toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
You'll be taking a nap now.
Does cheap vodka give a headache?
- Thread starter tnmike1
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gogofast
Addicted Member
Yep, but wasn't too bad. I'm just an occasional drinker, but found out that drinking ton of water afterwards, I mean really a lot of water, makes it much easier on your head later.
Killer Fox
Super Member
Tito's was the best but I don't drink liquor anymore. Hopefully it's the same.
USMC Spike
Well-Known Member
Cheap or affordable?
Good affordable potato vodka that I like is Monopolowa LINK it used to be priced a buck or two above
the gut wrench low end grain alcohol they call vodka. I've never had gut wrench nor hangover from
it, nor headache.
Headache is usually associated when they dump a bunch of sugar in something to book the
alcohol content when it ferments. I don't think the low end places even distill the stuff,
or filter it.
FYI Potatos are cheap in Austria, the grow lots and have plenty left over for good vodka.
Good affordable potato vodka that I like is Monopolowa LINK it used to be priced a buck or two above
the gut wrench low end grain alcohol they call vodka. I've never had gut wrench nor hangover from
it, nor headache.
Headache is usually associated when they dump a bunch of sugar in something to book the
alcohol content when it ferments. I don't think the low end places even distill the stuff,
or filter it.
FYI Potatos are cheap in Austria, the grow lots and have plenty left over for good vodka.
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
They have to distill it to get anywhere near the alcohol content it's sold at. The highest alcohol that yeast can survive in is about 15% or 30 proof. Aside from liquers and such, liquor is usually 80 to 86 proof or 40-43%. Distillation is the only way to achieve that. And there is no sugar left in the mash when they distill it. They let it completely ferment so as to get the highest yield and not waste sugar. Now, a lot of drinks have a lot of sugar - just look at the mixes or premade drinks in a bottle. Loaded with sugar. Whether that gives anyone a headache, I don't know, but vodka doesn't have any unless it's added afterwards to make a sweet froo-froo drink. Or in the form of tonic water (which was the original topic 
).
I still think it's non-ethanol byproducts in the cheap stuff because they're pushing the yield. Also what causes harsh flavors.
[Edit: Or were you saying that cheap potato stuff in Russia is sometimes not fermented [Edit - correction, not DISTILLED is what I meant]? That would be more of a beer or wine then - analogous to rice made into sake. Interesting. I suppose it could have byproducts as well depending on how carefully they do it. Sugar is sugar as far as fermentation goes, except it's possible some yeasts may make certain byproducts in greater amounts out of certain sugars.
]
).I still think it's non-ethanol byproducts in the cheap stuff because they're pushing the yield. Also what causes harsh flavors.
[Edit: Or were you saying that cheap potato stuff in Russia is sometimes not fermented [Edit - correction, not DISTILLED is what I meant]? That would be more of a beer or wine then - analogous to rice made into sake. Interesting. I suppose it could have byproducts as well depending on how carefully they do it. Sugar is sugar as far as fermentation goes, except it's possible some yeasts may make certain byproducts in greater amounts out of certain sugars.
]
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toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
^^ Good gravy, what's the price tag on THAT? Does it come with the case, so you can just look at it?
I've had that Sobieski, ran across it on a good sale awhile back, I liked it.
I've had that Sobieski, ran across it on a good sale awhile back, I liked it.
At least I got a couple of pointers on decent vodkas to try from this thread. I've only had one at Casa Wildcat and I didn't care for it (Absolut...agreed, it's overrated). I've been getting Pendleton Canadian Whisky and Espolon tequilas (reposado and añejo), and they give me the same experience; cheaper varieties of either whisky or tequila give me headaches, where the better brands usually don't. Absolut was a splitting headache a few times.
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
I wonder if there's any research out there on exactly what causes that. I was once at a chemistry conference and heard a talk on tequila flavor spectrum research. They measured certain flavoring compounds in various tequilas and through a process of multivariate analysis, they could group the various brands into families. So there really is a difference - although vodka has the least amount of that since 1) not much comes through in the distillation other than alcohol, and (this is a big one): 2) it's not aged in charred barrels like bourbon (for example) which adds a lot of stuff. I think it's probably more the distillation process but it's very possible there are different amounts of undesirables there to begin with due to the ingredients, yeast or fermentation.
