stomach issues possibly from first brew

[zpack]

I kegged and carbonated my first homebrew (an extract kit pilsner) and I had 2 Thursday night with no issues but today I had 2 glasses and had to run to the bathroom with diarrhea. I can't be certain it is or isn't my pilsner. I'm having a bunch of people over tomorrow to watch football and frankly, I'm nervous that I will be causing people to run to the bathroom. I sanitized everything that I used, the beer tastes good and looks good, so I'm not sure what the issue could be (if it is the beer.)

 

[TallDan]

Probably not the beer. A lot of people take some "adjustment" to homebrewed beer since there tends to be more live yeast in homebrew than commercial beers. This usually presents itself as gas though, I haven't heard of it causing diarrhea.

I'd blame the wings you had last night.
(Or was that me?)

 

[Rush]

Are you familiar with pouring bottles of beer that are live yeast carbonated? Most commercial beer is force carbonated. However, bottled homebrew is naturally carbonated with yeast and sugar. Naturally carbonated beers have a thin layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle that is supposed to be left behind while pouring. If this yeast is remixed into the beer by pouring, you'll get a cloudier beer with more yeast flavor characteristics. Also, ingesting yeast can lead to gas or upset stomach. If it was the beer, I'd bet this was the cause.

 

[zpack]

Probably not the beer. A lot of people take some "adjustment" to homebrewed beer since there tends to be more live yeast in homebrew than commercial beers. This usually presents itself as gas though, I haven't heard of it causing diarrhea.

I'd blame the wings you had last night.
(Or was that me?)

I believe it's not the beer just needed reassurance before I run out of toilet paper and have 20 angry friends and family members tomorrow.
I got norovirus from a friend's house last year (along with 10 others) and won't eat at his house again, I don't want my beer to be "that guy"

 

[flars]

Are you pouring all the yeast in the bottle? A smooth pour and stopping before the yeast hits the shoulder of the bottle may help. The body will adjust to a heavy dose of vitamin B complexes when all the yeast is poured.

Oops, you're kegging. Let it sit for a few days then draw off a few pints to get rid of the yeast that dropped.

 

[passedpawn]

Very likely the excess yeast. Chill as long as possible in fridge, then pour carefully.

 

[triethylborane]

I believe it's not the beer just needed reassurance before I run out of toilet paper and have 20 angry friends and family members tomorrow.
I got norovirus from a friend's house last year (along with 10 others) and won't eat at his house again, I don't want my beer to be "that guy"

You drank the beer on Thursday and today, but only today did you have diarrhea . . . correlation is weak and that certainly isn't causation. Its far more likely you ate something that didn't jive with your gut, particularly since you had norovirus, which can drastically alter your gut flora.

Very likely the excess yeast. Chill as long as possible in fridge, then pour carefully.

Unlikely. This isn't a systemic yeast proliferation that caused diarrhea today, but not Thursday. To reach that level, OP would have been experiencing symptoms for longer than just a few hours, we are looking at weeks, months for there to be an "excess yeast" issue. Also, we would have at a minimum anecdotal evidence of hefeweizen lovers with massive ass blasting issues.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

If it helps reassure you, over the last 20 years I've had some absolutely nasty homebrews that friends made. I've also made some that didn't turn out well, hell we are all human. But, in the worst of times, I've never suffered, or have known anyone to suffer, gastrointestinal distress from brews gone south.

I have to think that if there was something that sinister going on with your brew, your "episode" would have grown into an explosive #3.

Stay away from taco bell or whatever you ate 6 to 8 hours before your potty rush began.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

stop eating sugar, period, the sugar activated the yeast in your intestines from the home brew and you will likely have excess gas or the runs the first week or so don't serve anything sweet and you'll be fine

 

[triethylborane]

stop eating sugar, period, the sugar activated the yeast in your intestines from the home brew and you will likely have excess gas or the runs the first week or so don't serve anything sweet and you'll be fine

If this were the case, the yeast in @zpack gut flora would also be producing alcohol and he would be chronically intoxicated.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6520589

Plus, sugar is pretty open ended as we are talking about carbohydrates that are metabolized by yeast. So if OP crushed some pasta or oats, the same product metabolized by the yeast, glucose, is provided. Not good advice to tell someone to stop eating sugar unless you are their physician and have their chart.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Not good advice to tell someone to stop eating sugar unless you are their physician and have their chart.

seriously, I don't agree, sugar is the primary reason allot of people have all kinds of health issues

 

[triethylborane]

Not good advice to tell someone to stop eating sugar unless you are their physician and have their chart.

seriously, I don't agree, sugar is the primary reason allot of people have all kinds of health issues

Refined sugar = absolutely unnecessary for a diet

"Sugar" = this includes the spectrum of carbohydrates. Carbs that are catalyzed to glucose are critical; unless an individual is starving or in ketosis, glucose is sole fuel for the brain. And going in to ketogenesis is something not to be taken likely given the impact on blood glucose levels.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I think your getting well beyond the ops issue here, I just posted because you just said "its bad advice", "not cool" to tell people that and I don't agree since I've tested it for many years, Ive been brewing for 30 years and sugar in any form including carbs doesn't go well for people with stomach issues, thats my point

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

It is possible to have too much of a good thing. One of the active ingredients in starsan is a surfactant (soap). If a large amount of starsan made it into your brew, like from suck back or misunderstanding as to how it is intended to be used, it could plausibly cause the runs.

 

[MaryB]

if sugar(carbs) were a problem in beer we would all be screwed because beer contains CARBS!

