Does home-brewed beer give less hangover or is it in my head?

[stem42]

Hi,

I live in Norway and I just started home brewing since 6 months. On some weekends I enjoy to have a few beers.

I noticed a strange thing, at least to me....If I drink 2 1/2 liters (5 pints) of commercial beer I always get a light headache when I get up the next day. I also feel a little tired and definitely hangoverish.

BUT...

it's happened 3 times already with the latest IPA I brewed.... I can drink up to 3 1/2 liters (7 pints) and the next day I feel superb! No headache, no discomforts.

Am I experiencing a huge placebo effect here or is it a thing?

 

[eddiewould]

B vitamins (present from the yeast in unfiltered homebrew) are said to help prevent hangovers.

 

[cannman]

I find that if I over do it with homebrew, an electrolyte drink and a coffee fix me right up. Over do it with commercial beer and I could be hating life for a couple of days...

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I blame the preservatives in commercial beer.



And the bourbons that often come after the beer when I'm at the pub.....

 

[stem42]

Nice to know that it's not only in my head.

Next time I'll try harder and see if I still do not get a hangover after 10 pints. Just for scientific purposes of course.

Luckily I do not drink bourbon so I can definitely notice if it's the beer that makes the difference

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Somebody told me years ago that the small amount of trub we leave in our beer contains vitamin B12 which prevents hangovers. I have no scientific evidence to confirm or refute this. I did notice the same effects as the OP mentioned.

 

[cannman]

I get nasty hang overs with beer mixed with wine...

But I found this neat Winery in Paso Robles that has the minimal required sulfates and allows the wild yeast in the air to begin fermentation. The winemaker believes that the commercial yeast now has mutated to a point that is is causing headaches.

http://venteuxvineyards.com/

 

[DrunkleJon]

Could be the sulfates too on the wines/people being sensitive.

I think it may be the B vitamins too. Not to mention that we tend to be very retentive about yeast health, and our process so possibly have reduced higher alcohol levels.

 

[BrewN00b]

B vitamins (present from the yeast in unfiltered homebrew) are said to help prevent hangovers.

I hear the same and have some antecdotal evidence to support this premise. Year back I brewed a light American lager that my drink drank almost entirely in a single sitting (at least 2 of 3 gal worth). When he woke up the next morning he was shocked that he had no hangover but shortly thereafter developed a vicious case of "mud butt".

So yeast = b12 = lesser hangover = frothy mud butt hell.

 

[DrunkleJon]

So, I guess it all comes down to which end you prefer to suffer.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'm going to go with 95% psychological and 5% scientific.

But whatever works for you. "Mind over matter"

 

[m00ps]

I've had multiple people tell me they get hangovers and stomach issues from heavy consumption of commercial beer but not mine. I think there may be some truth to it because I work at a specialty chemicals plant. Some of our customers include AB-Bev, Sam Adams, Franziskaner, and even Sierra Nevada. We make some kind of floccing agent that they use to help fine out their beer along with some other chemicals. I just hope the polymers we ship out ot Unilever and Colgate dont end up in those beers...

 

[dtgrdn]

I get headaches after 4 bottles of my latest IPA.

 

[stem42]

hehe.. I guess I'll stick to my 7 or 8 pints of home-brew then. No hangover & no "mud butt"

 

[Riot]

If you're getting mud butt from home brew it just means you haven't been drinking it frequently enough