Headache with a particular batch

[Setesh]

Has anyone ever had a particular batch of beer that gave you headaches?
I searched through the forum and found a few people who thought particular yeast strains gave them headaches. This batch used WLP002 which I've used before for Milds and ESBs with no problems. I hate to pour the batch out but it's absolutely pointless to drink beer that gives you headaches. I just want to keep it from happening again. Any ideas as to the cause?

Here is the history of the batch:
I've been brewing for about 8 years now. I will usually brew 3 batches on a Saturday when the pipeline starts getting low. I did 3 batches on 4/6/13. An English Mild, a Hefe, and a brown ale. I never get any headaches with my beers, even after 2-3 back to back, but this English Mild gives me a headache even if I only have half a glass. It was fermented alongside the Hefe and brown ale in my Keezer at 62 ambient and left in primary for 3 weeks before Kegging. I put them all on gas on May 11th and have been drinking them since then. I noticed the headache the first time I tried the Mild, but chalked it up to dehydration or some other reason. After a while a pattern formed, have Mild - get headache.

 

[duboman]

Typically it is associated with fusel alcohols that are produced during fermentation. Given enough conditioning time these will subside and you will no longer developers head aches

 

[Setesh]

Typically it is associated with fusel alcohols that are produced during fermentation. Given enough conditioning time these will subside and you will no longer developers head aches

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. But at 62 ambient they shouldn't have got that hot even during high krausen, the strip thermometers on the sides of the glass carboys never got over 66, and this was only a 1040 OG beer. I pitched 4oz of washed yeast slurry from a previous batch so the pitching rate should have been sufficient to avoid stressed yeast. The other two beers done at the same time are fine. I just don't know why I would have had a fusel problem this time and not others.

 

[organ]

Edited.

 

[duboman]

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. But at 62 ambient they shouldn't have got that hot even during high krausen, the strip thermometers on the sides of the glass carboys never got over 66, and this was only a 1040 OG beer. I pitched 4oz of washed yeast slurry from a previous batch so the pitching rate should have been sufficient to avoid stressed yeast. The other two beers done at the same time are fine. I just don't know why I would have had a fusel problem this time and not others.

Stressed yeast can occur from over pitching as well, did you use a calculator for pitch rate, I don't really know why else you would get a headache otherwise from this particular beer.

 

[Gameface]

But yeast are not stressed at high temps. That's not why they produce fusels is it? Yeast just love temps in the 80s.

 

[TwoGunz]

Did you use a different hop variety than is usual for you? I know certain beers make my allergies flair a bit and I associate it with different levels or types of hops.

 

[Setesh]

Stressed yeast can occur from over pitching as well, did you use a calculator for pitch rate, I don't really know why else you would get a headache otherwise from this particular beer.

Yes, I used the mrmalty calculator which is what I normally do. Also, I've been lazy and pored onto an entire cake lots of times with no problems.

 

[Setesh]

But yeast are not stressed at high temps. That's not why they produce fusels is it? Yeast just love temps in the 80s.

From what I've read they will produce more fusels as temperatures increase, but some yeast strains are worse than others.

 

[Setesh]

Typically it is associated with fusel alcohols that are produced during fermentation. Given enough conditioning time these will subside and you will no longer developers head aches

So I should pull the keg and let it warm up to room temp for a month or two and test it again? I would think it would condition a lot faster at 70 than it is at 38.

 

[Setesh]

Did you use a different hop variety than is usual for you? I know certain beers make my allergies flair a bit and I associate it with different levels or types of hops.

Nope, fuggles, which is one of my very favorites.

 

[Gameface]

From what I've read they will produce more fusels as temperatures increase, but some yeast strains are worse than others.

Yeah, I've only experienced fusels when my fermentations have gone hot. I worded my post pretty bad. I meant to say, stress is not what causes yeast to produce fusels, is it? I always thought it was an over-active, hot fermentation.

 

[Setesh]

Yeah, I've only experienced fusels when my fermentations have gone hot. I worded my post pretty bad. I meant to say, stress is not what causes yeast to produce fusels, is it? I always thought it was an over-active, hot fermentation.

That is my understanding too. That stressed yeasts will produce off flavors but high temperatures are what leads to excess fusel production.

 

[Setesh]

I just tried some cold (I normally let it warm up for 10 minutes or so) and I definitely get some hot bite. I can only assume that an over zealous fermentation ramped up my temps and produced more fusels than normal. I need to get a thermowell so I can go off of actual wort temp and not stick on thermometers.
I'll pull this keg and let it age for another month or two and see what that does for it. I really appreciate the replies, I'll let you know what the results are.

 

[PetesBrew]

I think you might have accidentally brewed a batch of Bud!
It's been years but that always gave me a headache.
Letting the batch condition for a while might take care of it, but if not, don't forget to run some boiling through you're keg and clean your lines and tap.

