Why does my homebrew make me fart so much?

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I've made two batches and both have given me ungodly gas. No, i'm not joking around, i'm a regular alcoholic and haven't had gas like this until i drank alcohol i've made. :confused:
 
Well, there is a simple explanation. It's the active yeast. Most people aren't accustomed to it, and it can take a while for your body to adjust. The other part is the longer-chained dextrines. That's so different than the adjunct-laded macrobeers and most people aren't used to that, either.

It's not to bad in aged homebrew, but that's why I will NEVER serve green homebrew to non-homebrewers. A non-homebrew drinker who helps you kick a keg of young homebrew will want to kill you the next day after spending the night in the bathroom. ;)

There are a couple of things that can help (besides simply getting used to it). One is to make sure you're not drinking too-young beer. In a very young beer, it might taste great but there will be plenty of suspended yeast that will cause some gastric distress later!

The other is to NOT pour the yeast into the glass when you serve. Chill the beer well, so the yeast is tightly compacted on the bottom, and then pour it into a glass in one motion, leaving the last 1/2" or so of beer. That will help also!
 
Ah, gotcha, yeah, i'm drinking very young beer. 2 weeks in the primary, in to the keg, let it carbonate about 2 days and i'm drinking it. Love the extremely bitter taste of it, but it's kicking my ass (no pun intended). I'm always drinking from the bottom considering it's kegged, lol.
 
I had the same problem when I first drank the beer from the first sample I took (to measure FG) when my beer was about two weeks in the primary.

But, with a 7 weeks old beer (2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary and 3 weeks conditioning in bottle), I had absolutely no such problem (as long as I left the yeast layer in the bottle).

Be patient and your intestine will thank you!
 
If you keg it and force carbonate, could you just filter it with a 1 micron filter since you don't need the active yeast anymore?
 
Its the residual sugars that reach your small and large intestines. Your GI tract cannot absorb oligosaccharides through your gut epithelium and it leaves sugars for your natural flora to ferment, E coli, enterococcus etc. They create gas from the fermentation and it is your resposibility to "relieve the pressure" so-to-speak.
Force carbing or filtering will not affect the sugars so my guess is that you will still have gas the next day.

I am not sure how the remaining yeast would contribute to your gas. Maybe when the yeast cells reach your gastric acid in your stomach or your pancreatic juices in your duodenum they release gas. Other than that, I would assume any yeast remaining in suspension would be completely killed by your stomach pH.
-Jefe-
 
JefeTheVol said:
Its the residual sugars that reach your small and large intestines. Your GI tract cannot absorb oligosaccharides through your gut epithelium and it leaves sugars for your natural flora to ferment, E coli, enterococcus etc. They create gas from the fermentation and it is your resposibility to "relieve the pressure" so-to-speak.
Force carbing or filtering will not affect the sugars so my guess is that you will still have gas the next day.

I am not sure how the remaining yeast would contribute to your gas. Maybe when the yeast cells reach your gastric acid in your stomach or your pancreatic juices in your duodenum they release gas. Other than that, I would assume any yeast remaining in suspension would be completely killed by your stomach pH.
-Jefe-
Click to expand...

ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

I'm still not convinced it's the yeast. It's the oligosacchrides!

After all, chili doesn't have yeast, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale does. Which one makes you fart? Chili or SNPA?

which homebrew makes you fart more? I nice light Pale Ale (low FG, low in oligo's), or a big complex stout (high FG, high in oligo's)?
 
JefeTheVol said:
I am not sure how the remaining yeast would contribute to your gas. Maybe when the yeast cells reach your gastric acid in your stomach or your pancreatic juices in your duodenum they release gas. Other than that, I would assume any yeast remaining in suspension would be completely killed by your stomach pH.
-Jefe-
Click to expand...

yeast can survive the PH of your stomach. they get into your intestines and find sugar which they then try to ferment. next time take a Beano.
 
Ok, this thread is hard to read while drinking anything! Anyway, I do remember the HB farts, but yeah your system gets used to it and it'll go away. Not before leaving you some good stories though! ;)
 
Brewing Clamper said:
Ok, this thread is hard to read while drinking anything! Anyway, I do remember the HB farts, but yeah your system gets used to it and it'll go away. Not before leaving you some good stories though! ;)
Click to expand...

Well, of course this issue never was a problem for me. We all know that only men have disgusting digestive systems.

But........one of the reasons it really wasn't too much of an issue for us (me, or my spouse), I believe is because of our diet. We're sort of old hippies, and eat a very healthy diet, rich in natural foods. I haven't even had a doughnut in at least 25 years (maybe longer), but that is another story.............

Anyway, I'm very used to whole grains, fermented foods, complex carbohydrates, homegrown vegetables, "weird" breads, etc. When I started brewing, I had already been a winemaker. I aged my first beers just as I did my wine, so I had very little problem.

My friends, who aren't used to such a "natural" diet, did not do as well scarfing down my homebrew. One told me he spent the weekend in the bathroom, after drinking about a gallon of my homebrew.

Maybe they've all gotten used to it, maybe I age my beers longer, or maybe it's because I keg my beers and they are super-clear, but I haven't heard any complaints from my friends in several years.
 
