tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60787545981429375062010-01-11T07:23:40.221-08:00Allergic To BoozeOne man's (sometimes painful) attempt to discover whether he is indeed allergic to booze.Allergic Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07944170986821131247noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6078754598142937506.post-4140154738796970742010-01-03T22:06:00.000-08:002010-01-03T22:10:19.646-08:002010-01-03T22:10:19.646-08:00Avec Les Bons Vœux de la Brasserie DupontUhhh, yeah. The title to this post. Yeah, that's the name of the beer. Smart move Rob, for your second post, really grab those readers with an obscure beer and a name that is absurdly long. Let's just refer to it as Bons Vœux. I think that's the safest way to approach writing about this beer. How did I come across such a long-winded, niche-market, specialty-crafted beer? Thank a guy at Whole Foods in an elf cap. Seriously. A guy. In an elf cap. Who apparently is employed by Whole Foods to educate and assist shoppers about their beer purchases. I dig the notion. Kind of like a fancy restaurant but in a grocery store. Anyway, I drank this one a few nights ago and have my assessment.<br />
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</div><div><b>The Beer:</b><br />
Before I got started on this particular beer, I figured I'd prime my liver with a single glass of a home-brewed pale ale a friend cooked up over the holidays. It wasn't half bad. Not particularly noteworthy, but it got my body ready for the intensity that Bons Vœux was sure to deliver.<br />
Being a Belgian beer, Bons Vœux is a blonde top fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle. I'm no brewer, but I can tell you that must mean something special. Fermentation twice in one single beer?!? The Belgians must be crazy. Well, apparently crazy works over there in that wacky part of the world. Because this baby was packing 9.5% alcohol. That's quite a bit, even amongst imported double-fermented beers! A little research (as well as reading a blurb on the back of the bottle) reveals that since 1970, the brewery has been brewing a special beer to give as a new years present to their best clients (the name of this beer “Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont" means "With the best wishes of the brewery Dupont"). But how did it taste? The Bons Vœux is coppery blonde and tastes bitter, fruity and mild. I loved at first, liked at second, and kinda got tired of by the end.<br />
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</div><b>The Buzz:</b><br />
Fancy pants beer aside, how well did it fuck me up? Pretty well! Must have been all that refermentation. I know that it hit me quick and hard. One glass (about half the bottle) and I certainly felt it. And I wanted more. The second glass though, while easily getting me plenty drunk, was much much harder to go down. The fruity bitterness started to wane on my taste buds and I soon felt like this was a hefeweizen. Not only was my head reeling from the intense alcoholic content, but my stomach was barely able to handle the last sip. I wasn't sick by any means, I was just full. And my palate couldn't handle the deep flavors, which in retrospect, says a lot for the beer. Even after thoroughly inebriating my system, it was the flavor of the beer that was really preventing me from finishing the entire bottle. I can't say that that has ever happened with a beer before. That said, I personally prefer the hops to be dialed down a bit. But that's just me, the non-Belgian who can't handle his alcohol anyway.<br />
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<b>The Hangover:</b><br />
Like the Coconut Porter before, this hangover can be separated into two distinct parts. The first (again on 4 hours sleep awoken by hungry dogs), I was quite dehydrated with a slight headache. A little water, a couple pills, and I'm back to sleep without too much trouble. I had no noticeable stomach issues, yet the heavy taste from earlier was still quite potent in my mouth. The second part of the hangover, the more serious part, was barely present. I awoke after another 4 hours of sleep with a little cloudiness in my head, still quite groggy, a slightly stiff, but far from what I'd even consider hungover. It may have taken me a little while to get up and going, but after a shower and coffee I was in tip-top shape, ready to take on the day. By noon there was virtually no physiological evidence that I had been drunk the night before. Could those double-fermenting Belgians be on to something? Is this how they drink and brew so much beer? Has my bizarre allergy been solved? I'm not sure just yet, but this is something that is sure to be watched over the subsequent experiments. If a beer that packs 9.5% alcohol could be something that is drinkable on a school-night, perhaps there is something to the fermentation and hops selection of a country that is responsible for my typical hangover-ailments.<br />
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<b>The Verdict:</b><br />
