Opinions - How come spirits get you drunk in a different way?

[glade101]

Now I know it will have to do with the % of it but it seems completly diffrent to me.
When I drink vodka I usually wont notice it kick in after Ive had a few it just seems to hit me like drunk stright away,where as with beer while am drinking I start to feel a bit drunk.

With vodka as well if I do feel it startin to kick in I feel completely numb ,I also cant rember fuck all the next day and have lill blackouts also go in my own little world,where as beer just makes you feel mellow and more social sometimes if you drink loads you will be in a state but not as bad as vodka and other spirits.

[Nature Boy]

Well, you've already answered the question. It's all about the %. Large volumes of weak beer vs. small volumes of strong vodka will obviously produce a different onset of intoxication. It's the same with anything: schwag vs. skunk, cut coke vs. straight off the rock, salvia leaves vs. 20x extract etc.

[drab4]

Yep as said above, and also it's worth mentioning that different beverages contain different contaminants/ ingredients, for example tannins, which can sometimes effect the "feel" of the drinking experience

[gunnaknow]

SWIY feels drunk more quickly with beer because it is carbonated. When the carbon dioxide is released in the form of bubbles, they also contain evaporated alcohol gases. As the bubbles pop, the alcohol gases are released, travelling up the pharynx to the nasal membranes, where they are quickly absorbed into the blood stream. This gives SWIY a localised head rush. The gases are also inhaled down the wind pipe where they can be absorbed quickly into the blood stream through the alveoli in the lungs. Champagne bubbles are much smaller and more numerous than those in beer, providing even greater surface area for alcohol gas absorbtion and release. This is why champagne get's SWIY drunk more quickly than any other alcoholic beverage and can produce a notable, localised head rush.

As for the difference between the after effects of different alcoholic beverages, there are several different factors playing a part. Firstly, spirits contain very little water and alcohol is dehydrating. Therefore, drinking undiluted spirits will leave one very dehydrated. One of the main contributors to hangover severity is dehydration. Always drink plenty of water or juice with spirits to counteract this. Secondly, fermentation produces several different alcohols, not just ethanol. These other alcohols, sometimes called fusel oils are more toxic than ethanol and increase the severity of hangovers. Highly purified spirits like vodka contain much less fusel oils than whiskey, brandy and rum. Undistilled beverages like beer, cidar and wine contain not only fusel oils but also methanol, which is another toxic alcohol. However, undistilled beverages contain lower concentrations of fusel oils than spirits, simply because they contain much more water. This lower concentration of both ethanol and fusel oils may cause less overload on the liver and allow it to detoxify the blood more efficiently.

If one wants a night out resulting in less severe hangovers then one should drink highly purified vodka, diluted in something containing water such as fruit juice, soda or plain water. Or one can drink the vodka and water/juice/soda separately. Just so long as one is consuming plenty of water during the night. Lastly, one should eat something salty, both during and after a night out. Consuming salt keeps the body far more hydrated, counteracting the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Even if SWIY drinks plenty of water, the body will not hold onto it if the blood's concentration of salt is low. Higher salt levels decrease the rate at which the kidneys excrete water by increasing osmolality. As someone with diabetes inspidus, SWIY can tell you that on occasions when he is suffering from excessive urination and dehydration, eating or drinking something salty can dramatically improve his symptoms. Drinking water with a pinch of salt in it is the most effective but eating something salty also helps, so try to have a couple of packs of salted peanuts when out drinking and something salty again when SWIY gets home. SWIM hopes that SWIY appreciates all of this advice because it took SWIM a long time to write!

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[Mutil]

Originally Posted by gunnaknow

SWIY feels drunk more quickly with beer because it is carbonated. When the carbon dioxide is released in the form of bubbles, they also contain evaporated alcohol gases. As the bubbles pop, the alcohol gases are released, travelling up the pharynx to the nasal membranes, where they are quickly absorbed into the blood stream. This gives SWIY a localised head rush. The gases are also inhaled down the wind pipe where they can be absorbed quickly into the blood stream through the alveoli in the lungs. Champagne bubbles are much smaller and more numerous than those in beer, providing even greater surface area for alcohol gas absorbtion and release. This is why champagne get's SWIY drunk more quickly than any other alcoholic beverage and can produce a notable, localised head rush.

my friend wants to know if, in theory, he could inhale alcohol gas and become drunk even quicker?

[nibble]

Originally Posted by Mutil

my friend wants to know if, in theory, he could inhale alcohol gas and become drunk even quicker?

Sure it's definitely possible to inhale vaporised ethanol, you can even get special vaporisers for it i think.. Never tried it though. It should be possible to vaporise ethanol easily enough because of its low boiling point....

[Mutil]

Originally Posted by nibble

Sure it's definitely possible to inhale vaporised ethanol, you can even get special vaporisers for it i think.. Never tried it though. It should be possible to vaporise ethanol easily enough because of its low boiling point....

Swim is excited to try this!

