Brutal Hangover from Home Brew

[ChiN8]

Now,
I am not a scientist, nor have I researched what exactly would cause a hangover or what would make one worse than others but Friday night I didn't even drink as much as I have before, say when I drink Shock Top, Stella Artois, or Miller Lite but the hangover the next day was BRUTAL!

has anyone experienced a worse than normal hangover from home brew compared to commercial brews and what may cause such a thing?

 

[EricT]

Never had a hangover from homebrew. I usually drink more homebrew than commercial when I do drink so not sure why you would get one. I think the concessus is that homebrew has more B vitamins in it due to active yeast still present and it helps prevent hangovers. Maybe there was alot of Diacytil Alcohol in your homebrew?

 

[BmillaTheBrewzilla]

Well something like Miller Lite would be very low in alcohol content compared to most of the homebrews that we crazy brewers concoct. So having an equal # of homebrews compared to light commercial brews would likely mean consuming a very different amount of alcohol.

That said, when I consume my homebrews in moderation, I feel great the next day. I have read something about fusel alcohols- which are the result of fermenting at too high a temperature- and how they can cause horrible headaches.

 

[ChiN8]

Never had a hangover from homebrew. I usually drink more homebrew than commercial when I do drink so not sure why you would get one. I think the concessus is that homebrew has more B vitamins in it due to active yeast still present and it helps prevent hangovers. Maybe there was alot of Diacytil Alcohol in your homebrew?

It was a 5.1 abv% Cologne Kolsh.

What is Diacytil Alchohol?

 

[ChiN8]

Well something like Miller Lite would be very low in alcohol content compared to most of the homebrews that we crazy brewers concoct. So having an equal # of homebrews compared to light commercial brews would likely mean consuming a very different amount of alcohol.

That said, when I consume my homebrews in moderation, I feel great the next day. I have read something about fusel alcohols- which are the result of fermenting at too high a temperature- and how they can cause horrible headaches.

P.S. Go Blackhawks! Born and Raised in Orland Park, IL! (25 years) Just relocated to Fort Bragg, NC for contractor position on post, but my heart is still in Chicago!

 

[arturo7]

At which temp did you ferment? You may have some nasty fusel alcohols.

 

[BmillaTheBrewzilla]

Nice! I live in Ravenswood now, but grew up in the burbs. The Hawks will look quite different this year... with some big time favorites gone... but the core is still there!

 

[boostsr20]

You could have been more dehydrated going into your night of drinking. Try drinking a glass of water for every 2-3 beers. Always helps me and if I don't, I will wake up with leg cramps/headache when drinking alot.

 

[erock2112]

My bet is fusels as well... What was the yeast and fermentation temp?

 

[ChiN8]

My bet is fusels as well... What was the yeast and fermentation temp?

Kolsh yeast sold in the Midwest Supplies Kolsh Extract kit. Feremented in Primary at 68-72. then racked into Secondary at 42

 

[goose1873]

At which temp did you ferment? You may have some nasty fusel alcohols.

+1...$ says fermentation temp was too high...

 

[MrWiggles]

My guess would have been something went wrong during the brew process/ minor infection giving you higher methanol content. But this fusel aclcohol seems to be the concensus.

 

[j1laskey]

While brewing did you have a cover on your brew pot?

 

[prosper]

incomplete fermentation or clean-up could leave you with a lot of excess acetaldehyde, which might be a factor

 

[boostsr20]

LOL at everyone trying to figure out what went wrong with the brewing process...... Did the beer seem bad? Couldn't have been that bad if you drank enough to get a hangover.
Edit: if you got a hangover from 1-2 beers then something was definately wrong. But I've gotten a hangover from drinking 4-5 much weaker beers when I was dehydrated.

 

[DrinkinSurfer]

Just chalk it up to a really good night. See if it happens next time, and if it does then maybe check your process, your temps were correct unless those were ambient temps and not the temp inside the bucket...

 

[shelly_belly]

I say try it again and see if the results are repeatable.

 

[ChiN8]

Thanks for everyone's help. It isn't a huge deal, it's not like it was the first hangover I had to deal with. It just so happened to be the day I was getting my concealed weapons permit and 8 hours in a class then off to shooting a .45 cal Springfield XD tactical while chugging Pepto-Bismol trying to prevent me from calling some dinosaurs just made it 100x worse.

Beer came out perfect actually. I order a Kolsh at my local Brew Pub while in Chicago and it tasted identical, so I'm guessing it was a higher fermentation temps that put whatever in the beer to cause this.

 

[BmillaTheBrewzilla]

I order a Kolsh at my local Brew Pub while in Chicago

Mind sharing which brew pub this is? If I don't frequent it already, I'll definitely have to check it out!

 

[tagz]

Thanks for everyone's help. It isn't a huge deal, it's not like it was the first hangover I had to deal with. It just so happened to be the day I was getting my concealed weapons permit and 8 hours in a class then off to shooting a .45 cal Springfield XD tactical while chugging Pepto-Bismol trying to prevent me from calling some dinosaurs just made it 100x worse.

Beer came out perfect actually. I order a Kolsh at my local Brew Pub while in Chicago and it tasted identical, so I'm guessing it was a higher fermentation temps that put whatever in the beer to cause this.

Ahhh. You must have used a liberal yeast. From what I hear they're pretty firm in their conviction that the second amendment is a relic of the revolutionary period. He probably knew what you were up to and kicked out some fusels in protest.

 

[EricT]

It was a 5.1 abv% Cologne Kolsh.

What is Diacytil Alchohol?

LOL Diacytil Alcohol is me having a brain fart. I was thinking Fussel Alcohol, sorry

 

[smizak]

Ahhh. You must have used a liberal yeast. From what I hear they're pretty firm in their conviction that the second amendment is a relic of the revolutionary period. He probably knew what you were up to and kicked out some fusels in protest.

Ugh. STFU.

 

[Germelli1]

ahhh. You must have used a liberal yeast. From what i hear they're pretty firm in their conviction that the second amendment is a relic of the revolutionary period. He probably knew what you were up to and kicked out some fusels in protest.

ugh. Stfu.

lol

 

[jonbomb]

Thanks for everyone's help. It isn't a huge deal, it's not like it was the first hangover I had to deal with. It just so happened to be the day I was getting my concealed weapons permit and 8 hours in a class then off to shooting a .45 cal Springfield XD tactical while chugging Pepto-Bismol trying to prevent me from calling some dinosaurs just made it 100x worse.

I'm getting my .40 cal springfield xd next month... Love those guns. Way better then an industry standard glock.

 

[jonbomb]

Ahhh. You must have used a liberal yeast. From what I hear they're pretty firm in their conviction that the second amendment is a relic of the revolutionary period. He probably knew what you were up to and kicked out some fusels in protest.

lol!!! No! Not liberal yeast! They are in my beer now too??
Now I'm really going to have trouble brewing beer.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Not often. But, when I make a batch of brew that calls for a particularly warm fermentation and the fusel alcohol levels are high YES, I do get some killer headaches from those batches.

 

[Bensiff]

I have drunk one beer and ended up feeling like crap the next morning...sometimes my system just gets hit wrong. I also notice that beer makes me feel way worse the next day than any other form of alcohol...I'm suspicious that it is something other than alcohol in the beer that makes me feel off though. Just my thoughts.