Does Homebrew Hit You Harder Than Commercial Beer?

[T Murph]

I apply the ****ie rule, one isn't enough and three is too many. But sometimes it's difficult to stick with that. And when judging a competition that rule flies out the window.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

An extra 1% doesn't sound like much unless you're good at math. When you think your beer is at 5%, and it's really 6%, it's not a 1% increase. It's a 20% increase. Then think about 16-ounce servings as contrasted with 12 ounces. A 33% increase, multiplied by the ABV increase.

As for additives in commercial beer, a lot of them are nearly free of the additives known as hops.

Big beer used to put cobalt in beer to kill foam. My understanding is that it weakened bones. But I am too lazy to Google.

I kind of wonder what hops do to a person without alcohol. Going from 10 IBU to 80 IBU is a big increase. Hops used to be used to make people sleep. Whether it works or not, or whether bitter beer is more potent than sweet beer, I do not know.

Correction: I Googled after all. They used cobalt to increase foam.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

As for the term "organic," it means, "more expensive without adhering to standards that really mean anything."

And I really believe farmers in places like Mexico and Chile when they say they follow the rules. Sure they do.

 

[bracconiere]

huh, i don't think my homebrew hits me harder....but then homebrew is all i drink really.


i think most comercial beers are only ~4% ABV? so a 6% glass would have like 5 more grams of alcohol, in a 12oz by weight pour? and a drink is 14grams normally? i think?

 

[NSMikeD]

Commercial beer in the US is capped at I think 4.5% alcohol. Otherwise it's malt liquor. So any commercial beer that has the word beer on the label has to meet that standard. That's why many craft beers do not say beer. Often they are sold using style descriptions like Pale Ale and such. So if they are drinking commercial beer. it's likely you are brewing beer higher in alcohol than they are used to.

 

[TheMadKing]

Commercial beer in the US is capped at I think 4.5% alcohol. Otherwise it's malt liquor. So any commercial beer that has the word beer on the label has to meet that standard. That's why many craft beers do not say beer. Often they are sold using style descriptions like Pale Ale and such. So if they are drinking commercial beer. it's likely you are brewing beer higher in alcohol than they are used to.

Yeah hi

It's 2023, that hasn't been true in most states since like 1999

The max abv for a beer here in Georgia is 12%

 

[TheMadKing]

An extra 1% doesn't sound like much unless you're good at math. When you think your beer is at 5%, and it's really 6%, it's not a 1% increase. It's a 20% increase. Then think about 16-ounce servings as contrasted with 12 ounces. A 33% increase, multiplied by the ABV increase.

As for additives in commercial beer, a lot of them are nearly free of the additives known as hops.

Big beer used to put cobalt in beer to kill foam. My understanding is that it weakened bones. But I am too lazy to Google.

I kind of wonder what hops do to a person without alcohol. Going from 10 IBU to 80 IBU is a big increase. Hops used to be used to make people sleep. Whether it works or not, or whether bitter beer is more potent than sweet beer, I do not know.

Correction: I Googled after all. They used cobalt to increase foam.

The cobalt was specifically the Dow brewery in Quebec

 

[NSMikeD]

Yeah hi

It's 2023, that hasn't been true in most states since like 1999

The max abv for a beer here in Georgia is 12%

While a number of states have updated the marketing laws I am pretty sure the IRS still uses the old distinction. If you are selling beer interstate, I think it's easier to just not put the word beer on the label, and of course the big old line brewers who make beer (under 5% ABV) have no reason to change. "King of Beer" is very valuable to Bud.

Way way way back during my U of Buffalo days, we would make the beer runs to Canada. Beers like Carlsburg and Heineken would have the higher ABV than the bottles sold in the US . But we would end up getting cases of Molson Brador (no longer being made) at 6.2% which was like a huge deal for we college students. And it was labeled "malt liquor". We would blame the higher ABV on our indiscretions the night before - and not the cases of the stuff we'd drink.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

The cobalt was specifically the Dow brewery in Quebec

Thanks for finishing my Googling for me.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Cobalt, well that's an interesting additive for beer. Great we can share and spark more information about beer and brewing!

