Massive hangover with Nettle Beer

[JaviWanKenobi]

Hi
I'm new to homebrewing with out a kit and decided to try a nettle beer recipe I saw in a self sufficiency book. Was more of self-sufficiency that real proper homebrewing (it used bread yeast...) but decided to give it a try. After bottling and waiting for a week for the beer to mature I tried one pint. Bit too lemony but OK. The second day had just one pint and I had a HUGE hangover the next day. I was ready for bready taste due to the yeast or off tastes or something similar but not a head splitting headache after only one pint, (specially since I can usually handle my booze quite well).

Being a bit stubborn I decided that it couldn't be the beer, so I had another pint the other day, and again had a massive hangover. Any ideas what could've happened?

Fermentation was done at a temperature between 18-20ºC. Recipe was as follows for 1 gallon:
1kg nettle leaves
25g citric acid
500g sugar
1 sachet bread yeast
2 lemons

Thanks!

 

[robtotten]

I've had a similar beer without any problems. Maybe you're allergic? Did you drink anything else those nights?

 

[JaviWanKenobi]

Did have half a pint of weak lager one of the nights, you think the effect multiplied? Not sure how to tell if I'm allergic, but if you have tried similar beer with out any problems I am tempted to find a human guinea pig and ask him to try the beer and see what happens...

 

[johngie]

I think you got a massive hangover because you drank hooch.
That isn't even beer... beer = malt + hops + water + yeast

Leave out the 1kg of nettle leaves (would these even ferment?) and use bread yeast and 500g of sugar and see if you get a nasty headache again... I bet it would be the same.

 

[Ghostly]

No, I've noticed a slight immediate headache with my homebrew before. Nothing like a hangover, but similar to what I sometimes get with wine, and I've seen other threads talking about it. I feel like it might be tied to astringency from the hops, or something like that. Maybe nettles have an amplified effect.

 

[koerd85]

Hi
I'm new to homebrewing with out a kit and decided to try a nettle beer recipe I saw in a self sufficiency book. Was more of self-sufficiency that real proper homebrewing (it used bread yeast...) but decided to give it a try. After bottling and waiting for a week for the beer to mature I tried one pint. Bit too lemony but OK. The second day had just one pint and I had a HUGE hangover the next day. I was ready for bready taste due to the yeast or off tastes or something similar but not a head splitting headache after only one pint, (specially since I can usually handle my booze quite well).

Being a bit stubborn I decided that it couldn't be the beer, so I had another pint the other day, and again had a massive hangover. Any ideas what could've happened?

Fermentation was done at a temperature between 18-20ºC. Recipe was as follows for 1 gallon:
1kg nettle leaves
25g citric acid
500g sugar
1 sachet bread yeast
2 lemons

Thanks!

Isen't nettle leaves toxic? I know they have a chemical that makes you sleepy. Head-aces are caused by blood pressure change so something in those leaves are causing high blood pressure. Prolly the oils or some other hydrocarbon. Don't drink it.

 

[BrewerinBR]

Nettle is a common plant used in a lot of herbal medicines. Also used by Native Americans as a decongestant and as an antihistamine ... thus the headache. You have brewed a medicine not a beer.

 

[johngie]

Is no one noticing there is nothing but bread yeast and sugar in his recipe?
There is no mention of malt or hops... sugar and yeast plus some leaves which probably wouldn't even ferment.
It's hooch and nothing more.

 

[koerd85]

This so called beer is toxic because it has to many levels of before mentioned chemicals. This beer could give you health
Problems if you keep drinking the stuff. I would assume It's like overdosing on benadril.

 

[JaviWanKenobi]

The nettle leaves are boiled for 15min to infuse the water and also I was told to get rid of the toxic chemicals. I've had nettle soup with no ill effects which is why I am so confused. The extra strength medicinal effect could make sense I guess though I still don't get is, if this is the effect, how come it is a traditional recipe in the UK mentioned to be very refreshing and pleasant.

Anyway I am more and more convinced this is one to throw away.

 

[kanddr]

Keep it and try in lower doses when you get your next cold. It may help out!

