Weird Phenomenon.

[BeerWars]

Ever since I started homebrewing I can't catch a buzz from "commercial" alcohol.

I am not brewing or drinking "BIG BEERS" Right now I am drinking a Deception Cream Stout that is 5.1% ABV & Ed Worts Pale Ale that is 5.3 ABV. The Apfelwien is pretty stiff 9.1 ABV but we drink that few and far between. I am a very light drinker - 3 12oz beers a week and my wife is might drink 1 12oz drink on Friday night if she had a rough week. Usually 1 homebrew will give me a mellowed out feeling and 2 will get me in a good buzz. During Thanksgiving I left my beer at home in the frenzy to pack the car up. We were drinking Miller Lite while watching the games and I didn't even catch a hint of a buzz all day despite I the fact that I had more beers in one day that I usually drink in over a month.

I thought it was odd - but I kind of wrote it off because although I drank a lot on Thanksgiving, it was lite beer over a long duration.

Then this weekend we had a wedding to go to. We had a babysitter (only the second time since he was born) so the wife wanted to get a little wild. She drinks so little that usually she gets pretty sauced off of a a few drinks normally. She had a couple of Captain and cokes, a few Crown and gingers, and I don't know how much wine. She said to me unsolicited "I don't know what is wrong with me, but I kind of wanted to let loose but I am not buzzed at all." I told her I was in the same boat.

Tonight I drank 1 Deception Cream Stout and I have a nice mellow feeling. We gave some of my wife's friends (who are pretty heavy drinkers) a 6er of the stout a few weeks ago and they called me to say how bombed they were after only a few.

Is there something else other than alcohol that is contributing to the "potency" that we aren't getting from commercial alcohol?

 

[earwig]

It's all in your heads.

 

[Zamial]

Is there something else other than alcohol that is contributing to the "potency" that we aren't getting from commercial alcohol?

Yes. Unfiltered hops and yeast +. There is a phenomenon known as "hops euphoria". If you are relatively new to home brews, this can be pretty obvious when you have 2 beers and "feel something." Then when you try to catch a buzz off a normal beer it doesn't happen off the same 2-3 beers like it did with the HB. You notice it. When was the last time you felt a buzz from only 2 beers???

I like to think of it like cigarettes. The 1st 3 were a pretty wild ride and then you end up chasing that "high". Next imagine going from a non-filter to a "light" and then you scratch your head and wonder why you did not get the "high" and all the flavor...IT IS FILTERED...lol.

I do not believe that the hops euphoria effects everyone, hence the "it's in your head" comment. I can certainly say that when I drink more HB than commercial brew, I get a better buzz and feel better the next day.

There is also the unfiltered yeast, proteins and vitamins in our brews. You may be experiencing vitamins that your body is lacking...

I actually started a thread about this subject here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/different-kind-buzz-179389/

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

It's possible that it's the hops. Hops are related to cannabis and are said to have some of the same affects.

It could also be fusel alcohol. If your beers were fermented a little warm, you may have fusels, which will get you hammered.

 

[devilishprune]

You must be a more experienced drinker than me, because no matter how much I consume I can still get buzzed on whatever kind of alcohol I choose to drink. I'm thinking that it's all in your heads, unless you made some measurements wrong and your alcohol percentage is WAY higher than you had predicted somehow.

 

[BeerWars]

Yes. Unfiltered hops and yeast +. There is a phenomenon known as "hops euphoria". If you are relatively new to home brews, this can be pretty obvious when you have 2 beers and "feel something." Then when you try to catch a buzz off a normal beer it doesn't happen off the same 2-3 beers like it did with the HB. You notice it. When was the last time you felt a buzz from only 2 beers???

I like to think of it like cigarettes. The 1st 3 were a pretty wild ride and then you end up chasing that "high". Next imagine going from a non-filter to a "light" and then you scratch your head and wonder why you did not get the "high" and all the flavor...IT IS FILTERED...lol.