 

[mac_1103]

While a number of states have updated the marketing laws I am pretty sure the IRS still uses the old distinction. If you are selling beer interstate, I think it's easier to just not put the word beer on the label, and of course the big old line brewers who make beer (under 5% ABV) have no reason to change. "King of Beer" is very valuable to Bud

Budweiser is 5% ABV. So is Coors. Miller and Yeungling are 4.6%, PBR is 4.74%, Michelob is 4.8%. There's obviously no IRS-imposed 4.5% cap.

But if all your friends are used to drinking those beers exclusively, they aren't suddenly going to pound down a half a dozen of your homebrew in an evening.

 

[Brewskey]

.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Man, you're nuts.

On the more serious side, a website says:

Hops is used for anxiety, inability to sleep (insomnia) and other sleep disorders, restlessness, tension, excitability, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), nervousness, and irritability.

Makes you wonder. Maybe this is why almost everyone here is so nice. I thought they were just drunk.

Beer drinkers always seem to be easy to get along with, unless they're watching their teams lose. I have not found wine and liquor drinkers to be particularly friendly. Just an impression.

More information:

It is also used to improve appetite, increase urine flow, start the flow of breast milk, as a bitter tonic, and for indigestion.

Okay, so there are a couple of benefits there that make me nervous.

 

[Brewskey]

Man, you're nuts.

On the more serious side, a website says:



Makes you wonder. Maybe this is why almost everyone here is so nice. I thought they were just drunk.

Beer drinkers always seem to be easy to get along with, unless they're watching their teams lose. I have not found wine and liquor drinkers to be particularly friendly. Just an impression.

More information:


Okay, so there are a couple of benefits there that make me nervous.

I hear ya. But, all hoppy beers don't have that affect, on me anyway.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

So maybe San Diego Super is high in some particular chemical?

 

[NSMikeD]

Budweiser is 5% ABV. So is Coors. Miller and Yeungling are 4.6%, PBR is 4.74%, Michelob is 4.8%. There's obviously no IRS-imposed 4.5% cap.

But if all your friends are used to drinking those beers exclusively, they aren't suddenly going to pound down a half a dozen of your homebrew in an evening.

its 5%

 

[TheMadKing]

While a number of states have updated the marketing laws I am pretty sure the IRS still uses the old distinction. If you are selling beer interstate, I think it's easier to just not put the word beer on the label, and of course the big old line brewers who make beer (under 5% ABV) have no reason to change. "King of Beer" is very valuable to Bud.

Way way way back during my U of Buffalo days, we would make the beer runs to Canada. Beers like Carlsburg and Heineken would have the higher ABV than the bottles sold in the US . But we would end up getting cases of Molson Brador (no longer being made) at 6.2% which was like a huge deal for we college students. And it was labeled "malt liquor". We would blame the higher ABV on our indiscretions the night before - and not the cases of the stuff we'd drink.

This is the official definition of beer under the federal regulations from what I can find. There's only a minimum abv and not a maximum.

The system you're referring to has been abolished long ago, and only a couple states even require the "three tier" system where a distributor must buy beer from breweries (GA being one of the hold outs).

Most states can make a beer thats 25%abv and sell it directly to any licensed serving establishment they want.

Most if these changes are also thanks to the AHA lobbying and fighting against the distribution lobby btw.

 

[TheMadKing]

So maybe San Diego Super is high in some particular chemical?

Californians

 

[bracconiere]

Cobalt, well that's an interesting additive for beer. Great we can share and spark more information about beer and brewing!

it helps in both the mash effec, and hop ulitization....

 

[TheMadKing]

it helps in both the mash effec, and hop ulitization....

It increases foam actually. Thats why they added it

 

[bracconiere]

It increases foam actually. Thats why they added it

probably gives the beer a slight glow too, helps it stand out better in a dimly lit bar....

