Beer giving me headaches - help figuring out cause.

[Calder]

I have an English IPA that is giving me headaches every time I drink it. I get them while I am drinking it, and it just takes one Bomber. Thinking of pouring it away - first dumper in 200 beers. Looking for some insight into what could be the cause. Beer tastes fine.

My first thought was fusel alcohols, but that usually doesn't appear while actually drinking the beer, and there is no alcohol taste to it. In checking my records, I did ferment hot, at 84 F, but I was using Brett-C which has a recommended ferment temp of 85 F min. I also used the same yeast previously and fermented it at 82/83 F with no issues (this beer used the slurry from that one).

Ingredients were, Pale Malt, Victory, C40, Carapils and sugar. OG: 1.054, FG: 1.005

Used lots of hops 12.5 ozs in 6 gallons, split between FWH, 60, 10, 5, 0 and Dry. Used 0.5 ozs Galena at 60, the rest was a mix of First Gold, US Goldings, and Vanguard (clearing old stock of hops)

2 tsp Gypsum.

Doesn't look like I did anything different from my normal process.

I do like hoppy beers. I usually use American type hops, and not these more spicy hops. Could it be some compound in the hops that is doing it?

Any suggestions for me to check out would be welcome - I'm kind of stuck on this, and really don't want to repeat whatever it is that I did.

 

[dmtaylor]

You fermented hot. Perhaps your Brett got "contaminated" by regular yeast which generated fusels. Just because you can't taste fusels doesn't mean they aren't there.

 

[ImNoExpert]

Do you get any other hangover symptoms?

I'm assuming you hydrate well after consuming?

 

[Calder]

Do you get any other hangover symptoms?

I'm assuming you hydrate well after consuming?

It is not a hangover in the normal sense. I had 4 beers last night, which is pretty light for me. Two of them were this beer (or 1 bomber), and 2 commercial beers. Got the headache while drinking this one. Seems to me there is something in the beer that does not agree with me. This has happened a few times now, but doesn't happen with other beers.

 

[Yooper]

It is not a hangover in the normal sense. I had 4 beers last night, which is pretty light for me. Two of them were this beer (or 1 bomber), and 2 commercial beers. Got the headache while drinking this one. Seems to me there is something in the beer that does not agree with me. This has happened a few times now, but doesn't happen with other beers.

Do you normally drink a lot of brett beers, aside from this one? You didn't use any saccharomyces cerevisiae in this beer, just the Brett-C strain?

 

[Calder]

Do you normally drink a lot of brett beers, aside from this one? You didn't use any saccharomyces cerevisiae in this beer, just the Brett-C strain?

I usually make a couple off Brett-primary beers a year. Never done a hoppy beer with it before - it was a spur of the moment decision to make the beer, and this was the most convenient yeast ........ and I thought "Why not, it is a little fruity like English yeasts, but not too much" Brett-C is pretty subdued by brett standards.

As I noted, I had used the same yeast in a beer (more of a Saison) a couple of months before it, fermented at the same temp, and I've not had any issue with drinking that one.

 

[ba-brewer]

What kind of headache is it, are you prone to migraine headaches? Food, smells all find of things can trigger a migraine headache.

I used to drink Sierra Nevada pale ale with no issues then about 5 or 6 years back they started giving me a migraine type headache(pain in the temple behind my eye). It only took one or two and within an hour or so I would get a headache.

Red wine gives me the same type of headache as SNPA so I am thinking it may be sulfates in their water, but really dont know. Adding gypsum would increase your sulfate level, but if you normally add that much then that does not seem likely.

 

[ErikRobers]

What is the ABV of your IPA? Is it on par with other beers you have brewed? You indicated that you generally drink the equivalent of four 12-oz beers or more when you drink (you said the bomber and two others were "light" for you), which is actually quite a bit of alcohol, especially considering your bombers are IPA, as they are generally higher in alcohol. That alcohol is going to dehydrate you, which is a big part of a hangover. I know, you're getting them while you drink, but that's happened to me as well... because I had drank too much and had not drank much water on that day.

Honestly, I would just make sure you are drinking plenty of water every day and include water during your drinking sessions. Occam's Razor, man: the simplest solution is most likely the correct solution. Start there and continue your search for answers elsewhere if dehydration turns out not to be the case.

 

[soccerdad]

I'm with those who say headaches and hydration go hand in hand (although I've never had a migraine). It might be interesting to drink a pint of water before starting in on the bomber, just to see if it makes a difference.

 

[snowcrawl]

The very first all grain batch I ever brewed, about a year and a half ago, gave me a similar reaction. A one gallon recipe kit for Bavarian Weissbier. It was my first time brewing and I just put an airlock on instead of starting out with blow off tube during the initial fermentation phase. Several hours later, I came back and noticed that the fermentation had been so vigorous that it had sprayed wort out of the airlock and onto the wall. So I put on a blow off tube and continued from there. Looking back, I figure that the fermentation probably had gotten hot enough to generate enough fusels to cause problems in the finished product.

