Got some very unhappy news today. Doctor wants me to abstain from alcohol use. I KNOW! I haven’t had any for the last month (OK, almost none) and he again confirmed the request.
I don’t want to get into the whole medical reason here on line. So please don’t ask.
I plan to continue brewing. The tasting part of it will need to be practiced as I have never spit out beer before. I am not sure I can. But I will see how it goes until the orders are changed.
Just curious, does anyone else taste but not drink?
Sorry to hear that, man. I have had some problems with acid reflux in the past and have had to take some time off drinking coffee, and to a lesser extent beer. Abstaining from drinking beer was a little difficult, the coffee was pure torture.
Have you thought of getting into Kombucha, Kefir or some other fermented beverage? That may be a way to scratch the itch without consuming alcohol (or at least minimal, Kombucha is usually in the sub-1% range). Or maybe some other kitchen-related hobby like cheese or breadmaking? When I can’t brew, I still get the itch to create.
Is this permanent or temporary? If it’s just short term, maybe brew some beers that need long aging like sours, barleywines, etc.
That sucks but you’re not alone. Friends drink beer, neighbors appreciate beer, there’s lot’s to be given away. It’s also useful for barter. The process is fun and many of my best friends are brewers so I continue to enjoy the hobby. I’m drinking less beer with lower abv and less hops. Seems to be making a difference. I take my turn as a designated driver too. Perfect excuse to go out with the group, but abstain.
Some thoughts (though these may or may not be helpful since I don’t know the exact situation):
Brew low ABV beers. Some traditional Berliner Weisse recipes can be as low as 2-3%. If you can have low levels of alcohol in a small pour of beer, that’s a decent compromise. Or water down some beers to get the ABV to a tolerable level, like the big guys do to make three-two beer (or whatever they call it in your area)
As others have said, try fermenting kombucha. While it’s fermented, it usually comes in under 1%ABV. There’s lots of options for different flavor combinations.
Soda. Drew Beechum did a spread in a Zymurgy from a year or two ago on making a bunch of soda. The recipes sound insanely delicious. If you’re interested I can go back and find the exact issue.
If the problems is diabetes (or even pre-diabetes), switching to drinking saisons will not help. Alcohol combined with certain oral diabetes drugs and/or insulin can cause one’s blood sugar to swing wildly, possibly resulting in hypoglycemic events that could lead to one landing in a diabetic coma.
Then there is the gluten aspect. If that is the malady, there are gluten free beers.
I as well have developed a physical problem that trends me toward light to no consumption…
I am sure the Doc would prefer zero alcohol intake…I rue the day.
Diabetics can drink; however, they have be more careful than non-diabetics. Diabetics produce little to no insulin (type 1) or have defective insulin response (type 2). Hypoglycemia can be mistaken for intoxication. Alcohol drives one’s blood sugar low. Low blood sugar is what makes one sweat and gives one the shakes during a hangover. People who have a normal functioning pancreas and insulin response can recover from moderate to somewhat heavy drinking. In diabetics, blood sugar can swing between 300+ mg/l and less than 50 mg/l. Normal healthy people maintain blood glucose levels between 80 mg/l and 110 mg/l.
OK. So I guess I was a little overly cautious about posting medical info on line. But we are all friend here.
This all is about me having two bouts of pancreatitis about 9 months apart. It was no fun. Down and out for 5 days. Think the flu without the projectile from both ends but three times the pain. After too many blood draws, CT scans and MRIs, all 4 Dr.s have no clue as to what is causing it.
GI Dr says no alcohol to see if it returns to rule out that as a problem. I tried to assure him that I am a light to moderate drinker (true) and the week before this last one I had only two drinks over a 6 day trip. But he was not swayed.
So that is my story. I have started sampling Kombucha and hope to have a starter culture in a few week.
For what it’s worth, alcohol is so closely tied to pancreatitis that there’s no way any prudent doctor wouldn’t assume that it could be a contributing factor. Don’t take it as a personal judgement; your GI is just doing his job. Pancreatitis is something you don’t want to mess with (as I’m sure you understand by now). I would definitely follow his advice to avoid alcohol until you can get to the bottom of what’s going on. I’ve seen it first hand myself - my mom developed diabetes following some severe pancreatitis because of years of alcoholism.
Enjoy that kombucha. I’ve got my first batch going right now, myself.
I hope everything works out for the best for you. I’ll be sure to toast your health the next time I pour a beer.
Acute and chronic pancreatitis is a very serious problem. The two most common causes are alcohol use and gallstone pancreatitis (due to a obstruction of the biliary tract). Assuming that you don’t have the latter, the most likely reason is alcohol consumption.
Chronic pancreatitis can to lead to diabetes as well as pancreatic cancer among many other problems. The costs of treating chronic pancreatitis can also be very taxing.
You have to make a very important decision about your health. One of the most common things I hear from patients is “I wish I had…”
Believe me I am taking this very serious. I lost my father to pancreatic cancer a few years ago. If I wasn’t I would not have posted the original question.
All my CT and MRI tests did not show any stones or anything. So at least I have that going for me.
But it does suck that the one thing they know can cause an issue is something I like a lot.
Alcoholism is not my issue. I have always been a light (weight) drinker. So no worries there.
I guess my friends will benefit the most out of this. They are going to be getting a lot more stuff to drink.
Plus one for making sodas & water kefir. I had to stop drinking alcohol for a bit last year due to a stomach issue and homemade soda & water kefir were great, especially for taking to parties. Water kefir expresses hops beautifully so that’s a nice beverage to make if you crave something hoppy. Lacto-fermented and ginger bug-fermented sodas are really lovely, too. Water kefir, lacto and ginger bug-fermented sodas can all be encouraged to go sour and are a nice non-alcoholic substitute for sour beers.
I haven’t done it yet but I’m intrigued by brewing non-alcoholic beers. You can brew a regular batch and then convert part of it to a non-alcoholic brew. So you could potentially drink the same beer you’re serving to your buddies without the alcohol. I really need to try this - there are definitely times I crave the aroma & flavor of a beer but don’t want the alcohol.
It sucks to have to give up something you enjoy but maybe you can turn this into an opportunity to explore some other fun ferments.