My painful breakup with beer and Scotch...
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Rob
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Craig_From_Cincy
- Posts: 1476
- Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:38 pm
- Location: Cincinnati, OH USA
Rob,
Just a thought, but the types of beer and styles of scotches that you are consuming and that are giving you headaches see to have a common thread in each of them; the beers are all aggressively hopped ales, and the scotches are all aggressively smoked/peated whiskies. In the case of the beers, all of those listed are 'dry hopped', which is to say that a large dose of raw hops are added to the beer after it's brewed and while it's fermenting in order to add an assertive bitterness and hop character to the beer. The malt used in those whiskies is smoked over peat fueled fires for an extended period in order to add the very smoky, peaty character that you taste. Some aspect of the dry hopping (such as the hop resin, which is called lupulin) or the peat spiked smoke might be causing the headaches.
As an experiment, try switching to a different style of beer, perhaps a lager, for a while. Lagers tend to be less aggressively hopped than IPA style ales (with a few exceptions, such as hoppy pilsners), and they are almost never dry hopped. Also, lagers are fermented a cool temperatures with bottom fermenting yeast strains, while ales are fermented at warm temperatures with top fermenting yeasts. As for the whisky, try drinking something different and see what happens. I find that many scotch drinkers (I'm one myself) enjoy the flavour profile of Armagnac, a French brandy that is similar to Cognac, but with more pronounced, 'racier' flavours. Or perhaps try a Bourbon or Rye whiskey (there's no peat or smoke in them). Buy a 50ml "airline" sized bottle (most well stocked liquor stores offer them) and see if the different type of spirit has the same effect on you. At least you will know if it's alcohol in general that is bothering you, or if it's something particular to those ales & whiskies that you like.
Another thought is to see an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor and undergo allergy testing. If an allergen is identified there are simple, inexpensive shots to build up your tolerance to the offending item. I did this a few years ago, and my sinus issues and headaches are much improved.
Again, just a couple of thoughts from a guy who has been in the beer & spirits industry for two decades now.
Just a thought, but the types of beer and styles of scotches that you are consuming and that are giving you headaches see to have a common thread in each of them; the beers are all aggressively hopped ales, and the scotches are all aggressively smoked/peated whiskies. In the case of the beers, all of those listed are 'dry hopped', which is to say that a large dose of raw hops are added to the beer after it's brewed and while it's fermenting in order to add an assertive bitterness and hop character to the beer. The malt used in those whiskies is smoked over peat fueled fires for an extended period in order to add the very smoky, peaty character that you taste. Some aspect of the dry hopping (such as the hop resin, which is called lupulin) or the peat spiked smoke might be causing the headaches.
As an experiment, try switching to a different style of beer, perhaps a lager, for a while. Lagers tend to be less aggressively hopped than IPA style ales (with a few exceptions, such as hoppy pilsners), and they are almost never dry hopped. Also, lagers are fermented a cool temperatures with bottom fermenting yeast strains, while ales are fermented at warm temperatures with top fermenting yeasts. As for the whisky, try drinking something different and see what happens. I find that many scotch drinkers (I'm one myself) enjoy the flavour profile of Armagnac, a French brandy that is similar to Cognac, but with more pronounced, 'racier' flavours. Or perhaps try a Bourbon or Rye whiskey (there's no peat or smoke in them). Buy a 50ml "airline" sized bottle (most well stocked liquor stores offer them) and see if the different type of spirit has the same effect on you. At least you will know if it's alcohol in general that is bothering you, or if it's something particular to those ales & whiskies that you like.
Another thought is to see an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor and undergo allergy testing. If an allergen is identified there are simple, inexpensive shots to build up your tolerance to the offending item. I did this a few years ago, and my sinus issues and headaches are much improved.
Again, just a couple of thoughts from a guy who has been in the beer & spirits industry for two decades now.
Cheers,
Craig
Craig
George Burns: "If I had taken my doctor's advice and quit smoking when he advised me to, I wouldn't have lived to go to his funeral."hexdump wrote:I sure hope you get it sorted out.
Are you going through an unusual period of stress in your life ?
That's what did it for me when I used to get headaches after drinking beers.
The Dr. was no help, he told me to stop drinking beers, so I stopped seeing him instead.
Regards,
Mike
Mike