Yeah....My body never "got used to it" I guess. I hit more than one or two in a night, and I live up to my nick name at work (Uncle Fart Pump). Beano helps, but it's not a problem solver. I just rdwahahb. And let my co-workers worry! :ban:
 
Since you are kegging you could cut a half inch or so off of your dip tube.
This will keep you from sucking up the settled yeast in the keg. I did this and it made a huge difference!
 
Is there a particular process in brewing that helps reduce the oligosaccharides? Is this related to the various enzymes active at different mash temps, or a failure to maintain a particular water chemistry... or just one of the many joys of hombrew?
 
Interesting thing for me personally - SNPA actually DOES "set me off" more than home brew does. I have yet to figure that one out. Tumbler, Celebration - not so much. But The good ole golden nectar that is SNPA - it kills me every time.

Sadly for small children and SWMBO, I love the stuff ! A little discomfort to others is of no concern to me if I can pick up some of that hoppy nectar.
 
azscoob said:
nothin like a homebrew fart while gettin a hummer! :D your body will adjust to the homebrew over time and the gas will subside, I kinda miss the homebrew farts, they made work soo fun!
Click to expand...

Need some fresh hard boild eggs, yeast and all the home brew goodness love the protiens in eggs.... first thing in the morning in best.
:ban: :rockin:
 
So does moving your beer to a secondary reduce the amount of Yeast that is left in the final product? Can or should you move a ale to a secondary for a week?
 
i'm a fairly gassy person anyway so adding homebrew on top of it just kills birds as they fly by!! i mean they fall dead out of the sky!! one night a friend of mine was over and we drank a bunch of home brew and ate 2 dozen pickled eggs in our drunken state. my eggs have peppers and onions mixxed in with them in the viniger. they are pretty spicy.

his wife called me the next day and asked what i had fed him the night before becuase he was killing her, needless to say my old lady wasn't fairing any better than she was!!!!

even better than that a friend of mine and his wife had a falling out. he had just purchased 35 acres of wood land right down the road from me. he came over one night and i washed his clothes for him and we drank a case of some wheat beer i had on hand in the frig. i had let it set for only two weeks in the bottles. he said when he went back to his tent and went to sleep he woke up 4 or 5 times that night with explosive mudbutt!!! he said he almost crapped his pants twice before he could get them down!!!!! we sill laugh at that all the time.

since i have been letting them sit longer before putting them in the frig it seems that the gas and mudbutt has gone down alot. i wonder what letting it sit in the fermenter long will do also.
 
Hannable1975 said:
Interesting thing for me personally - SNPA actually DOES "set me off" more than home brew does. I have yet to figure that one out. Tumbler, Celebration - not so much. But The good ole golden nectar that is SNPA - it kills me every time.

Sadly for small children and SWMBO, I love the stuff ! A little discomfort to others is of no concern to me if I can pick up some of that hoppy nectar.
Click to expand...

You know, I SWEAR that highly hopped beer is more gas-inducing than the malty ones. But then again, most of my beers are hopped pretty well, so it's hard to tell....
 
curlyfat said:
You know, I SWEAR that highly hopped beer is more gas-inducing than the malty ones. But then again, most of my beers are hopped pretty well, so it's hard to tell....
Click to expand...

I've been drinking my first IPA, after several porters and pale ales and I agree with you.
 
I must have a stomach of steel. I have never had (or noticed) this problem. I had even drank about a gallon of green beer due to overcarbing and nothin'. I have been diagnosed with hyper-acidity, could it be that my stomach acids are so harsh that I am unaffected. That can't be it can it?
 
Hannable1975 said:
Interesting thing for me personally - SNPA actually DOES "set me off" more than home brew does. I have yet to figure that one out. Tumbler, Celebration - not so much. But The good ole golden nectar that is SNPA - it kills me every time.

Sadly for small children and SWMBO, I love the stuff ! A little discomfort to others is of no concern to me if I can pick up some of that hoppy nectar.
Click to expand...

SNPA is bottled conditioned (there's a layer of yeast at the bottom). Might be the yeast.
 
JefeTheVol said:
Its the residual sugars that reach your small and large intestines. Your GI tract cannot absorb oligosaccharides through your gut epithelium and it leaves sugars for your natural flora to ferment, E coli, enterococcus etc. They create gas from the fermentation and it is your resposibility to "relieve the pressure" so-to-speak.
Force carbing or filtering will not affect the sugars so my guess is that you will still have gas the next day.

I am not sure how the remaining yeast would contribute to your gas. Maybe when the yeast cells reach your gastric acid in your stomach or your pancreatic juices in your duodenum they release gas. Other than that, I would assume any yeast remaining in suspension would be completely killed by your stomach pH.
-Jefe-
Click to expand...

How would you explain the difference between home brew & commercial brew in regards to oligosaccharides? I don't see where either process would favor or reduce them more than the other. And the OP (as well as many others) note that it's the home brew causing them excess gas... not commercial.

The difference I see is the yeast. Commercial is usually filtered & almost always pastuerized. Homebrew almost always not.
 
It's weird. My home brew gave me bad gas when I started brewing but not really anymore. Maybe my body just adapted. :D
 
When my brother-in-law and I drank my first batch it sounded like a monster truck jamboree! I hadn't gotten into HBT and had limited knowledge so I just thought this was a cool side effect :)
For me after about three batches the side effects pretty much went away. Now I'm back to my normal self... except when I eat a good ol' Wisconsin brat with sauerkraut! mmmmm
 

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