As most people know hangovers are due to the dehydrating effects of alcohol. This occurs because Alcohol is a diuretic, however, there are other ingredients in some forms of alcohol that also contribute to a hangover. These are called cogeners and are found in dark drinks such as Brandy, Red Wine, Whiskey, etc. Beer is on the low end of the hangover spectrum, although it can still cause a pretty terrible hangover…if you do it right.
In this article, we are going to go through some hangover remedies as well as prevention techniques that will hopefully help you get through the day after a good bender. Obviously, not drinking in the first place is the best way to prevent a hangover, but it is also a stupid thing to do and not something I would ever recommend. Below are some much better options.
– If you smoke, quitting will cut your hangovers in half. I know this from personal experience as well as that of others.
– Drinking water between drinks seems to be a very good hangover prevention technique. You may spend your entire night in the bathroom, but might be worth it if you are prone to painful hangovers.
– A lot of people will take an aspirin or other pain killer before they go to bed after a good binge session. The problem with this is that alcohol and pain killers (especially acetominophen/Tylenol) mixed are very bad for your kidneys.. or is it liver.. who cares, it may help prevent a hangover, but its REALLY bad for you.
– There are a ton of pills on the market that claim to prevent hangovers if taken before you start drinking. There is much debate as to whether these work. A lot of them are just aspirin and vitamins mixed together. Some commonly found pills are RU-21 and Chaser.
– If you are going to get your drink on, there are 2 very important times to eat – before and after. For you pukers, eating after might be tough, but if it makes you puke, that is probably a good thing.
– I find puking to be for the feeble and weak, but for those of you with substandard intestinal fortitude, this is your body trying to tell you something. It will certainly help minimize your hangover the next day.
– The old saying goes, “Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never sicker”. To me this is BS witchcraft psychobabble, but if you are superstitious then you might want to follow the “rules”.
If you are reading this section, it means that the damage is already done and you have wrecked yourself. Fortunately, all hope is not lost.
– Feel like shit? Why not sleep until you don’t anymore. C’mon people, its just common sense. If you have to be awake for some reason, try some of the others below.
– NOW is the time for painkillers, not the night before.
– Your body needs sugar to break down the alcohol that you still have in your system.
– Pedialyte is a formula containing electrolytes and carbohydrates designed specifically to rehydrate babies. It apparently works wonders on hangovers in adults (or children). I have never tried this, nor have I met anyone that can stomach this crap. I hear the popsicles are easier to get down.
– Don’t waste your time with water. It takes too damn long to rehydrate that way. Gatorade contains electrolytes and is designed to rehydrate athletic types. During my career as a beer athlete, I have had some pretty good success with Gatorade. Lime flavor seems to be the least offensive to a weak stomach.
– Here is another one that defies science, however, if you exercise or do some yard work with a hangover, you will sweat it away. It makes no sense since you are further dehydrating yourself, but it works well for me and many others. The problem with this one, is that being active is about the last thing you want to do with a hangover. You really have to force yourself to pull this off. Here is some incentive – after you work up a disgusting, rotten alcohol smelling sweat, go to the store and stand really close to people and see if you can get a reaction. If you haven’t brushed your teeth yet, try striking up some conversations.
– The absolute best and most elusive hangover cure is an IV. I hear this is a common trick among med students who give themself and IV for an hour and they are completely rehydrated.
– The best vitamin for a hangover is B1 (Thiamine). You can find B1 in rice, beans, nuts, etc. Potassium is another important one which can be found in Bananas.
– Juice contains a lot of vitamins and is a faster, better tasting way to rehydrate yourself than water.
– This is an amino acid that helps remove toxins from your body. You can buy pills or it can be found in eggs, which supports breakfast theories.
– Fill your bathtub with cold water and some ice. Jump in and stay in as long as you can take it. Repeat as necessary. If you are near a cold river or glacier runoff, this will work too. I have tried this and it does work for a while. It is hard to feel your hangover if you can’t feel anything at all.
Source: Beer Hangover
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You probably know which beer you like best. You might how much it costs. You may know where it’s sold. But how much do you really know about beer? Here are some amazing trivia to share with your friends.
1. All vitamins and minerals necessary for good health can be found in beer and other alcohol beverages.
2. Early recipes for beer sometimes included mushrooms, poppy seeds, butter, bay leaves, sugar, aromatics, honey, and bread crumbs.
