No Preservatives, No Hangover?

[RhysG]

Hi all, I'm new here so don't flame me too hard. I was wondering whether the theory that beer (or any alcohol for that matter - i.e. homemade wine) does not give you a hangover because it lacks preservatives :huh:? Can anyone clear me up on this one and recommend some good beers that don't have said nasty, hangover inducing preservatives (commercially available from the local Dan's etc of course )?

Cheers,
Rhys

 

[voota]

Myth imo. Its the dehydration and fusil alcohols that contribute to the hangover... you get both of these from drinking homebrew or craftbrew. However it is probably true that the nasty chemicals and adjuncts you find in the swill dont do you any good. No reason to drink that crap really.

 

[Adamt]

The way I see it; a proper beer, with fresh ingredients, a good quality, healthy and populous strain of yeast, well controlled fermentation temperature and sound sanitation, yields a beer with everything you need, and no nasty yeast by-products you don't want.

Whether yeast by-products, preservatives (who needs artificial preservatives when you have hops?!) or any other un-necessary additions cause hangovers is not yet proven (to my knowledge). It has been observed by many that hangover symptoms are decidedly better when drinking good quality homebrew.

Besides, proper made beer without any unnecessary additions taste better.

As far as commercial beers go; Coopers is probably Australia's most famous brewery that doesn't obscenely use anything unnecessary, Little Creatures, MSB (can't be sure of this one), pretty much any microbrewery who cares about the taste of their beer is a safe bet.

 

[pint of lager]

Have a read of How Stuff Works:Hangovers.

It discusses what a hangover is, why certain alcoholic beverages seem to create less hangovers and what can help.

This site is also listed in the links section here on AHB.

 

[PistolPatch]

Howdy POL!

POL has the best resources ever but unfortunatley I'm on dial-up today and am therefore waiting for POL's link to download.

While waiting, apart from Coopers, the only Australian beer I know that is produced without any additives is Haagen. I never get a hangover on their Premium Light whilst I will on Cascade's. Haagen use no chemicals.

Screwtop is a great one for knowing what causes hangovers. I'll send him a PM tomorrow and ask him to reply here.

The only prob with the Haagen Premium Light is that every case tastes different - seriously. But, as home brewers, we should probably respect that....

Pat

 

[Randall the Enamel Animal]

Look up the Food Standard Australia and New Zealand web page for the permissible additives in beer. Don't guess, go find out. Other than a very small amount of sulfur dioxide (occurs naturally but breweries often 'top-up' to the limit), no preservative can be added to beer. That why most commercial beers go through a tunnel pasteuriser. Common processing aids such as amylase, beta glucanase, kettle finings, antifoam, PGA, iso- and tetra-hop, silica hydrogel, PVPP and the like do not cause and are unlikely to contribute to hang overs.

 

[browndog]

Howdy POL!

POL has the best resources ever but unfortunatley I'm on dial-up today and am therefore waiting for POL's link to download.

While waiting, apart from Coopers, the only Australian beer I know that is produced without any additives is Haagen. I never get a hangover on their Premium Light whilst I will on Cascade's. Haagen use no chemicals.

Screwtop is a great one for knowing what causes hangovers. I'll send him a PM tomorrow and ask him to reply here.

The only prob with the Haagen Premium Light is that every case tastes different - seriously. But, as home brewers, we should probably respect that....

Pat

Pat, I tasted Haagen Gold I think it was 20 bucks a slab and mate, it tasted like it was made from instant beer powder

cheers

Browndog

 

[Kai]

Look up the Food Standard Australia and New Zealand web page for the permissible additives in beer. Don't guess, go find out. Other than a very small amount of sulfur dioxide (occurs naturally but breweries often 'top-up' to the limit), no preservative can be added to beer. That why most commercial beers go through a tunnel pasteuriser. Common processing aids such as amylase, beta glucanase, kettle finings, antifoam, PGA, iso- and tetra-hop, silica hydrogel, PVPP and the like do not cause and are unlikely to contribute to hang overs.

Well said, Randy.

Even top-quality home-made beer can give you a cracking hangover if you work at it.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Don't know if they count as preservatives or simply additives, but I know for a fact that Sodium Met, Potassium Carbonate and Ascorbic acid are all added to at least one of the mega brews here in Aus.

Small amounts indeed. But go in they do.

 

[PistolPatch]

Pat, I tasted Haagen Gold I think it was 20 bucks a slab and mate, it tasted like it was made from instant beer powder

Yep, the Gold is a shocker. I think their full-strength is too from memory though I think I've blocked that memory out! The light is usually pretty good.

That link from POL is an interesting read. Wish I'd read it before drinking all that Grolsch last night :blink:

 

[RhysG]

Thanks for the fast replies everyone :beer: so no sizable difference b/wn commercial and hb for hangovers... But you have to admit there are some beers that do give you a worse hangover than others though.

