Headache Beer (kegged) - Potential Fixes/Issues???

[WhatToBrew]

I brewed an all-grain batch of Northern Brewer's Recipe for The Number 8 (Belgian Style Strong Ale) and every time I have a pint, shortly after, I end up with a headache in the front temples. If I have 2 pints I notice it within 20 minutes of drinking the 2nd pint. Drinking extra water before hand and during doesn't seem to make a difference. I've got about 4 gallons left of it.

A yeast starter was made for the batch, O2 infusion before adding the yeast after cooling the wort, fermented between 68-74 F. I followed the timings of the recipe - 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary, 2 weeks bottling (kegged).

If my numbers are right, I'm at 8.8% abv. I can drink 2-3 bottles of a barleywine, I did the year before that is at 10% abv and not get a headache, so I don't think it's an alcohol issue.

I don't detect any harsh notes, just a hint of sourness. I've done a cider before that was fermented on the warm side and had a real harsh note to it. I figured for sure that was fusels.

In trying to find causes for the headache and have come across potential candidates: fusels, acetaldehyde, or my CO2 is contaminated with Benzene.

In an effort to rule out the CO2, I've got a 2-liter of water being force carbed and I'll drink 2 pints and see if I get a headache. I've swapped about 5 (20lb) bottles from the same shop, but this is the first keg on this bottle.

If the CO2 is fine, I'm wondering if letting the keg get back up to room temp (72-74F), transferring the beer back to a carboy and giving it some more time would help?

Would it help to add more yeast? Dry packet by itself or a starter of yeast? Any suggestions on which strain might be best.

I figure adding a starter of yeast would introduce oxygen and could stale the beer, however, I'd drink it much faster if I didn't feel like I was being punished for having a pint.

Or... is it all just a waste of time? I've seen a thread or two that say just cook with it, but if there's a chance I can reclaim it while keeping it drinkable, all I lose is time.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[duboman]

Sounds like fusel alcohols and at 8.8% it most likely needs more time to conditiin than just two weeks in the bottle. This could s
Also be what you are percieving to be slightly sour.

Give the beer another month to conditiin and you shiukdnt get a headache on the next pour

By the way, beer doesnt really operate on a prescribed recipe calendar so take those timetables for what they're worth. Nothing but a very general guideline

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[WhatToBrew]

Drank a 2-liter of water that I had carbonated from the new CO2 tank. No headache, so ruled out Benzene.

I've decided to take the keg out of the fridge. I let it get to room temp and shook it up. I figure maybe any yeast on the bottom will get kicked back into solution. I decided against transferring to a carboy as leaving it in the keg means I'm not introducing any other potential issues (oxygen/light/contaminates).

I can always draw a pint off every month or so and see what happens and look for any changes.

Sidenote: After the initial kegging, I took a 2-liter over to a friends house and had a pint out of it and my buddy drank the rest. I caught back up with him and asked him if he got a headache at all and he said he was fine. I've been drinking other beers in the meantime and not had any issues except with this Belgian. I'm now wondering if it has to do with the strain of yeast, Wyeast #1762 Belgian Abbey II.

 

[beergolf]

1762 can produce fusels at a lower temp than most Belgian strains. Depends on how warm it was in the first part of fermentation.Was the 68-74 temp you mentioned , actual wort temp or ambient? 74 degrees ambient in the first part of fermentation could produce up to .84 degree wort temp. which could cause fusels...headaches.

 

[WhatToBrew]

Those temps were ambient. I'm in Florida so no basement. Should've used a cooler and ice, which I've done in the past, but the day I brewed it was 60F outside and I didn't even think about temps. I want to say it warmed up over the next 2 days and went up to 74, so it would've hit them in the first couple of days, which I'm sure didn't help much.

I've been brewing bigger batches with a friend and he just got a chest freezer we're converting for fermentation. That will be real nice once it's done, but won't make up for this issue.

 

[beergolf]

Ambient of 74 at the first part of fermentation can definitely be too hot with 1762. Some of the other Belgian yeasts can handle warmer temps earlier, but 1762 seems to be the most sensitive to those temps. At 74 ambient. the temps could easily have been into the 80's.

I had a brew I did with 1762 at about 75 ambient when I first started brewing and listened to the often repeated " Belgians like it hot" mantra. Big mistake, it produced fusels so bad that it never cleared up.p

 

[BesteBrew]

Might be a bad reaction to a hop or certain type of grain. I brewed a black IPA that gave me headaches after a pint or two. Never did figure out what it was that was giving me problems. Just make a note and if it pops up again cross reference the recipes and process to try to pinpoint the problem.


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[Hidingfromyou]

Might be a bad reaction to a hop or certain type of grain. I brewed a black IPA that gave me headaches after a pint or two. Never did figure out what it was that was giving me problems. Just make a note and if it pops up again cross reference the recipes and process to try to pinpoint the problem.


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BesteBrew, I'm wondering whatever happened to that beer - did it continue to give you headaches? Did the beer ever clean up?

I'm having similar issues with a beer that fermented at temperatures that should have been fine for it.

 

[WhatToBrew]

I can tell you that after waiting 2 more months and drinking a pint, I got another headache. It's still in the keg and been aging in the closet. I may give it one more try. If it still bugs me, it's getting put in 2-liters and sent to my buddy who it doesn't bother. I need my keg back.

 

[Hidingfromyou]

That's unfortunate. I re-pitched mine on top of a just finished yeast cake of the same wort. Since I left the second one on for 3 weeks, it doesn't seem to give me a headache. So I must have taken the first one off too quickly. I'll let it do it's thing for three more weeks and then see how it goes - it's basically poison to me anyways, so it can't get worse.

 

[DocScott]

This is definitely a fusel alcohol problem. No amount of waiting or conditioning is going to help unfortunately.

You can keep choking it down one headache at a time, or cut your losses and dump.

Good news is that you learned that fermentation temps need to be controlled so you don't repeat the problem in the future! Sorry for the bad news though...


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[WhatToBrew]

Yeah, I went ahead and got a temp controller and used my beer fridge (setup for 2 kegs) as a fermentation chamber until the last brew was ready. No problems whatsoever with that beer.

My buddy I brew with got a chest freezer so from here on out we'll ferment under controlled temps. And now we can do lagers. Problem solved.