I do not believe that the hops euphoria effects everyone, hence the "it's in your head" comment. I can certainly say that when I drink more HB than commercial brew, I get a better buzz and feel better the next day.

There is also the unfiltered yeast, proteins and vitamins in our brews. You may be experiencing vitamins that your body is lacking...

I actually started a thread about this subject here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/different-kind-buzz-179389/

Thanks for the link!

I think some people in your thread and this thread don't understand. I am not "more drunk" (I haven't drank to get drunk since college) - I just have a stronger / better buzz with homebrew.

 

[Zamial]

You must be a more experienced drinker than me, because no matter how much I consume I can still get buzzed on whatever kind of alcohol I choose to drink. I'm thinking that it's all in your heads, unless you made some measurements wrong and your alcohol percentage is WAY higher than you had predicted somehow.

Ok, I can head to the store and buy a 12 pack of Smithwick's. Chill 2 bottles and then slam them like they had a vortex neck and feel no different, at all...

Then why can I grab 2 homebrews and do the same thing on a different day and feel tanked, taking care to use close ABV% ?

I have actually done what I describe above. As I have stated, I do not believe the "effects" are strictly related to ETOH alone. But A combo of vitamin overdose and hop euphoria.

I also believe not EVERYONE is effected by this. I understand minimal chemical differences effect people differently, allow me to explain...

I am an ex-smoker of over 1 year (almost 2). When I did smoke I was smoking a pack and a half of Marlboro reds a day for 13ish years. I can tell you that if I smoked any other style or brand of cigarette I would not be satisfied at all. This alone shows me how subtle differences in chemical combinations can make a huge impact.

If ETOH is ETOH then why would/do breweries brew anything at all? Why not make "barley and hop flavored waters" and then add the ETOH into it? Way easier, cheaper and faster...than brew and filter???

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

If ETOH is ETOH then why would/do breweries brew anything at all? Why not make "barley and hop flavored waters" and then add the ETOH into it? Way easier, cheaper and faster...than brew and filter???

The fermentation process produces way more than just ETOH.

 

[BeerWars]

It's all in your heads.

It's in 4 peoples heads that independently / unsolicited report the phenomenon?

I notice it, think it is all in my head and don't say anything.

My wife who is practically a teetotaler, says the same thing few weeks later. She has NO tolerance whatsoever which leads me to believe it is not the alcohol but something that is absent from commercial alcohol. Which makes complete sense considering it is all filtered and nothing I brew is.

Her friend and husband who are heavy binge drinkers call us to tell us how bombed they are after 2 beers "man that stuff is STROOOONG." These are the kind of people that need copious amounts of alcohol to even catch a buzz.

I have never been able to have only one or two beers and get a solid buzz like I do with homebrew. If it is all in our heads, it is a great thing because I have a few cases of homebrew / wine bottled waiting for consumption.

 

[motobrewer]

i think a big part of this is the situation in which you're drinking.

if i have one after dinner during the week, when kids are asleep, that'll put me right out.

but if i'm with friends, talking, playing cards, etc, i can drink 3-4 before i start to feel it.

 

[devilishprune]

Why don't you try and find some beer that isn't filtered that is also commercial and try that? That could help to prove your theory.

 

[two_hearted]

maybe your hydrometer is broken and you're selling your HB abv short.

 

[RchanceN]

I occasionally experience this myself and have had friends tell me the same after drinking homebrew. I don't know for sure of course, but think it has a lot to do with set and setting.

"Set and setting describes the context for psychoactive and particularly psychedelic drug experiences: one's mindset and the setting in which the user has the experience. This is especially relevant for psychedelic or hallucinogenic experiences; the term was coined by Timothy Leary.

The set is the mental state a person brings to the experience, like thoughts, mood or expectations. The setting refers to the physical or social environment."

Not saying beer is psychedelic or hallucinogenic of course, but I think the term applies well to all psychoactives. Stop saying it's "hops euphoria" or the Man will take those away from us too. I can't get busted for "hops possession" in my career field.