3. Beer was first sold in bottles in 1850. It was first sold in cans in 1935.
4. If you collect beer bottles you are a labeorphilist.
5. In eleventh-century England, a bride would distribute ale to her wedding guests in exchange for donations to the newlyweds. This brew, known as Bride Ale, is the origin of the word ‘bridal.
6. The powers that be at Guinness say that a pint of beer is lifted about ten times, and each time about 0.56 ml is lost in a beer drinker’s facial hair. That’s a lot of wasted beer!
7. U.S. beer sales surpass that of both wine and spirits combined. (2007)
Beer Sales: $98 billion
Spirits Sales: $62.6 Billion
Wine Sales: $28.1 Billion
8. Noah loaded his ark with beer according to Assyrian tablets dated to about 2000 BC.
9. The first beer six-pack of beer was sold in the 1940s. It was designed to be light enough for most people to carry easily.
10. Belgium has over 400 brands of beer.
Source: Beer Trivia, Genius of Drinking
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
People have always said a man’s drink says a lot about his personality — but often, they’re referring to hard liquor. What about beer, the real man’s drink? What can you tell about a man based on his brew? We did some investigating on the subject, and with a little help from this study done by Mindset Media, here’s what we came up with:
Budweiser: The All-American
If you visit Budweiser’s website, you’ll learn that Adolphus Busch, the founder of Budweiser, believed there were three ways to do things: the wrong way, the right way and the better way. He used practical innovation to create a great American lager and forged his business through the tough years of prohibition, building a company that is now an iconic representation of the American dream. From what we’ve discovered, Busch infused some of this inspiring personality into his brew; men who choose Budweiser tend to be sensible, grounded and practical. They enjoy living in the moment and aren’t ones to plan in advance. They dislike the concept of authority and aren’t afraid to “live outside the box,” bearing a similar resemblance to the pioneer himself, Adolphus Busch.
Blue Moon: The Tree Hugger
People who drink Blue Moon tend to have an attitude that their beer of choice is better than yours, but you’re not worthy (or capable) of understanding why. They despise moral authorities and take pleasure in sarcastically criticizing the world around them, offering no useful solutions. Your best chances of spotting them are while they’re driving their hybrid car, shopping for organic food, surfing the Web on their MacBook Pro, or hugging a tree.
Heineken: The Poser
Men who drink Heineken are an absolute catch. Their taste for luxury clothes, fancy cars and fine dining is something the rest of us can only dream about. They’re always up-to-date with the latest technologies and will enthusiastically educate you on them. If you believe them when they tell you how smart, good looking and successful they are (yes, them — not you) and give them 110 percent of your undivided attention, you’re bound for a relationship full of eternal bravado and bliss.
Bud Light: The Frat Boy
When you think of Bud Light, does a frat boy playing drinking games in his Vineyard Vines polo come to mind? If your answer is yes, you’re probably familiar with the personality I’m about to describe. Bud Light drinkers tend to be outgoing and easy to get along with, making for a great personality in a social setting. But be forewarned: They’re also prone to taking unnecessary risks, so if you spend too much time with them, you may find yourself crossing the lines of socially acceptable behavior. Now, let’s play a game: Which came first, the Bud Light or the frat guy? That may be harder to figure out than the chicken and the egg conundrum!
Corona: The Party Animal
Always expect something extra when hanging out with Corona drinkers. These people are energetic, fun, and the life of the party. They’ll make strangers feel like friends, and while their extroverted personality may be a little much for a Tuesday night happy hour, give them a chance. Deep down inside, they likely have an altruistic side that’s yearning to come out.
Michelob Ultra: The Guy Drinking Low-Cal Beer
Besides his ultra-strict diet (Michelob Ultra has a measly 95 calories), there’s nothing really ultra about this guy. He might be young and beautiful, but he’s a bit conceited. He has a strong, confident opinion, but can also be confrontational and controlling. Perhaps he’s into you, but he’s probably more into himself. And he might be drinking an Ultra, but to us, he’s just another man drinking a low-cal beer.
Source: Men’s Personality based on Beer
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
As a beer drinker we need to know the language of marketing. When you’re staring at a sixpack or bomber of beer at your local bottle shop, you might encounter some unfamiliar phrases. Here are five essential terms you should know.
