Heads and hangovers

Little or nothing to do with distillation.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
Alchemist75
Rumrunner
Posts: 708
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:12 pm
Location: New Mexico USA

Heads and hangovers

Post by Alchemist75 »

Now obviously making a good head cut can get a cleaner spirit flavor wise on a pot still but how about the idea that less heads means less hangover. Is this truly the case? Is it the heads/fores that make for a bad hangover or is this just a myth? Thoughts?
SOLVE ET COAGULA, ET HABEBIS MAGISTERIUM
User avatar
Chixter
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 1:39 pm

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Chixter »

Not a myth IMO. I haven't been at this very long but I will say this.....different than store-bought buzz, and I have consumed quantities of my home made that when compared to my go to storebought (SEAGRAM VO) I would of had a morning after blaahhhh. That aside, overdoing even the best cut likker will still result in something. Alcohol will do that.
When I was a boy, I prayed for a bicycle. I soon learned G~d doesn't work like this so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.
User avatar
Alchemist75
Rumrunner
Posts: 708
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:12 pm
Location: New Mexico USA

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Alchemist75 »

I've noticed the stuff I make leaves me feeling a lot less groggy the next day but then I was never sure if it wasn't simply power of suggestion. Last night my buddy and I got into our cups. He drank sailor Jerry and I drank my gin, nearly killed a 5th actually. He woke up hung over but I didn't....
SOLVE ET COAGULA, ET HABEBIS MAGISTERIUM
User avatar
Still Life
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1545
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:24 pm
Location: Great State Of Missouri

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Still Life »

You figure we're quality motivated and not in it for profit.
Better cuts and (hopefully) unstressed yeast yields a better glass.
It's not in your head (pun), as a lot of us home distill drinkers suffer less.
I find myself enjoying the drink, too, rather than guzzling just to get plowed.
User avatar
Alchemist75
Rumrunner
Posts: 708
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:12 pm
Location: New Mexico USA

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Alchemist75 »

Yeah, when you pump endless hours of blood, sweat and tears into fermenting, running, perfecting cuts you tend to savor each drop. I usually do a nightcap each evening and sip my product slow. I'm it's biggest fan of course. I've gifted my buddy many a 5th of my product which he'll kill in a night and while I appreciate his praises it kills me a little to know that he just slammed the whole thing.....Lotta work went into that buzz man, Lotta work.
SOLVE ET COAGULA, ET HABEBIS MAGISTERIUM
User avatar
Twisted Brick
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3771
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:54 pm
Location: Craigh Na Dun

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Twisted Brick »

Alchemist75 wrote:I've noticed the stuff I make leaves me feeling a lot less groggy the next day but then I was never sure if it wasn't simply power of suggestion. Last night my buddy and I got into our cups. He drank sailor Jerry and I drank my gin, nearly killed a 5th actually. He woke up hung over but I didn't....
I've faithfully executed my quality control protocol on my (first batch of) UJ nightly, pleased at how the product has improved, even in as little as two weeks.

Last weekend, after a number of drinks of my UJ, I walked to a neighbor's, two houses down, where a glass with 3 fingers of Dewar's 12yo was waiting for me. I was stunned at how headsy it was, but soldiered on and finished it up. Sure enough, I awoke the next morning with a pretty decent headache, and I have to attribute it to the heads I drank that I'm sure were not mine.
“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”

- W.C. Fields

My EZ Solder Shotgun
My Steam Rig and Manometer
User avatar
Kareltje
Distiller
Posts: 2176
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:29 pm

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Kareltje »

About the hangovers: there was a story in the newspaper about a father farmacologist and a son doctor (or the other way around) that had invented a pill to cure hangovers. It seems quite a success, but the recipe was a secret and other methods seemd to work too.
Eat a lot of fat before drinking.
Drink a glass of water with every drink.
Eat some sugar before you go to sleep.
The son and father had studied literature, but their findings were not given in the article.

One would say that everyone with enough stamina could find their findings too.
User avatar
Yummyrum
Global moderator
Posts: 7657
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 2:23 am
Location: Fraser Coast QLD Aussie

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Yummyrum »

I think it is a personal thing .Some are reaching for the Panadol after taking a wiff , I'm in the othere camp where it makes no difference to me at all .
Even when I first started home distilling and followed the HBS instructions and only tossed the first 50 mls , I was effectively drinking all the heads and I basically was a tea totaller before ..... still never got a hangover or headache and I really hammered it because it was new and exciting .

Nowererdays , I am more deserning and can taste the chemically heads so I prefer to leave them out .
Just spent nearly two weeks overseas and most of that time was spent drnking duty free and locally made spirits and in quantities that was having those around me dropping like flies . Some of us bounce the next day while others are sick as dogs

Get me drinking beer or white wine to the same extent and I'll tell you another story.
The Baker
Master of Distillation
Posts: 4659
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 4:48 am
Location: Northern Victoria, Australia

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by The Baker »

'I basically was a teetotaller before .....'

Another innocent person corrupted...

Geoff
The Baker
User avatar
Kareltje
Distiller
Posts: 2176
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:29 pm

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by Kareltje »

It is just a matter of training.
Beer makes you pee too much, liqqer makes you drunk too soon, so I prefer wine.
I never have a hangover, although I always drink about 200 ml absolute alcohol. But maybe I think that the way I feel in the morning is normal. :mrgreen:
The Baker
Master of Distillation
Posts: 4659
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 4:48 am
Location: Northern Victoria, Australia

Re: Heads and hangovers

Post by The Baker »

Kareltje wrote:It is just a matter of training.
Beer makes you pee too much, liqqer makes you drunk too soon, so I prefer wine.
I never have a hangover, although I always drink about 200 ml absolute alcohol. But maybe I think that the way I feel in the morning is normal. :mrgreen:
Reminds me of the reason my old boss preferred older women....

'the really young ones giggle, and a bit older they have babies....'

I was impressed because at the time I was uncorrupted....

Geoff
The Baker
Post Reply