 

[MarzBock]

I have an inlaw that has worked as an MD for 40 years.. this is what he told me about hops:

He said that some chemical in hops (can't remember the exact name) is "antagonistic" toward alcohol intoxication. The idea was that hoppy beers "sensitize" one toward the effects of alcohol, making alcohol MORE toxic to the system. Thusly, the state of "intoxication" is achieved much easier with lower concentrations of blood alcohol.

I personally notice this effect for certain. If I drink *2* IPA's, I'm slammed... sleepy, heavy and not interested in any more beer. Personally, I don't like that effect and I avoid super hoppy beers for this very reason.

 

[rayg]

Hop tea is a well-known natural sedative, "Hops" has its own entry
in the Merck Index, therapeutic category: sedative.

The only explanation that makes sense if this op's experience is
true is that fresh beer that is hopped well will put you to sleep
easier, before it ages and the hop oils convert to something else.
I suppose the effect would be stronger if you don't drink beer
that much, as the op seems to indicate.

Ray

 

[loapathy]

maybe your hydrometer is broken and you're selling your HB abv short.

This happened to me, actually. Not broken, but was a cheap hydrometer that I assumed was correct. And a Guinness clone was around 7.5%, because when I checked the wort before adding water it was "1.045," thus I didn't add any water. Ended up with 3.5ish gallons of a very strong Guinness clone.

That said, I think it is more experience based and environmental. Example: I build tube based guitar amplifiers as a hobby. When I first started, I had a fairly typical rig that I played through, had no problems with it, just wanted to have more options. But by the time I'd finished my 10th amp, I could hear all kinds of different problems with the rig that up until I started building and troubleshooting I was perfectly happy with.

But if I'm just hanging out with people, I can plug into and play with whatever. It's only when I'm thinking about it that I can hear all the off tones and strange harmonics, fizzes and hisses and noises of off the shelf amps.

Same thing happens with HB, I think. I can drink a 12 pack of something vile like Hurricane High Gravity and be vaguely drunk, but 3 or 4 HBs and I'm cut off for the night unless I want a hangover. But if I'm hanging out with people and we're talking, doing things, etc., those 3-4 HBs don't hit me as hard.

I think it's environment, experience, and psychological self-deception.

Whatever the case, RDWHAHB. Right?

 

[MarzBock]

Hop tea is a well-known natural sedative, "Hops" has its own entry
in the Merck Index, therapeutic category: sedative.

AHH.. The Merck Index, Wikipedia of antiquity. That book has it ALL.

I have a copy from 1935, and you could basically start a new civilization from scratch with all the info in that thing.

 

[rayg]

AHH.. The Merck Index, Wikipedia of antiquity. That book has it ALL.

I have a copy from 1935, and you could basically start a new civilization from scratch with all the info in that thing.

And what would the 1935 version have in it, besides aspirin and mercury?

Ray

 

[JonK331]

Drink a six pack a Celebration Ale and then see if your hypothesis holds.

 

[SKMO]

There are a lot of factors that influence exactly how a certain amount of alcohol affects a person. Like how much food is in their stomach, how tired, or stressed they are, their anticipation of the alcohol experience, their degree of hydration, other meds, and etc. Lots of factors.

But X ammt of alcohol in a cheap beer and a craft beer and a shot of bourbon pretty much is X ammt of alcohol to your body. Yes, beat me up on some fine details, but this is how it generally works.

 

[dummkauf]

We were drinking Miller Lite while watching the games and I didn't even catch a hint of a buzz all day despite I the fact that I had more beers in one day that I usually drink in over a month.

I thought it was odd - but I kind of wrote it off because although I drank a lot on Thanksgiving, it was lite beer over a long duration.

I think the key here is the word "lite" in those sentences. Lite beers have less alcohol, and if I remember right miller lite is 4%. It may only be a 1% or so difference between your homebrew, but there is still less alcohol in almost every light beer on the market.