into your bloodstream is concentration dependent.

I'd think that drinking a 12 ounce glass of water between or during the two 6%ers should equal that out.

 

[BrewKnurd]

I'd think that drinking a 12 ounce glass of water between or during the two 6%ers should equal that out.

Agreed. I've never personally done that experiment to be able to compare.

 

[gr8shandini]

A lot of it's mental. There are studies where people are given regular bmc and a placebo near beer (o'duals or what have you), and the results are surprisingly similar. Alcohol definitely has an effect on the body, but when you are used to something giving you a buzz it can be as much mental. I think a lot of the reason that you don't get a buzz with 4% is because you don't expect it to, and that two 6% beers knock you out is because you think they should. Have you ever been drinking and something bad happens? Think how quick you sober up.

That may be true to a point, but I've certainly been blindsided by commercial brews that I didn't check the %ABV on prior to a session. Dale's Pale Ale comes to mind. It's far more "drinkable" than I usually associate with 6+% beers and I inadvertantly got myself pretty loopy on it one night. Good thing I wasn't driving anywhere.

 

[mkwasnie]

I agree completely that alcohol still plays the primary role here, but if you have mentally prepared yourself that a beer won't get you drunk than you may feel it less, it is the nervous system that it effects after all.

I'm not saying that I only get a buzz when I think I am going to get one. There has been a few times where after one easy drinker I'm buzzing only to be surprised by the amount of alcohol.

Plus drinking habits and diet plays a huge role, you may be stuffing yourself with bbq and burgers and downing lighter beer, while enjoying something a little heavier with a light meal.

 

[shelly_belly]

Is it a sedative or a soporific?

Ha! I learned a new word.

 

[rycov]

Is it a sedative or a soporific?

was this directed to me? if so i'm not sure (i don't even know what a soporific is) i just read that in a few places. also noticed that if i do have two pretty hoppy beers i get kinda laid back. more so than i would with less hoppy, same abv beers. but like some one else posted, that could be partially a mental thing

 

[PanzerBanana]

Don't forget that what you've eaten before or during and the amount comes into play also. And being adequately hydrated. Days I haven't eaten much doesn't take a lot for a fairly low ABV beer to be felt.

Then there are the days I've eaten plenty and barely get touched by a couple of 6%+ in a row.

As it was said the concentration of alcohol is going to play a part as well. Your body can only process so much at a time. A lower ABV will get through quicker. Where as a higher ABV is going to take more time to process and it's effects will have time to set in.

Providing the cases in which you drink the beers is the same, the alcohol is going to get into your body about the same rate but that higher ABV is going to take longer to get out.

 

[o4_srt]

you "sober up quick" because of the endorphin rush in your brain.

Just watched an episode of mythbusters where they tested sobering up techniques. A swift, firm palm to the face actually caused them to perform better on the sobriety test taken immediately after.

Exercise also saw a modest increase in performance, but not nearly as great as getting slapped in the face.

 

[jbsg02]

Yeah, I saw that one too. Probably the adrenaline rush you would get from it

 

[Mike_A]

One other factor to account for is hydrometer reading accuracy. Personally, I would give myself at LEAST a +/-0.001 margin of error when reading the OG and the FG, amounting to a +/-0.002 margin of error when calculating ABV. 0.002 * 131.25 ~= 0.25%ABV. Might not be much, just contributing my 2 cents.