An experiment in homebrew drinking...

[Levers101]

I'm currently conducting an experiment in homebrew drinking. I have a batch of American style wheat I brewed about two months ago. After having the second brew out of the batch, I got a case of gastroenteritis/"24 hour flu". I couldn't decide if the sickness was from a virus, some sketch Chinese food I ate for lunch, or the beer. After being in the primary for a couple weeks, I bottled, and when I bottled it had a little bit of a sulfur smell to it, but figured that was a wheat yeast artifact and would abate over time.

I've eaten at the Chinese food place since, and that didn't make me sick, although it could likely have been a single case of food poisoning then. So tonight I'm drinking another bottle of the beer, since I don't have classes tomorrow, as an experiment to see whether I should keep the batch or toss it. The sulfur smell seems to be mostly gone, and otherwise it tastes fine, though its definitely not a great batch. (I wonder if I shouldn't have pitched on an existing yeast cake, or perhaps I let it sit in primary too long?)

Has anyone had a batch of beer make them sick even though it didn't taste or smell awful?

 

[DeathBrewer]

the only time a batch of mine went bad i could definitely tell.

 

[magno]

My moneys on a virus, or the Chinese. Im betting the beer is safe.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

- magno

 

[cormi3r]

Maybe it was from your beer. I got this from homebrewzone.com:

Article: http://homebrewzone.com/sulfur.htm

Description: Flavor or aroma that resembles rotten eggs or sulfur.

Cause: Yeast autolysis (yeast cannibalism), bacterial infection.

Remedy: Do not let you homebrew sit on the primary yeast cake for a long period of time. Rack out of the primary when fermentation subsides, but be sure not to separate the wort off the primary yeast cake too soon also. Good sanitation also will reduce your chances of this off-flavor!

 

[magno]

Im not a big wheat beer fan, and as such I havent brewed one. However, I was under the impression that sulfur smells were fairly common during fermentation with that style.

 

[newguy]

Only side effect I've ever gotten from HB was some serious gas! LOL but I determined that it was just green beer. My bet is its not the beer, if the beer would have made you that sick there would have been definite sign of contams.

cheers,

 

[cweston]

I don't think that any bug capable of making you seriously ill can survive in beer, actually. I'm guessing it was a coincidence.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I'm pretty either Palmer or Papazian states that bacteria harmful to humans cannot survive in an alcohol.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Only side effect I've ever gotten from HB was some serious gas! LOL but I determined that it was just green beer. My bet is its not the beer, if the beer would have made you that sick there would have been definite sign of contams.

cheers,

the first beer i ever made was a kit from Oak Barrel in Berkeley called "Black Death Stout"

It was awesome, but if you drank alot over a two day period, it gave you the black death. srsly couldn't leave the toilet for a day :cross:

 

[brewt00l]

Of the three possible sources mentioned, Chinese restruant throws a big red flag.

 

[Ol' Grog]

From what I've gathered, autolysis takes a LONG time, we're talking like a month or so and the trub will turn orange. I'd bet the food. If you had it coming out of both ends in liquid form, it's the food.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

It's not the beer. There are no known pathogens harmful to humans that can survive in beer.

Beer farts on the other hand are caused by suspended yeast/green beer.

Drink to many green beers and you'll look like Randy to left.
<<<<===

 

[shbrewer]

the first beer i ever made was a kit from Oak Barrel in Berkeley called "Black Death Stout"

It was awesome, but if you drank alot over a two day period, it gave you the black death. srsly couldn't leave the toilet for a day :cross:

Lactose could be the culprit. The CCA I made with the lactose prescribed in the first recipie gave me a serious stomach ache, cut it in half and it was much better.

 

[dibby33]

The beer is innocent. It *MUST* be something else... NEVER, I repeat NEVER will beer make you sick. ...I love beer, there is nothing that she can do to me that will stop me loving her

 

[Levers101]

The beer is innocent. It *MUST* be something else... NEVER, I repeat NEVER will beer make you sick. ...I love beer, there is nothing that she can do to me that will stop me loving her

Lol... I agree, I don't think beer has ever made me sick. Liquor on the other hand...

It turns out it probably wasn't the beer. I don't know if I should blame the sketch Chinese or the conference I went earlier in the week. Those hypotheses are untestable, but its good to know that it likely wasn't the beer.

However, the beer still isn't good, I probably will be able to drink it, but I might need to (gasp!) invest in some lemons. That is disappointing because its big brother (same recipe, same yeast cake) is going down really smooth right now. I think maybe I started to have some autolysis (total yeast age was about 6 weeks at bottling).

I might have to get all worked up about sanitation on my next batch and hit my tools with chlorine followed by a rinse and StarSan to minimize any issues there. Could a sulfur off flavor also come from poor oxygenation of wort? I've never done anything special in those regards, but have always thought I should.

 

[piperkeith]

I'm pretty either Palmer or Papazian states that bacteria harmful to humans cannot survive in an alcohol.

I concur... it is my understanding that no human pathogens can survive in beer.

 

[BierMuncher]

Beer was the preferred form of hydration on early pioneer ships because it was essentially bacteria proof...unlike water which was easily contamidated in the old days.

Between the alcohol and the hops (whose initial use was as a preservative in beer, not for flavor) there's no way a bacteria or virus could make you sick. Now, a strange reaction to homebrew, may be different.

Any other food allergies? (Wheat, gluten...)

 

[feedthebear]

There is a nasty 24-hour flu going around here, gets you at both ends. My daughter came down with it Friday She's almost back to normal now.