Headaches, shakes - hangover?

[dannythemanny]

Hi,

I am getting terrible, splitting headaches from my brews. I had put it down to over consumption, but now I'm not so sure! Yesterday, I drank a pint of 2.7% and three pints of 4.4% homebrew. I also had a double scotch (not homebrewed!). This was all consumed over about 5 hours. I feel like if I did that in the pub, I would feel completely fine today. As it is, I've got a headache and feel *very* shaky and lethargic. Something else that seems to happen to distinguish this from a typical hangover headache is that it often starts in the middle of the night. If I get a hangover, it usually doesn't really kick in until the morning, but this wakes me up with a migraine in the early hours. In addition, I feel like I get a bit of a headrush after drinking just a small amount of homebrew, and sometimes get flushed cheeks at the same time. Could be hypervigilance on my part, though.

I have a few thoughts as to potential explanations for this...

1 - I am a bit older than i used to be, so now get hangovers from less alcohol. I am putting it down to homebrew because I haven't been to the pub in a while.

2 - Something in the being process is causing it. What that could be, I've no idea. I brew all grain with a Klarstein all in one system. I use silicone hoses, not vinyl or pvc. I get my water from an outdoor tap, but I'm pretty confident there's nothing wrong with that water. I keep my fermenters in an outbuilding with heat belts to keep them from dropping below 16C, generally. The weather has not yet been warm enough for them to get much above 17C, which as I understand it should eliminate problems with fusels.

3 - Sulphites: I use campden tablets as part of my water treatment. Half a tablet in 33L of water. I have read that this can leave sulphites which done are allergic to. I don't have reactions to wine, though, and it seems a miniscule amount.

4 - CO2: I'm wondering if the CO2 I'm using contains Benzene or some other nasty, even though it is labelled "food grade". I've heard that food grade might mean it's suitable for food packaging, not consumption, and that we ought to use "beverage grade", but I'm not even sure that exists in the UK! I did read on a forum somewhere that someone had a similar issue to me and when he switched gas supplier, he immediately stopped getting the headaches, etc. He had been getting it from a welder's supply, I think.

Curious to hear if anyone else has experienced this and what people reckon. I plan to have an evening of drinking a similar amount of commercial beer to see how I feel the next day, and also to use the gas to carbonate water in an empty corny and drink four or five pints of it!

Cheers.

 

[The Cat]

I'm the other way around - generally I don't get hangovers per se but maybe can feel a bit off.

It might just be different chemicals - I have found since my two visits back to the pub during the last month I have felt the effects far more than the stuff I've been drinking at home and it's definitely not to do with the abv of my regular beer of choice.

Might just be your body not adapting yet to different chemicals - I stress I am no expert or have any medical background for this.

 

[An Ankoù]

Try not drinking anything for a couple of nights and see if you still get the headaches.
It might be something you're eating or breathing or it might be something else.

 

[soupdragon]

I'm sure there was a report on the news a short while ago saying that as you age you're less likely to suffer with hangovers. Might indicate the issue is elsewhere?
I'll have a dig around to see if I can find it.

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

There's a few older reports saying the opposite but this recent article
https://www.heart.co.uk/lifestyle/hangovers-easier-older-new-study/seems to say that's not the case

Cheers Tom

 

[dannythemanny]

Interesting article!

The thing is, I don't drink during the week, generally and I don't get these headaches when I don't drink. I've just force carbonated about 10L of tap water from the garden tap I use for brewing. Going to drink a few pints of that today to see if it gives me a headache as then I can make it down to the water supply or the CO2.

I am going to have to test my hypothesis about it being homebrew next week. I'll drink four or five decent, low-ish ABV beers and see how I feel in the night/the next morning.

If that article is correct about hangovers getting less severe, I'll be very happy!

 

[soupdragon]

Fingers crossed but it doesn't matter to me any longer as I've had to reduce my consumption due to being on warfarin. Can't remember my last hangover

Cheers Tom

 

[dannythemanny]

Fingers crossed but it doesn't matter to me any longer as I've had to reduce my consumption due to being on warfarin. Can't remember my last hangover

Cheers Tom

You're certainly not missing anything!