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One thing about some of the cheaper tequilas is that they may be mixtos, in other words (and in English), they are not pure tequila, but are mixed with something else.
I also heard that in some cases, red wines cause headaches where white wines do not. Strangely I found that to be true in many cases, yet there is one red wine blend we have here that never gives us a problem.
I do get the occasional headache after drinking something (anything, really), but that is probably brought on by something else.
MannyE
Exterminate!
I can't believe no one has mentioned SKYY VODKA. The "inventor" of Skyy vodka is a big drinker and hated the hangovers, which are widely thought to come from a combination of cogeners (impurities) and dehydration as well as a myriad of other factors. He commissioned a distillery (or bought one... not too sure) to distill his vodka so many times using what's called a "column still" that the only ingredient is ethanol.
I tried SKYY out and I have to say that I had way less hangover with Skyy than any other vodka I've tried. AND Also made right in the good ol' US of A.
I tried SKYY out and I have to say that I had way less hangover with Skyy than any other vodka I've tried. AND Also made right in the good ol' US of A.
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Colin86325
Active Member
The column still is used in many industrial applications and can fairly accurately sepa rate various fractions from the distillate that boil at slightly different temperatures. So it's easier to separate the methanol and other undesirables from the ethanol vs a pot still.
When I was in college the kids used to swear by buying cheaper vodka and running it through their Brita charcoal water filter 5x. They claimed it reduced hangovers.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Wheat gluten is removed in the distillation process. Didn't know that and for years I bought my gluten intolerant wife potato vodka. Beer is a different story but that's no problem as she likes hard cider.
savatage1973
Addicted Member
That's because you can't afford to drink enough of that to get a hangover
I sincerely hope you mean ETHANOL--methanol is "wood alcohol" and a few stiff drinks would put you in the hospital, kill you, or cause permanent blindness.
Primary causes of hangovers are fermentation by-products, commonly known as fusel oils, tannins from the skin of red/purple grapes and the oak barrels used for aging, and simple dehydration. Any other botannicals/flavors added post-distillation or during the ageing process are also to blame.
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
I have a friend who has a mild allergy to red wine. One thing it does is give him twitchy muscles. He calls it 'Jimmy leg' haha.
Turns out, red wine has histamines in it. Yeah, the stuff that gives you allergy symptoms that you take antihistamines for. I often sneeze when drinking red, usually somewhere in the second glass. Certainly explains
the headaches.
Most stills are columns, although moonshine or pot stills dont' have much of a column and have very low separation efficiency. A taller column with a higher plate count (that's a calculated factor) will separate compounds with close boiling points more cleanly. If it's packed with beads for greater surface area, even better. The tradeoff is longer processing time and lower yield.
On a humorous yet tragic note: I'm visiting Albuquerque and my brother says you can hardly find the yellow bottles of HEET gas line antifreeze that scavenges water out of your tank. It's mostly methanol and apparently most stores have removed it from their shelves because desperate alcoholics are drinking it.
Turns out, red wine has histamines in it. Yeah, the stuff that gives you allergy symptoms that you take antihistamines for. I often sneeze when drinking red, usually somewhere in the second glass. Certainly explains
the headaches.
Most stills are columns, although moonshine or pot stills dont' have much of a column and have very low separation efficiency. A taller column with a higher plate count (that's a calculated factor) will separate compounds with close boiling points more cleanly. If it's packed with beads for greater surface area, even better. The tradeoff is longer processing time and lower yield.
On a humorous yet tragic note: I'm visiting Albuquerque and my brother says you can hardly find the yellow bottles of HEET gas line antifreeze that scavenges water out of your tank. It's mostly methanol and apparently most stores have removed it from their shelves because desperate alcoholics are drinking it.