 

[Lefou]

I'm not givin' up my carbs, beer or bacon without a fight.

 

[yourlastchance89]

Cmon has no one here had the beer ****s before? If one is unused to drinking beer, especially one derived from extract, the more complex sugars unconsumed by yeast may excite intestinal bacteria to a state that would produce brief diarrheal distress. However, I'm not a physician, many other factors could also contribute to this, but speaking from my personal experience drinking beer, I would guess this, and I would guess it will pass.

 

[yourlastchance89]

If you can get your hands on some of this stuff, it works wonders on alleviating beer related digestive issues.

View attachment 1505065703546.jpg

 

[triethylborane]

Cmon has no one here had the beer ****s before?

Alcohol speeds up your metabolism and gastric function, which reduces the time/ability for the colon to absorb water and boom, there it is.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11151864

If one is unused to drinking beer, especially one derived from extract, the more complex sugars unconsumed by yeast may excite intestinal bacteria to a state that would produce brief diarrheal distress.

Yes, there are cases where people report diarrhea and just massive massive gas after consuming sugar alcohols (mannitol) or glycosides like stevia.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I've had the runs a few times after drinking a few pitchers of home brew but i keg my beer and cold crash + try to use coffee filters when siphoning near the bottom of the bucket.

Then i take a few days while force carbing and try to purge any sediment from the bottom.

first thing i suspect is the beer.
but i've been wrong.
I have a cast iron stomach but all the plumbing after that is flexible pool hose. LOL!

Basically every time I go out for lunch at work and get some kind of specialty dish with items i don't normally eat, I end up in the bathroom half the time.

The only thing my home brew does is possibly make the issue worse.


except my hard cider that i put WAY WAY WAY too much concentrated tart cherry juice in.

anything more than a few glasses = riding the thrown half the night. I proved this 3 times (along with put in question my intelligence). To rule anything else out.
Then tried the cherry juice mixed with water and ......the same.

I even tried mixing the tart cider with regular cider.
i still ended up in the bathroom later.
But only one trip. lol!

 

[yourlastchance89]

Alcohol speeds up your metabolism and gastric function, which reduces the time/ability for the colon to absorb water and boom, there it is.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11151864



Yes, there are cases where people report diarrhea and just massive massive gas after consuming sugar alcohols (mannitol) or glycosides like stevia.

You're absolutely right about the alcohol, however I wouldn't think that as likely after a glass of one beer. I don't disagree on what you said on sugar alcohols, but I doubt he's putting those in his beer. Malt sugars on the other hand, especially malt extract, due to the complexity of their sugar content (malt extract is even given as a fiber product), excite intestinal bacteria, and can promote bloating, flatulence, and possibly distressed bowel movements. Everyone on here has probably seen the gassing bubbles in an airlock or blowoff tube, well your gut bacteria do the same thing for any sugars left over post-fermentation and post-digestion up to that point. I'm not even saying any of this is the cause. OP said he had drank two beers days prior with no ill effect. Anything could be the cause and it is probably unlikely it is the beer

 

[soccerdad]

If you run out of tp, have plenty of $1 bills on hand. You can always change somebody fives 1's for a 5 if they are in a tight spot.

 

[Morrey]

Excess yeast trub in your beer can cause bottle bombs AND gut bombs. LOL Yeast can do it.

 

[atoughram]

Why is it that whenever men gather, they almost always talk about their bowel movements?

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Why is it that whenever men gather, they almost always talk about their bowel movements?

It's Guy Code

 

[atoughram]

It's Guy Code

Man Law...

 

[MaryB]

Tmi!!!

i've had the runs a few times after drinking a few pitchers of home brew but i keg my beer and cold crash + try to use coffee filters when siphoning near the bottom of the bucket.

Then i take a few days while force carbing and try to purge any sediment from the bottom.

First thing i suspect is the beer.
But i've been wrong.
I have a cast iron stomach but all the plumbing after that is flexible pool hose. Lol!

Basically every time i go out for lunch at work and get some kind of specialty dish with items i don't normally eat, i end up in the bathroom half the time.

The only thing my home brew does is possibly make the issue worse.


Except my hard cider that i put way way way too much concentrated tart cherry juice in.

Anything more than a few glasses = riding the thrown half the night. I proved this 3 times (along with put in question my intelligence). To rule anything else out.
Then tried the cherry juice mixed with water and ......the same.

I even tried mixing the tart cider with regular cider.
I still ended up in the bathroom later.
But only one trip. Lol!

 

[MaryB]

I really doubt it was the beer unless you drank a 12 pack... then beer squirts could be an issue...

 

[bob1852]

Alcohol speeds up your metabolism and gastric function, which reduces the time/ability for the colon to absorb water and boom, there it is.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11151864



Yes, there are cases where people report diarrhea and just massive massive gas after consuming sugar alcohols (mannitol) or glycosides like stevia.

Yep, it's the oligosaccharides, not yeast.

 

[tektonjp]

Well, I was going to pick on the few responders who kept mentioning bottles and not pouring well, when the OP said that he kegged his beer. But I think they are onto something. The first pour or two out of a keg can be pretty yeasty as the pick up tube pulls up the dregs that have settled. My money in on too much yeast hitting the system from the first pours.

 

[Pkrd]

Yep, it's the oligosaccharides, not yeast.

Like these?

https://www.amazon.com/Albanese-Candy-Sugar-Assorted-5-pound/product-reviews/B00DE4GWWY

 

[SoCal-Doug]

oh sumbitch. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time ordered a bag for some co-workers to enjoy.