Not Allergic. For its unique brewing process and seasonal specialty, La Brasserie Dupont's Bons Vœux is a-ok in my book!<br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6078754598142937506-414015473879697074?l=allergictobooze.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Allergic Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07944170986821131247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6078754598142937506.post-47431768992203672652009-12-30T15:14:00.000-08:002009-12-30T15:16:11.702-08:002009-12-30T15:16:11.702-08:00Coconut PorterSo, my first beer I experimented with was a Coconut Porter from Maui Brewing Company. I picked up a 4-pack from a local restaurant supply store here in LA. I figured this was as good a place to start as any. I am a big fan of porters and stouts and this was one I'd never heard of or seen before, so why not give it a try. I drank all 4 within a 2-3hr time while playing Batman: Arkum Asylum for the PS3 (yes, I am that big of a dork).<br />
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</div><b>The Beer:</b><br />
To start, I was a bit surprised to find this craft brew in a 4-pack of cans. That's something that I don't find too often in craft beers. The can states that this is because "cans are lighter, chill quicker, and can be enjoyed on beaches and sensitive environments." That makes sense and coming from Maui, I can see why these aspects are important to the brewery. As far as taste goes, I dug it! It had strong notes of vanilla on top of the aforementioned nutty coconut flavor. It went down smooth and poured easily. I had no trouble throwing back all 4 of these in a night. The one thing that was distinctly different for this porter though, was the lack of a widget (that little ball in cans of Guinness that releases carbonation into the glass as your pour it). I kept expecting a cascading effect similar to that of Guinness or Boddingtons. It didn't have that, but it also didn't need that. Coconut Porter is certainly a beer I'd recommend.<br />
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</div><b>The Buzz:</b><br />
So how drunk did I get off these 4 beers? Well, each can packed 5.7% alcohol. That's slightly more than average, but not extreme enough where I felt a distinct reaction to the first beer. In fact, I felt nothing. That is until I finished the 2nd beer and stood up to go get the 3rd. After just two drinks, the alcohol had mingled and mixed with my blood and had me feeling fine. My gaming skills were not yet impaired though, so I continued to drink down number 3. After 3 beers though, it was time to take a piss and reevaluate whether or not a 4th (and final) beer was necessary. Well, I couldn't very well leave that one beer all alone in the fridge with no friends. And as any good drinker knows...leave no soldiers behind! A 4th beer might not have been needed, but it was appreciated. I was certainly on my way to full-fledged drunkenness after I was done with numero quattro. My gaming skills had perished. Despite thinking I was doing a great job of beating up The Joker's thugs, I kept dying time after time after time. I decided to call it quits on the game and the beer. I'm glad this was a 4-pack. The Coconut Porter went down so smooth that I would've easily finished another one (or possibly two). But that certainly would have been trouble. So, 4 down, happily and fully buzzed, Maui Brewing Company gets the nod for brewing a quality and tasty beer.<br />
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</div><b>The Hangover:</b><br />
<b></b>As with almost all hangovers, this one came in two parts. The first, at 5:30am when my dogs decided to wake me and let me know they could give a shit about my drinking experiments. At this first stage (on about 4 hours sleep), I felt like total shit. Completely dehydrated, pounding headache, crushing heartburn. Curse you Coconut Porter...curse youuuuu! So, I let the dogs out to pee, popped a few Advil, had about half a glass of water, and passed back out for another 4 hours. Part 2 of the hangover was much much better. There was still a subtle headache. Brain cells had certainly died the night before. My stomach was marginally upset. But after a coffee and bowl of cereal, it didn't get any worse, so I assumed that I was in the clear. There was a lingering shakiness throughout the day, but that could easily have been due to the 22.8% total alcoholic content I poured into my body, that certainly wasn't unexpected or severe. I did my best to evaluate throughout the day how the hangover fared. Did it totally fade away? No, not really. But it didn't affect my day-to-day chores and activities. I was aware of the hangover, the fatigue, the cloudiness in my brain, but I wasn't cringing with pain and uncomfort at every turn. I always feel as though driving is a the true test of a hangover. If you can operate a vehicle without problems, the hangover is either gone or insignificant. If you feel like you're in worse shape than you would've been the night before <i>while </i>drinking, then the hangover won. I was driving while hungover and aside from the same cloudiness, had no problems operating a large vehicle. I could drink a 4-pack of this again, although I wouldn't recommend doing so on a work night.<br />