 

[TheMadKing]

probably gives the beer a slight glow too, helps it stand out better in a dimly lit bar....

That's only cobalt-60 (definitely seen that a few times)

Natural cobalt-59 is not radioactive and doesn't glow unfortunately

 

[bracconiere]

That's only cobalt-60 (definitely seen that a few times)

Natural cobalt-59 is not radioactive and doesn't glow unfortunately

well i use the 60 variant, because my tap water has lead in it, so i figure it will keep me safe....and i like the glow

 

[G_robertus]

View attachment 810622

I argue that a plant that has gone from a wild grass to 50+ varieties of modern disease resistant and herbicide resistant barley or corn is pretty genetically modified. The same with hops, a wild flower which has been carefully bred and selected for disease resistance and flavor preferences has been genetically modified by humans.

As for using crispr or a similar technology to modify specific genes, you may be correct. But most grain crops have undergone heavy modifications using "traditional methods" (aka intensive selection and grafting in a laboratory) and carry a huge number of chromosomes compared to heritage varieties. I would be shocked if no such barley is grown in Europe. I also am not one to believe that gene alteration using crispr produces a result any different from intensive selection and grafting, it just does it faster and more efficiently and with less side-effects.

Usually the legal definition of GMO is just worded such that some modifications are allowed but not others so that people can feel all warm and fuzzy that they are eating GMO free food. Just like "organic" does not mean that 0 pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides were used. The definition below assumes "most" and "synthetic". which both have plenty of wiggle room for farmers looking for a loophole to get an organic label.

View attachment 810623

That is something the US government and I, the EU and I think a reasonable amount of scientists will disagree on then (The EU Legislation on GMOs - An Overview). The process of selection is very different from using CRISPR or older techniques. Grafting won't result in the transfer of genes either and is not really applicable to grains. I don't think it's very practical or viable for hops either.
The definition of organic is also not very related, but an example of an often misunderstood term, yes.

 

[mac_1103]

How governments decide to define and regulate things is one thing. Biological reality is another. Grains have been transferring genes for as long as grains have existed. In fact, everything from bacteria to humans have been transferring genes throughout evolution. Not to appeal to authority or anything, but I used to be a scientist in real life, and IMHO the fear of human-directed gene transfer often gets more than a little bit hysterical. We could feed the world with GMOs if we could get over this phobia. Then again, we could feed the world with insects if we could get over that phobia.

 

[bracconiere]

Then again, we could feed the world with insects if we could get over that phobia.

in my head people eat insects all the time, just ones from the ocean that get big enough to clean....

 

[mac_1103]

in my head people eat insects all the time, just ones from the ocean that get big enough to clean....

So the problem is that terrestrial insects don't get big enough? While this guy might disagree, we could always do a little genetic modification...

 

[bracconiere]

So the problem is that terrestrial insects don't get big enough? While this guy might disagree, we could always do a little genetic modification...

need something like this....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

During WWII, Marines on Pacific islands complained about two things simultaneously: bad food and the huge population of coconut crabs. A coconut crab is the culinary equivalent of a 9-pound lobster that lives on land and can't run very fast. Delicious. A smart Marine could have mixed some mayonnaise with hot sauce and mustard and lived high on the hog. I wish some coconut crabs would show up here.

I still won't eat bugs, however.

 

[TheMadKing]

During WWII, Marines on Pacific islands complained about two things simultaneously: bad food and the huge population of coconut crabs. A coconut crab is the culinary equivalent of a 9-pound lobster that lives on land and can't run very fast. Delicious. A smart Marine could have mixed some mayonnaise with hot sauce and mustard and lived high on the hog. I wish some coconut crabs would show up here.

I still won't eat bugs, however.

Smart marine? I'm gonna throw a flag on that term

(Several marines in the family, all the respect in the world to those guys)

And an arthropod is an arthropod. If it was once alive, I'll try it with the right sauce