 

[cushyno]

I had one or two batches last year that I got real bad headaches from which was a crying shame as one was very good beer. In both batches the recipes called for white sugar to be added, maybe around 200g. I don't usually ferment with any additional sugar except for priming. However I have also done two other batches with similar amounts of sugar and not had the same headaches. Maybe there's something to do with fusels created by the yeast under certain conditions that are more nuanced.

What temperature is the wort and your yeast when you pitch? Shocked yeast or yeast that is forced to do hard fermenting before it's done enough growing is purported to give off unwanted compounds.

 

[Slid]

I did a cider many years back using an O-o-D kit and it was undrinkable due to headache after drinking scarcely any. Tipped the rest eventually.

I blame the yeast being in poor shape and being overly stressed.

Here is the original thread started by a younger me:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/aldehydes-in-cider.44358/
See post #7 for another plausible explanation. Graysalchemy was a very knowledgeable poster at that time and helped me a lot!

 

[dannythemanny]

Wort is typically chilled to 18 degrees for pitching. I mostly use Safale/Saflager dry yeast, and rarely rehydrate it, but it's the same either way. Temp is held pretty steady, whatever the style calls for, but typically 16-17C.

 

[cushyno]

Do you stor your yeast sachets in a fridge? If so, let them stabilise to run temperature an hour or so before pitching. 18°C is fine for wort temperature to pitch into.

 

[dannythemanny]

I did a cider many years back using an O-o-D kit and it was undrinkable due to headache after drinking scarcely any. Tipped the rest eventually.

I blame the yeast being in poor shape and being overly stressed.

Here is the original thread started by a younger me:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/aldehydes-in-cider.44358/
See post #7 for another plausible explanation. Graysalchemy was a very knowledgeable poster at that time and helped me a lot!

I had thought about that, but it seems this comes about from higher fermentation temps than I typically use. It's a real pain the neck (/head)!

 

[dannythemanny]

Do you store your yeast sachets in a fridge? If so, let them stabilise to run temperature an hour or so before pitching. 18°C is fine for wort temperature to pitch into.

I do keep the sachets in the fridge, but I take it out first thing on brew day.

Am I right in assuming that 4 pints of sub 5% beer and a double scotch wouldn't give most a hangover headache?

 

[Galena]

I do keep the sachets in the fridge, but I take it out first thing on brew day.

Am I right in assuming that 4 pints of sub 5% beer and a double scotch wouldn't give most a hangover headache?

I rarely get headaches but after 5 pints I do sometimes feel pretty crap and lethargic the next day, these days whether that be home brew or real ale in a pub unless it is very weak.

 

[cushyno]

Personally I stop after 3 or 4 pints and wouldn't have the scotch. 5 hours is a good stretch to spread the drinks over.

My quick rule of thumb: add up all the percentages of each pint (or 500ml bootie) I've had. If the sum is over 20 then I can expect to feel some effects the next day. Usually homebrew just leave a dullness whereas some commercial beers leave a headache.

The two anomaly batches I referred to earlier gave a splitting headache.

Something to note, I almost always get headaches from cider, sometimes while I'm still drinking it, so tend to avoid it. I believe some people are more susceptible to the compounds in cider.

 

[Clint]

I like a whisky but it's rarely on my list even though I have a few bottles. If I add a whisky or two to the evening I will have a bad head the next day.
Not got a barley allergy have you?

 

[dannythemanny]

I like a whisky but it's rarely on my list even though I have a few bottles. If I add a whisky or two to the evening I will have a bad head the next day.
Not got a barley allergy have you?

I certainly hope not! Perhaps it's the whiskey that's done me in, though.

 

[Clint]

Alcohol/booze can cause "histamine" type reactions...wonder if it's the hops? Try taking an antihistamine before going to bed.
As for the red face...there's a few things..over tired/drinking don't mix well. Alcohol intolerance... alcohol is poisonous after all. Reaction to something else in your system...do you work with chemicals/industrial solvents of any kind?

 

[dannythemanny]

Alcohol/booze can cause "histamine" type reactions...wonder if it's the hops? Try taking an antihistamine before going to bed.
As for the red face...there's a few things..over tired/drinking don't mix well. Alcohol intolerance... alcohol is poisonous after all. Reaction to something else in your system...do you work with chemicals/industrial solvents of any kind?

No, no exposure to any chemicals/solvents that I'm aware of. I'll try an antihistamine. Cheers.