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<b>The Verdict:</b><br />
Not Allergic! Maui Brewing Company's Coconut Porter will get you wasted and taste good while doing so, but it won't cause you an early allergic death.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6078754598142937506-4743176899220367265?l=allergictobooze.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Allergic Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07944170986821131247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6078754598142937506.post-14520374487100047812009-12-24T16:52:00.000-08:002009-12-24T16:52:14.268-08:002009-12-24T16:52:14.268-08:00The ExperimentI suppose that I should start this whole thing off with a bit of an explanation and description of what I'm doing and why.<br />
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So, a brief history about my love and hate of alcohol (specifically beer). Like 90% of the country, I started drinking in high school, then more so in college, and stayed the course in terms of alcohol consumption well after graduation. I'm a relatively healthy, smart guy. I stay in shape, eat pretty decent, and have little medical concerns. Shit, I'm normal as hell! I like beer. I like the taste, the variety, the packaging even. And of course I like the buzz. What I don't like --- the hangover!<br />
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Yet, the thing is, I believe that as I've aged, my hangovers have gotten worse and worse from less and less beer. I never gave it much thought until a couple years ago when my girlfriend (now my wife) pointed out that not only did I look like shit the morning after a night out with the boys, I smelled like shit. Ok, that came out wrong. More specifically, I smelled like beer. Like, I was sweating out the alcohol. She could literally tell what KIND of beer I was drinking just from the odor emanating from my body. Gross, yes. Odd, yes. Normal, I don't think so. On top of looking and smelling bad. I felt like I had been poisoned. The hangovers were so intense that it was like every night out I was channeling Nic Cage in <i>Leaving Las Vegas</i>. And they lasted ALL DAY LONG. What the fuck was going on? Why did my once robust physiology turn on me? In high school, I could go to swim practice the next morning and rock out a 2hr workout without a problem. In college, all I needed was a greasy breakfast and some episodes of Law & Order to get me back on my feet. After graduation, it was half a day of sleeping and then maybe some pizza and pills. Now approaching 30 years old though? I can barely stomach 3 Coors Light without being on my ass all day Sunday.<br />
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So all this got me thinking, am I just becoming a bigger pussy with each year? Or is there something else happening? Why am I sweating out the beer and unable to function when all my friends just suffer the typical "drank too much" hangovers that I was familiar with? Something was afoot.<br />
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Then one day a friend mentioned that I may have developed an allergy to beer. That the hops or yeast or barley used by certain breweries could be poisoning my system. They could be the case for the truly horrendous symptoms I suffered. The more I thought about this, the more it made sense. I could have 4 or 5 large Guinness Stouts and be ok the next morning. But if I had 4 or 5 Bud Lights, KO! I'm out!<br />
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And that brings me to my experiment. I will try to weekly (maybe more, maybe less) submit myself to personal experimentation in an attempt to weed out the beers I am possibly allergic to. There will be rules however:<br />
<b>1) All servings of beer will not exceed 48oz, yet will always be atleast 36oz.</b><br />
<b>2) The beer will be consumed on a moderately full stomach (post meal).</b><br />
<b>3) Beer may NOT be mixed with any other type of alcohol.</b><br />
<b>4) Beer may NOT be mixed with any other type of beer.</b><br />
<b>5) One (1) 12-16oz glass of water may be consumed at the end of the drinking session.</b><br />
Following these rules, I hope to narrow down the type of beer and possibly even the ingredients that cause my unfortunate affliction. I plan to chronicle the hangover and it's potentially lingering effects. Additionally, I will provide a brief review of the beer itself as well as the buzz it provides. In final summation, I'll classify whether or not I am indeed ALLERGIC TO BOOZE!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6078754598142937506-1452037448710004781?l=allergictobooze.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Allergic Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07944170986821131247noreply@blogger.com0