Live Beer vs Dead Beer

[Alex Kieth]

I've been actively brewing for about a year now.
I've played around with it in the past and did the U-Brew thing for awhile as well.
This however, has been the longest stretch of home brewing I've ever done.

As a result, I've been drinking almost exclusively, bottle primed home brew.

I've noticed physical changes in myself over the course of a year.
Positive ones. Ummm... weight loss, less gas, far fewer "old guy" aches and pains. I feel better.

My sinuses used to plug up, sometimes before I'd finished my first "dead" beer. They don't anymore.

It happened slowly, but after a year... I've noticed. The only real big change in my life has been switching from commercial brews to home brew.

Well, I've gotten more active too, but thats
'cause I "feel" better.

My brew buddy claims his allergy's go to "sleep" when drinking live beer and "wake up" if he switches back to "dead" beer.

Umm... any one else out there notice this?

 

[Onescalerguy]

After drinking my/our homebrew exclusively for over a year(and lots of it) i've noticed two things from it:1-I don't get hangovers like i did with commercial stuff and 2-i've grown a bigass beer belly from having LOTS of beer around all the time and especially having it on tap.
Cheers

 

[Alex Kieth]

On tap, with CO2? Do you filter? What kinds of sugars do you use?
What I'm wondering is the effect of yeast on the immune system?
I'm going to google this, see whats out there.

 

[cheezydemon]

I like to think that it is healthier, but having constant access to beer has negated the health benefits.
A recent article in BYO covered a study which concluded that dark, unfiltered, not whirlpooled homebrew had more anti-oxidants than red wine.

 

[CBBaron]

I like to think that it is healthier, but having constant access to beer has negated the health benefits.

+1
Before home brew I drank 3-4 beers a week. Now I drink 10+. I'm probably still not getting into the unhealthy range of alcohol consumption but the calorie increase has made it more difficult to maintain weight. And thats with biking 17 miles a day on my commute.
Craig

 

[Nate]

Have yet to have a hangover from homebrew...

 

[Danny013]

I'd say that it has a lot to do with all the vitamins/nutrients you get from the yeast.

Also perhaps because you're using fresh, quality ingredients instead of corn meal, rice, etc.?

I don't drink enough HB to notice a difference (blasphemy, I know - I'm moving into a house soon though! Brew shed for me!), but I do notice a definite and signifanct difference between low-quality beer (BMC, etc.) and good beer. With the low quality stuff I feel nauseous and wake up with nasty stomach pains after as little as 3-4 BMC's, but with good quality beer I can drink all night and wake up feeling fine, a little headache if anything.

So, vitamins and nutrients in live yeast + fresh beer made with quality ingredients is my guess.

If it makes you feel good then that is great! The biggest thing you need to look out for is the increased calorie consumption and to exercise to burn those calories and keep your heart healthy from all the alcohol.

 

[mrfocus]

+1
Before home brew I drank 3-4 beers a week. Now I drink 10+.

I've read recently that up to 2 beers a day is good for men. As long as you're not binging (like 1 each day from Monday to Thursday, then 2-3 a night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

 

[cheezydemon]

I've read recently that up to 2 beers a day is good for men. As long as you're not binging (like 1 each day from Monday to Thursday, then 2-3 a night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

My problem is that I don't drink for 2-3 days, then I have 4 or 5 beers on the weekend.
(nice sig by the way! lol)

 

[Alex Kieth]

Hmmm....
I googled live beer, yeast, ect. and found glowing testimonials for the intake of brewers yeast, especially if it was live. So taking in a certain amount of live beer yeast a day has positive health benefits besides the extra B vitamins, trace minerals and dissolved fibre from the Barley. My conclusion was that the cure for what was in the brew as far as negative effects was contained therein. Moderation being the key.

I drink five days out of seven. Up to 6 beers at a sitting, but the norm is 3. 6 beers is a big day for this cat and it usually involves friends and dinner. (..and single malt scotch)

One of the drivers of home brewing for me was having a certain amount of quality control over something that I do a lot of. (Taste and cost were two of others.) Sorta like canning your own home grown tomatoes.

I've been toying with a "health" beer concept.

For instance, Ginger and Ginseng beer variants. Originally based on a friend's recipe and a kit can of Coopers Real Australian Ale.
Our most recent brew tastes okay, having some trouble with the secondary fermentation on the latest batch, (beers a little flat). Some people really really like it.