Bottle Conditioned
Bottle conditioned is brewer-speak to describe a beer that is naturally carbonated. Prior to packaging, beer is allowed to ferment until the yeast is totally satiated, having eaten all the sugars it can. To bottle condition the beverage, brewers bottle the beer with a bit more sugar for that yeast to munch on. They use a pre-calculated dose that is just the right amount to produce carbon dioxide to be absorbed as carbonation withoutoverpressurizing or worse, blowing up, the bottle. (Nobody wants your beer to explode.) The alternative to bottle conditioning is called force carbonation, in which carbon dioxide is injected into the finished beer without an additional fermentation.
Some beer purists believe that bottle conditioning is indisputably the best way to carbonate beer—arguments in support of the process tout its ability to produce a more pleasant (fine and soft) carbonation, consume oxygen in the bottle’s headspace, and develop character over time.
Dry Hopped
This is an odd one—aren’t all hops dried before they are used in beer? With rare, seasonal exceptions, that is exactly correct. But ignore that for a minute. Dry hopping refers not to the condition of the hops themselves, but how they are used. It means that the brewers are adding hops after fermentation. At this point, the hops are not boiled and thus, the acids held within the flower do not release their potent bitterness. They do, however, release their flavorful and aromatic oils, which will make your beer taste extra juicy, grassy, lush, or floral, depending on the hop variety. IPAs, pale ales, and other hop-driven styles have always used this technique, but brewer experimentation has pushed its presence into the full range of beer styles.
Gypsy Brewer
This arguably-offensive term refers to an increasingly common symbiotic relationship in the beer world. Most established brewers aren’t using their expensive brewing equipment 24/7. Other brewers are just getting into the biz and can’t afford or don’t want to buy all that pricey stainless steel. See where I’m going with this? The brick and mortar breweries can get a little extra cash flowing in by renting out their brew kettles and fermentation space, and those other brewers can get their beers to market without insane overhead. Without the permanence of a physical address, many of these brewers make beer wherever they can, often embracing a nomadic lifestyle…hence the gypsy nomenclature. Some of these folks, like Massachusetts’ Pretty Things, have adopted the alternative name “tenant brewer” to avoid rubbing folks the wrong way.
IBU
I’m often asked what IBU stands for, and feel bad giving the answer. “International Bitterness Units” doesn’t really tell you all that much about what that number on your bottle really means, does it? IBUs, when you get down to it, are simply a measure in parts per million of the isomerized alpha acid content in beer. Oh jeez, this isn’t getting any easier. To make it short and sweet: IBUs are a measure of how hoppy a beer is.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Perceived bitterness depends on way more than just how many hops are thrown into the kettle. The sweetness and alcohol level of a beer, for example, plays a huge role in the end bitterness of that beer. Two beers, both with 35 IBUs, can taste bracingly bitter or not at all. So really “International Bitterness Units” is a bit of a misnomer. In fact, as a measure, it is nowhere near as useful as folks to seem to make it out to be, so don’t get too caught up on the IBU number.
Imperial
Imperial IPA, imperial stout, imperial red, imperial pilsner—this “imperial” word is all over beer bottles these days. But what does the word—one long associated with royalty—have to do with your plebian drinking pursuits? The terminology harkens back—way back (think 1700s)—to the days in which the Russian imperial court (there’s that word again!) consumed a custom-made extra-strong stout that was shipped to them from England. Over the centuries, this exalted naming convention was applied to all variations on styles of beer that were bigger—stronger, hoppier, more intense, more royal—than the beers that inspired them.
Source: Decoding Beer Labels
One of the best things about beer is the awesome variety of styles to choose from. This gorgeous interactive guide from the Brewers Association showcases 77 US beer styles to help you decide what to drink next.
We’ve shared a beer style flowchart with you before, but this photo-rich guide is incredibly comprehensive. Turn on the beer style finder and you can narrow down styles by color, bitterness, amount of alcohol, as well as flavor notes.
Each style has its own dedicated page with recommended food pairings and examples. There’s an A-to-Z text-based guide as well.
The whole site is a great reference for beer lovers in general.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Source: Find your Perfect Beer to Drink
There’s so many types of beer out there that it can be tough to decide what you want to imbibe. This handy flow chart is here to help you with that.
This flow chart from Mike Newman at
Cool Material starts off with one of the most important questions when it comes to beer choice: are you looking to get drunk and don’t care about taste? From there, the chart asks plenty of helpful qualifying questions to help you decide between ten different major styles of beer. You’ll easily find out if you’re in the mood for an IPA, a Porter, or a light and crisp Pilsner. You spend all week stressing about stuff, don’t stress about your beer.
Source: Decide what style of beer to Drink