When I opened the first bottle it seemed to taste alright. However I noticed I was getting a bad reaction from it, not even halfway through drinking one bottle. Sort of like a headache mixed with panic attack symptoms. It sort of freaked me out, not the sort of first time brewing experience I was aiming for. Luckily it has never happened in my brewing since. I found that when I let the bottles condition longer, about 2 months, those effects seemed to be gone.

 

[Calder]

For those suggesting hydration, I don't think that is the case, I usually drink a lot of water during and after drinking beer.

What kind of headache is it, are you prone to migraine headaches?

I used to drink Sierra Nevada pale ale with no issues then about 5 or 6 years back they started giving me a migraine type headache(pain in the temple behind my eye). It only took one or two and within an hour or so I would get a headache.

Red wine gives me the same type of headache as SNPA so I am thinking it may be sulfates in their water, but really don't know. Adding gypsum would increase your sulfate level, but if you normally add that much then that does not seem likely.

I rarely get headaches, no migraine.

You might have something with the sulfates. It is something I have recently started using in hoppy beers. I added a tsp to a couple of beers and it seemed to improve the hop flavors, so I decided to see what would happen with 2 tsps.

This was the second one with 2 tsps. The first was a Simcoe IPA that I think is all gone (no problems). But looking at my notes, I forgot to add it, and basically put it in at the end of the boil, so it may not have completely dissolved.

This latest IPA had it from the start, so I probably got more dissolved.

I hope this is not the reason because I have a Harvest IPA (my homegrown hops) in the fermenter right now that I also added 2 tsp gypsum to. I guess I have a ready made experiment. It will be a few weeks yet before I can test it.

It is something that was new with this beer - good input.

 

[ba-brewer]

Sort of off topic, but if it is a sensitivity thing maybe weigh your gypsum instead of using a volume that way you can control it better.

It would also seem like if it was the sulfate level you might try having a single glass and see if you get a headache, then the next day have two glasses or a bomber and see if get a headache. It could be something else causing the headache other than sulfates but it you can drink a single glass without a headache at least you could still continue to drink it and not have to dump it.

I use RO and a fairly low mineral balanced profile for all of my beers, and have never gotten a headache like I do with SNPA. For a typical 5gal batch I use about 4gm of gypsum.

In all fairness to SN I have not tried one of their beers lately so I dont know if they still give me a headache or if they even did in the first place but if sure did seem that way.

 

[Yooper]

Keep in mind that with red wine, I think that's supposed to be "sulfite" mentioned. It really doesn't cause headaches by the way, because it's in white wine too, but it's blamed. Usually it's tannins in the red wine, and substances from aging, that are responsible if it does happen (but it's really not likely or common- more likely is overindulgence).

Gypsum is sulfate.

Sulfite and sulfate are totally difference substances.

I never heard of sulfate giving anybody a headache, and some IPAs have up to 300ppm of sulfate, but I suppose that anybody can be sensitive to certain things.

 

[gwapogorilla]

Sounds like a sensitivity issue to me. To what? I dunno

Personally, I get headaches EVERY time I drink beer...EVEN JUST 1 BEER!!! Been that way as long as I can remember.
My brothers...nope. No headache at all.

So, what do I do? Take 2 aspirin as soon as I crack open my 1st beer, then 2 more before bed...and hydrate.

It's either that or stop drinking. Ain't no way I'm gonna do that!!!! :rockin:

 

[joshesmusica]

I gotta agree with yooper on this one. Our bodies are very strange in that they can tolerate a lot for quite a while. But then all of a sudden, they'll just stop tolerating it and start giving you warning signs that it's had enough abuse. If you're drinking that much every day, it's gotta be taking a toll on your liver. Most recommendations I've read of healthy drinking are basically the equivalent of 12, 12oz glasses of beer per week. If you're having four per night, that's over double the recommended amount.

If that's not the case, then ignore this comment. And, in which case, I'm interested in finding out what else could possibly be causing this.

 

[ba-brewer]

Keep in mind that with red wine, I think that's supposed to be "sulfite" mentioned. It really doesn't cause headaches by the way, because it's in white wine too, but it's blamed. Usually it's tannins in the red wine, and substances from aging, that are responsible if it does happen (but it's really not likely or common- more likely is overindulgence).

Gypsum is sulfate.

Sulfite and sulfate are totally difference substances.

I never heard of sulfate giving anybody a headache, and some IPAs have up to 300ppm of sulfate, but I suppose that anybody can be sensitive to certain things.

Thanks for clarifying sulfates and sulfites Yooper.

@OP sorry for the confusion, hope you figure out the cause of your headache with your homebrew and/or it is just a one off problem. Good luck.

 

[UndeadFred]

My head hurts after six too..

 

[APendejo]

When was the last time you had bloodwork done.
Possibility you may be pushing the blood sugar level/ pre diabetes thing.