[vinylmesh]

Originally Posted by gunnaknow

SWIY feels drunk more quickly with beer because it is carbonated. When the carbon dioxide is released in the form of bubbles, they also contain evaporated alcohol gases. As the bubbles pop, the alcohol gases are released, travelling up the pharynx to the nasal membranes, where they are quickly absorbed into the blood stream. This gives SWIY a localised head rush. The gases are also inhaled down the wind pipe where they can be absorbed quickly into the blood stream through the alveoli in the lungs. Champagne bubbles are much smaller and more numerous than those in beer, providing even greater surface area for alcohol gas absorbtion and release. This is why champagne get's SWIY drunk more quickly than any other alcoholic beverage and can produce a notable, localised head rush.

As for the difference between the after effects of different alcoholic beverages, there are several different factors playing a part. Firstly, spirits contain very little water and alcohol is dehydrating. Therefore, drinking undiluted spirits will leave one very dehydrated. One of the main contributors to hangover severity is dehydration. Always drink plenty of water or juice with spirits to counteract this. Secondly, fermentation produces several different alcohols, not just ethanol. These other alcohols, sometimes called fusel oils are more toxic than ethanol and increase the severity of hangovers. Highly purified spirits like vodka contain much less fusel oils than whiskey, brandy and rum. Undistilled beverages like beer, cidar and wine contain not only fusel oils but also methanol, which is another toxic alcohol. However, undistilled beverages contain lower concentrations of fusel oils than spirits, simply because they contain much more water. This lower concentration of both ethanol and fusel oils may cause less overload on the liver and allow it to detoxify the blood more efficiently.

If one wants a night out resulting in less severe hangovers then one should drink highly purified vodka, diluted in something containing water such as fruit juice, soda or plain water. Or one can drink the vodka and water/juice/soda separately. Just so long as one is consuming plenty of water during the night. Lastly, one should eat something salty, both during and after a night out. Consuming salt keeps the body far more hydrated, counteracting the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Even if SWIY drinks plenty of water, the body will not hold onto it if the blood's concentration of salt is low. Higher salt levels decrease the rate at which the kidneys excrete water by increasing osmolality. As someone with diabetes inspidus, SWIY can tell you that on occasions when he is suffering from excessive urination and dehydration, eating or drinking something salty can dramatically improve his symptoms. Drinking water with a pinch of salt in it is the most effective but eating something salty also helps, so try to have a couple of packs of salted peanuts when out drinking and something salty again when SWIY gets home. SWIM hopes that SWIY appreciates all of this advice because it took SWIM a long time to write!

Finally, it's good to see that at least some people are willing to accept the truth.

I keep ranting about how vodka is so much safer than other drinks and people don't believe me....... and then they wonder why their hangovers are so bad!

Caffeine in the form of energy drinks ( i usually consume 150mg of caffeine on a night out) really heps remove sedating efects of the alcohol.

IMO it is a must!

[geezaman]

Each drink type to get him slightly differently drunk, drinks he has noticed this with so far are vodka, whisky, wine, gin, sake. For SWIM each seems to have a slightly different feel, or mood or atmosphere about it. does anyone else find this?, Swim wonders whether these differences are infact just created by his head.

[gunnaknow]

Each alcoholic beverage is fermented and/or distilled slightly differently. Different crops (fruits, grains, sugars etc) as well as different yeasts and fermentation temperatures, produce slightly different combinations of alcohols. Fruit fermentations tend to produce more methanol than grains or sugar washes for example. Some fermentations produce more of the higher order alcohols (propanol, butanol etc). Each of the alcohols has a slightly different effect in terms of intoxication and psychoactivity, as do their metabolites (aldehydes etc).

Different methods of distillation can further increase the differences between beverages. Different pot still designs alter how much of each alcohol is distilled along with the ethanol. As does the different methods of operation, such as run time, temperature, cutting and blending. Reflux stills, when operated correctly produce almost pure ethanol, with almost no other alcohols present. Making for a very clean taste, smell and intoxication.

However, the mind also plays a role in the effects of different beverages. If the mind expects there to be a difference in the psychoative properties of different beverages then that very belief can alter the experience. This is often refered to as a placebo effect, or a psychosomatic effect. Different flavours, smells and appearances of beverages can cause someone to expect there to also be a difference in the psychoactive experience. This very belief can alter how the brain perceives any oncoming effects.

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[icecreamdude321]

Other drugs that happen to be in your body can play a role too, along with the things you are eating. Like obviously rum and coke will produce a different effect than pure ethanol, because of the caffeine in the coke.

[Ontherooftops]

Its also to be noted that Humulus Lupus, Hops, is mildly psychoactive. To be particular, its a mild sedative. This is likely why beer is more "mellow" than other alchohol.

Try drinking a cheap lager, something that comes in a can. The ethanol in many of these is actually produced from rice, something along the lines of distilled sake, and usually the beer flavor is just that, added flavor.

Now (probably best on another occassion) try drinking a good IPA, preferably a microbrew, and you will be able to distinguish the difference that the hops make.