Cheers,
Rhys

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

That link from POL is an interesting read. Wish I'd read it before drinking all that Grolsch last night :blink:

Hangover with a swing top... Hmmm.

I used to think there was something lacking with my homebrews - the hangover. My friends now think the same.

A decent part of that is - for me - that I'm usually drinking homebrew for "the taste" and I usually drink less of it. Commercial beer is usually consumed in quantities destined to give me a hangover.

 

[berapnopod]

I've heard anectotal evidence of some people having some sort of allergy to sulfur dioxide. Gives them a strong hangover. This could be one reason why some drinks give you a bigger hangover.

For me its just a straight line correlation between the amount of alcohol consumed and the size of the hangover. Doesn't matter which variety.

Berp.

 

[RhysG]

For me its just a straight line correlation between the amount of alcohol consumed and the size of the hangover. Doesn't matter which variety.

^^

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I'm trying to recall a time I have NOT woken up with a really tight neck and killer headache after a night on Carlton Draught, VB, etc but I cannot

At the same time I'm trying to recall a time that I DID wake up with the same symptoms after a night on a MSB beer, Amsterdam, Kilkenny, homebrew, etc but I cannot...except for a case of HB my mate's dad gave me...but he ferments at insanely high temps

There is certainly something in certain (read: usually shit) beers that does this to me, no doubt about it.

I also have a friend who suffers from inflamed and tight tendons in his wrists only after drinking the bad types of beer.

Given all that, I'm not at all willing to prescribe to the "there are no additives in any beer" philosophy...there's no way it can be true h34r:

PZ.

 

[Screwtop]

Look up the Food Standard Australia and New Zealand web page for the permissible additives in beer. Don't guess, go find out. Other than a very small amount of sulfur dioxide (occurs naturally but breweries often 'top-up' to the limit), no preservative can be added to beer. That why most commercial beers go through a tunnel pasteuriser. Common processing aids such as amylase, beta glucanase, kettle finings, antifoam, PGA, iso- and tetra-hop, silica hydrogel, PVPP and the like do not cause and are unlikely to contribute to hang overs.

As explained above preservatives are regulated to some degree under permissible additives, additives used to aid processes such as fermentation can cause reactions in some people.

Not looking to burst anyone elses theory, however if I drink beer made using Amylase Enzyme (Dry enzyme sold in HBS) I wake with a headache. Discovered this first when I used it in a dark ale. Had three kegs on tap and only got a headache when I drank the dark. Wondering if this was the cause, I used Amylase in a pale ale with the same result. Occasionally I get that same headache after drinking other brewers beers, so I know that some do use Amylase in some of their beers. Remember once drinking another brewers beer when he told me that he had used only a small amount of Amylase to bring his FG down a little more than he was able to achieve naturally. Drank about three of these beers and next morning I had a headache but not as bad as normal, still one occasion is not a large enough sample to declare the finding a fact.

Interesting to see if others are affected by Amylase in beer. Obviously there is some additive causing this reaction from commercial beers. So many home brewers have made the comment over so many years that there would appear to be some reasonable explanation other than the blanket response we get re alcohol being the cause, any substance capable of killing you would naturally be able to give one a headache. All alcohol can kill if taken in sufficient quantity, and other types of alcohol can cause death in small amounts. The reactions referred to are caused by an overdose of alcohol (overdose amount being defined by a persons physiology/tolerance). However I think that the reactions we are talking about here are not the result of an overdose, three homebrewed beers containing Amylase will give me a headache in the morning, as will six commercial beers. Six homebrewed beers brewed without Amylase, no headache.

Hope this adds to the debate.

 

[Darren]

I always thought that it was the yeast (B- group vitamins) that helped to not get a hang-over with HB? FWIW, Coopers does not give me a hang-over like VB etc.

cheers

Darren

 

[tangent]

i was forced to drink a few TEDs last weekend and I had a whopping hangover not proportionate to the amount I drank. Next time I go to a party I'll be one of those weirdoes with 2L Coke bottles full of HB.

 

[albrews]

Have a read of How Stuff Works:Hangovers.

It discusses what a hangover is, why certain alcoholic beverages seem to create less hangovers and what can help.

This site is also listed in the links section here on AHB.

hi, thanks for this link, it solves all my probs on it.


cheers, alan

 

[Keifer]

Commercial beer = bad headaches for me and bad de-hydration. Some worse than others.

Home Brew = no headache (except from one batch which i still have not drunk) and hydration next morning is no where near as bad.

Whatever the case be it preservatives, vit-b, shit house ingrediants, additives or whatever, mega swill sux for hangovers for me.