 

[gfinockio]

Hey - newbie here, and I seem to perhaps have the same issue. But two differences - one, my beer does not have a "hotness" or "medicinal" taste - it tastes like a decent Pale Ale, maybe a bit green. Second - I was careful with temperatures during fermentation, and don't see how it could have gotten above 72 degrees. But when I drank the first two bottles, I had a killer headache 20 minutes later that lasted the rest of the night.

The only issue I can think of is that I've only left the bottles for 2 weeks - is this something that might condition out if I leave them another 2-3 weeks?

 

[Homercidal]

Hey - newbie here, and I seem to perhaps have the same issue. But two differences - one, my beer does not have a "hotness" or "medicinal" taste - it tastes like a decent Pale Ale, maybe a bit green. Second - I was careful with temperatures during fermentation, and don't see how it could have gotten above 72 degrees. But when I drank the first two bottles, I had a killer headache 20 minutes later that lasted the rest of the night.

The only issue I can think of is that I've only left the bottles for 2 weeks - is this something that might condition out if I leave them another 2-3 weeks?

Could be a few things. I'd definitely wait a week or two before trying them again, but mostly because they are still young. I doubt any yeast fermented at 72 is going to give a headache from a single bottle. Your *personal* reaction to certain elements in any beer, though, could cause a headache.

I brewed a Belgian Golden Strong Ale couple of years ago and I thought I'd enjoy one this past Friday. After work I sampled a New Belgium Rampant IIPA while working on the Wife's power steering pump replacement. After that I had the BGSA. About halfway through I started to feel a headache coming on.

Being the trooper that I am, I pushed through to finish the whole bottle before bed. Note that both beers were consumed between the hours of 4:30 and past 10:00 (Exact time of bedding is hard to recall).

Saturday I felt like crap. This is normal after a good round of drinking, and I am an admitted lightweight when it comes to ABV.

That said, I don't think most people would have a headache and hangover from 1-12ounce IIPA and 14 ounces of Belgian Golden Strong Ale (about 11% IIRC. It was one of those HBT collaborative brews, like 9-9-99, 10-10-10, etc.) I think I am just one of the unlucky people who are sensitive to the fusels or the alcohol.

In your case I'd recommend trying it again. There could be some other reason you had a headache that day not related to the beer at all.

 

[Setesh]

Homercidal makes a good point. If you were dehydrated for whatever reason that day the impact of alcohol on your system would be greatly increased. Unfortunately my batch of mild gave me a headache every time I tried it. I have since stopped fermenting multiple batches with temp control being managed only by one batch.

What was your OG and how much of what yeast in what form (1 packet of s-04, 1 vial of WLP001, starter of X) did you pitch? What did you use for temp control?

 

[gfinockio]

OG was 1.06
FG was 1.01

I wish I knew exactly what the yeast was - it's a "recipe kit" from the local brew store, but with grain/hops etc all to be boiled yourself. It was a package of yeast, and I created a starter an hour before adding it. I didn't use "temp control", except I had a thermometer in the room it fermented in and kept the temperature in that room below 70 degrees...

 

[gfinockio]

Tried another one last night (so bottled about 3 1/2 weeks now), and didn't seem to get as severe a headache. Certainly don't feel anything the day after either. So I'll try two tonight!

 

[Setesh]

Tried another one last night (so bottled about 3 1/2 weeks now), and didn't seem to get as severe a headache. Certainly don't feel anything the day after either. So I'll try two tonight!

Nice! I do hope it works out for you. Some Phenols will age out of beer, the problem is that it's a very small percentage. From everything I've read/heard if you have them bad enough to notice them you probably can't do anything about them. Sounds like maybe you were just having a bad day though, I hope that is the case

 

[gfinockio]

Just finished my second beer - feel a bit of a headache coming on, but not nearly as bad as the last time. So maybe another week and more will age out?

 

[Setesh]

Just finished my second beer - feel a bit of a headache coming on, but not nearly as bad as the last time. So maybe another week and more will age out?

From what I understand the answer is yes, but not enough to notice. Apparently the amount of phenols that are converted to something else like aldehydes is very small, like ~10%, and the process is slow. You could warm the beer up to accelerate the process but that accelerates all processes, like staling. So if your beer is right on the borderline of a phenol problem then you might get away with aging, but probably not. Bottom line is that if you can reliably drink one without any problems then limit yourself to one a night and enjoy your brew!

 

[gfinockio]

From what I understand the answer is yes, but not enough to notice. Apparently the amount of phenols that are converted to something else like aldehydes is very small, like ~10%, and the process is slow. You could warm the beer up to accelerate the process but that accelerates all processes, like staling. So if your beer is right on the borderline of a phenol problem then you might get away with aging, but probably not. Bottom line is that if you can reliably drink one without any problems then limit yourself to one a night and enjoy your brew!

Limit myself to one a night? How inhumane!

 

[gfinockio]

Another update, for anyone else having the issue - I find now when drinking from this batch that I don't get any headache! So it must have conditioned out...