 

[Nightbiker]

thing that troubles me a bit is that you also mention getting a (much slighter) headache with other home-brewed beers. It almost comes across like you have an allergy or intolerance for something in the brew (I won't call that a beer until you put some proper grains in it) or even in unfiltered beers (since you didn't mention getting the headache (slight) with commercial beers, but did with homebrew).
-On that note, if you DO happen to have an intolerance for homebrew, it may be simple enough to clear with a filter -then again it may not. No way to know without trying.
-
Don't be lulled into the 'its natural so it won't hurt you' myth. MANY of the fine pharmaceuticals we use for our various ailments (I'm on a long list of 'em due to my heart) are derived from purifying the extracts from plants of one kind or another. A number of these are also toxic if taken in large (or refined) doses.
Don't know anything about nettle leaves, and while I know that before hops, beers were bittered and spiced with other things -there is a good reason you see hops used nowdays (grin).
Of course, as Kanddr says above, you may have found a good home-made remedy for the next case of head-snots

 

[Cape Brewing]

I would try the Fermented Tea forum as that's what this is. Nettle leaves are commonly used as tea ad all you're done is nuke the sugar content, add ssour to try balance the sweetness (citric and the lemons) and fermented. Again... A fermented tea.

Folks who make a lot of fermented teas might have some ideas

 

[RobWalker]

Is no one noticing there is nothing but bread yeast and sugar in his recipe?
There is no mention of malt or hops... sugar and yeast plus some leaves which probably wouldn't even ferment.
It's hooch and nothing more.

Nettle Wine is pretty well known over here in the UK! My local CAMRA pub sells it it's nice, very pleasant, light taste.

I would guess it's just bread yeast and a large amount of citric acid, along with nettles, equating to a bad combination of ingredients hangover-wise. Either that, or you need to take the nettles out when it's ready, as they are stinging your tounge

 

[wonderbread23]

I'm guessing fusel alcohol from all the refined sugar.

 

[JaviWanKenobi]

Nettle Wine is pretty well known over here in the UK! My local CAMRA pub sells it it's nice, very pleasant, light taste.

I would guess it's just bread yeast and a large amount of citric acid, along with nettles, equating to a bad combination of ingredients hangover-wise. Either that, or you need to take the nettles out when it's ready, as they are stinging your tounge

Thanks! I was beginnignto feel like a right weirdo for brewing something out of Nettles, glad to get confirmation that, if not commonplace, it was at least known somewhere.

Thanks for the suggestion of too much citric acid, that could well be as the original recipe did call for cream of tartar, and the finished beer did taste acidic.

Was not aware that refined sugars gave fusel alcohols, got a lot to look into and learn.

I will change the recipe if I ever try again... Thanks for all your help.

 

[pjj2ba]

I'm guessing fusel alcohol from all the refined sugar.

The fuel alcohols are not from the refined sugar per se. Many of us carbonated just fine with refined sugars with no problems. The fusel alcohols come from fermenting TOO WARM (say over 22C) particularly at the beginning of fermentation. It may also be that bread yeast, as opposed to most beer and wine yeast, are more prone to producing fusel alcohols. Fusel alcohols are known hangover inducers

 

[jaybee]

>> "You have brewed a medicine not a beer."

Nettles have been eaten as a vegetable through most of human history. While they do contain anti-inflammatory compounds, so do hundreds of other common fruits and vegetables. I think the fusel oil theory or the food allergy/intolerance theory are more likely the explanation. Another possibility is that dumping a packet of bread yeast into a sugar water gives time for wild yeasts or random bacteria to work the liquid, and these produce things that can cause a headache.

I also wonder if the Original Poster used a kilogram of fresh nettle leaves or a kilo of dried nettle leaves ... a kilo of dried nettle leaves is equivalent to 8 or 10 kilos of fresh nettles, which is a large amount for a one gallon batch.

 

[MaxStout]

In addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, nettle can act as a diuretic. Your hangover may have been caused (or aggravated) by dehydration.

 

[jjdsplace]

I brew nettle beer and I use beer yeast I would say it tastes more like a wine or cider than beer but never had headaches from it

 

[Auntie Zazza]

I see that this post is over a decade old, but I'll answer your question anyways, in case someone else is asking the same question.

I am an herbalist. The nettle itself is not likely to be what caused your headache/hangover.

Nettle's compounds that extracted by alcohol promote blood circulation, in addition to acting as an antihistamine and hormone regulator, which would be more likely to decrease factors that would cause intense headaches, unless you have a specific allergy to Stinging Nettles.

Stinging Nettles can have a diuretic effect (as does alcohol) which could cause a hangover in larger amounts, but not after drinking a pint.

The most likely culprit would be the citric acid used in your fermentation process, which tends to contain mold due to the manufacturing process.

I think most of us assume that citric acid is derived from citrus fruits, but it is actually a product of black mold, which converts sugars into citric acid.

Black mold is a very known culprit for inducing intense migraines.

I hope that helps.