Certain brews use different strains of hops. Japanese hops is apparently stronger. There's a double IPA sold in BC that is brewed from japanese hops, and the diffrence is certainly apparent.

swigunnaknow's rundown explains some of the finer differences between say, vodka and tequila.

[Metomni]

SWIM finds it odd that different hard liquors of similar strengths get him drunk to different degrees. If he drinks 4 ounces of Vodka, Rum, and Whiskey on seperate nights, he'll be much more drunk off the whiskey than any of the others, and he won't even feel the rum.

[HorseBucket]

Beer contains all sorts of different compounds aswell as alcohol whereas pure vodka only contains water and alcohol. Spirits like Whiskey and Brandy have different effects to vodka because they contain more compounds but obviously contain less than beer.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

The most interesting alcoholic beverages are herbal liqours,ones that were once used as tonics.The most infamous of these being absinthe.But all of them are interesting in their own right.The reason being the various herbs may or may not have psychoactive properties of their own.

[Jatelka]

This thread is about why different spirits get you drunk in different ways (if, indeed, they do)

All off topic posts recommending weird and wonderful concoctions have been deleted. A seperate thread could be started about favourite Liqueurs and reasons why (if desired)

[chinpokomaster]

They hit you harder. I think it's much easier to maintain control if you only lose it gradually (if that makes sense).

[Lobsang]

Even in vodka there are fusel alcohols depending on the grade. In places in Russia you can buy some vodka that is very impure. Actually some low grade cheap vodka in the USA is pretty bad. It can make you sick. And SWIM thinks the high from good and rot gut vodka is quite different.

[HorseBucket]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Even in vodka there are fusel alcohols depending on the grade. In places in Russia you can buy some vodka that is very impure. Actually some low grade cheap vodka in the USA is pretty bad. It can make you sick. And SWIM thinks the high from good and rot gut vodka is quite different.

High quality vodka is usually distilled a good few times then filtered through activated charcoal to filter out as many fusels and high boiling point impurities as possible. Usually results in fairly pure ethanol/water.

All those stories of people drinking moonshine in jail going blind aren't myths, if you drink enough badly made vodka full of fusels and methanol you will go blind

Originally Posted by Orchid_Suspiria

This is explains alot.Swim always wondered why he feels bad and down after drinking most hard liquors but feels a giddy and almost romantic sense of euphoria after a few glasses of wine.

When you think about it wine is actually way more poisonous than vodka despite popular belief. Wine still contains all the methanol and fusels that is filtered out of high quality vodka. Wine contains alot of stuff thats good for you because its made from grapes but it also contains loads of crap you don't wanna be drinking. It would be healthier mixing vodka with grapejuice.

[Lobsang]

Well most vodka is pretty high quality but not all. There is a big difference between Absolut and Popav. But anyway..

This is interesting..

From correspondents in Moscow, Russia, 08:31 AM IST

Hospital wards in some of Russia's most remote locations have been overcrowded for several days as scores of patients, almost exclusively men, have been admitted with cases of severe alcohol poisoning as a result of drinking bootleg vodka.
Hundreds have literally drunk themselves to death with cheap bootleg vodka that has been mixed with deicing liquid or allegedly even insecticide.
Most of the numerous victims taken to hospitals over the past days were almost entirely unemployed, alcohol-dependent men from the provinces.
Authorities in the Twer region northwest of Moscow have for the first time declared a state of emergency following reports of mass cases of alcohol poisoning.
More than 5,000 km east of Moscow, Irkutsk has also announced a state of emergency as doctors have diagnosed more than 600 cases of 'toxic jaundice'.
In the region of Belgorod, on the border to Ukraine, the number of alcohol poisonings rose lately to almost 1,000, with 48 cases proving fatal.
Experts familiar with the scene blame the government's alcohol policy for the wave of poisonings. In July, many small shops that sold alcohol were forced to close because they could not meet the requirements for a tightened licencing.
Unscrupulous merchants took advantage of the loophole and swamped the country with their life-threatening booze, said the daily Nowaya Gazeta, which is viewed as critical of the Russian government.
According to estimates, black market dealers have made a booming business, making a profit of 10 billion rubles ($374 million) over the past months. The alcohol content and price make bootleg vodka attractive.
A litre of self-made vodka with a 70 percent alcohol content costs only 25 rubles.
In the Irkutsk region, cheap vodka is being sold illegally in garages, reported engineer Vladimir Alexandrovitch. 'Taste determines the quality. If it tastes sweet, it is poisonous,' he said.
The excessive alcohol consumption in Russia has had catastrophic consequences not only for individuals but also for the society as a whole.
Last year 42,000 people died of alcohol poisoning. The growing number of alcohol-dependent youths is especially disquieting.
According to estimates, just 10 percent of students who finish school are healthy, a statistic clearly linked to the extensive drinking habits showed.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

This is explains alot.Swim always wondered why he feels bad and down after drinking most hard liquors but feels a giddy and almost romantic sense of euphoria after a few glasses of wine.