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Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

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Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#61

I love my IPAs but I have to admit that the UK does social beer right. 3% or even 2.5% ales are the way to go if you want to socially drink. We have a concept of a "session" beer in the US, which is lower ABV but the selection of really good, really low gravity beers is the best in the UK as far as I can tell.

In theory yes but the problem is many people here (England) end up picking the session beers and then drinking 10 of them.

...before moving on to the stronger ones.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#62

I read something a while back where the owner/CEO/VP/Head Brewer of Sam Adams, who was expected to go to certain beer/brewing events and basically have a beer with each vendor, would eat a packet of yeast beforehand. He claimed it allowed him to make his rounds and sample everyone's beer without getting drunk/hungover.

I used to see Jim Koch at those events and he’d be pretty lit up.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#63
post #24

I love my IPAs but I have to admit that the UK does social beer right. 3% or even 2.5% ales are the way to go if you want to socially drink. We have a concept of a "session" beer in the US, which is lower ABV but the selection of really good, really low gravity beers is the best in the UK as far as I can tell.

> 3% or even 2.5% ales I am not familiar with those, can someone give some examples of these types of beers?

This is close to home-brewed kefir.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#64
post #23

The (main) problem with alcohol-free 'beer'/'wine'/etc. isn't the lack of drunkenness feeling? Especially beer has improved a lot but it's not there yet, I don't see how developing synthetic 'alcohol' will help when we still can't remove, or make the drink without causing, real alcohol? As for hormone shots to treat an already acquired hangover... It seems niche/less than ideal - I don't think many people would want…

> The (main) problem with alcohol-free 'beer'/'wine'/etc. isn't the lack of drunkenness feeling?

That depends on your goals. I like to catch a buzz once in a while but the majority of the time I'm drinking is because I really love the flavor of my favorite cocktails and the quality would be very poor as mocktails.

Using a Mai Tai as an example, of I could get a couple 0ABV rums, I could sub clarified orange juice for the orange liqueur and probably have something pretty good with no booze in it. I'd be quite happy with that.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#65

I love my IPAs but I have to admit that the UK does social beer right. 3% or even 2.5% ales are the way to go if you want to socially drink. We have a concept of a "session" beer in the US, which is lower ABV but the selection of really good, really low gravity beers is the best in the UK as far as I can tell.

I have been on the hunt for the past year in the mid-atlantic area of the US looking for Moosehead for example makes a Moosehead Light for the states at 4%, but they also offer Cracked Canoe which is only 3.2% but not sold in the states (available in the Canada, UK and Costa Rica of all places where I tried it).

[dead]

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#66

I read something a while back where the owner/CEO/VP/Head Brewer of Sam Adams, who was expected to go to certain beer/brewing events and basically have a beer with each vendor, would eat a packet of yeast beforehand. He claimed it allowed him to make his rounds and sample everyone's beer without getting drunk/hungover.

That doesn’t really make sense. Yeasts consume sugars and emit alcohol and co2 ad byproducts. They can’t process alcohol and too much alcohol kills the yeasts.

If anything, eating yeasts should make things worse, as yeasts might have a chance to digest some sugars and produce more alcohol (unlikely to happen, if you ask me)

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#68
post #24

I love my IPAs but I have to admit that the UK does social beer right. 3% or even 2.5% ales are the way to go if you want to socially drink. We have a concept of a "session" beer in the US, which is lower ABV but the selection of really good, really low gravity beers is the best in the UK as far as I can tell.

> 3% or even 2.5% ales I am not familiar with those, can someone give some examples of these types of beers?

I can't, and I'm in the UK. Even UK-brewed Fosters, widely conidered to be flavoured water, is 3.7%.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#69
post #22

Acetaldehyde (from consuming alcoholic beverages)(1) is a Group 1 carcinogen, along with things like Asbestos. Does it fix that? [1] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-...

Yes and... This is not ambiguous: There is no safe amount that does not affect health.[1] "We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer…

I feel like these kinds of statements are not very helpful. Knowing that even a single drop of alcohol is harmful without calibrating that risk does not give me enough information to alter my behavior. Fermented foods are inherently a bit alcoholic; does eating them mean I'm doomed? If not, then at what point does imbibing alcohol turn into a real health hazard? What are the risks compared to, say, eating prosciutto or grilled meats?

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#70
Pacing my drinks (sip every ten minutes; bigger drink of water between sips) and Pedialyte or Gatorade Zero after drinking if I've had a lot is the only system that works for me.

I'm 36 and haven't had a serious hangover[0] in a very long time.

As an added bonus, since I drink way slower when doing this, I can enjoy my drinks more and pay less for fewer drinks.

Additionally, because I drink fewer drinks when I go out, I'm much more selective about what I drink, which means I'll opt for higher quality stuff or a good NA if no good options are available.

YMMV of course.

[0] I define "serious hangover" as "unable to get out of bed; serious nausea; serious brain fog." The worst hangover I've had since doing this is mild brain fog that recovers after a few hours.

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