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At first glance, “warmed beer to fight a cold” looks like something a brewery might have cooked up in order to turn a profit during cold & flu season. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a brewery has made a positive health claim about its beer to increase sales.

Take for example Guinness’ advertising slogan from the 1920s “Guinness is Good for You,” which later had to be changed to comply with Irish advertising regulations that prevent adverts from suggesting that alcohol has therapeutic qualities. (Irish advertising authorities also thought it necessary to issue regulation preventing advertisers from suggesting that “the presence or consumption of alcohol can contribute towards sexual success or make the drinker more attractive.”)

A similar legal reaction unfolded in the U.S. after Schlitz began fortifying its beer with vitamin D in 1936, touting that consumption of the beer would lead to “year round vigorous health.” Schlitz was quickly imitated by Auto City Brewing Co. when it started adding vitamins B and G (riboflavin) to its Altweiser Beer in 1937 along with the advertisement that Altweiser “is more refreshing because of the vitamins B and G which it contains… vitamins which are absolutely essential to proper digestion.”¹ In response, the Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) ruled in 1940 that beer labeling could not make mention of vitamins.

And no, it wasn’t just breweries that tried to add to their bottom lines by extolling the alleged healing powers of hooch. Indeed, doctors commonly used to write prescriptions for “medicinal alcohol” to treat a number of aliments during U.S. Prohibition. Perhaps the most famous instance of all involved Sir Winston Churchill who was given an unlimited prescription for booze in 1931 for “post accident convalescence” after Churchill was struck by a car after exiting a cab in New York City.

Financial motives aside, the question remains: is there any truth to the old German folk remedy that claims a warmed beer can aid against the common cold? As it turns out, the answer appears to be yes, at least according to some modern-day science.

Of course beer is not going to cure a cold (there is no current cure), but it appears beer may help with cold prevention and assist in recovery.

The following are a few possible ways in which science has suggested that beer, warmed or otherwise, might aid against a cold:

1. Alcohol as a Pain Reliever, Pleasure Producer and Sleep Aid

Proper beer contains alcohol, and alcohol has been scientifically shown to increase tolerance to pain, release endorphins which promote feelings of well-being, and decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, although it can reduce the quality of sleep. Nevertheless, sleep helps both to prevent a cold and aid in recovery.

So is this why NyQuil contains 10% alcohol-by-volume? Maybe, but the official corporate line according to Procter & Gamble is that alcohol is used only as a solvent to keep the active ingredients in NyQuil in solution.

2. Hot Beverages Provide Relieve from Cold and Flu Symptoms

According to a 2008 study done by the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University, scientists found that a “hot drink provided immediate and sustained relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness, whereas the same drink at room temperature only provided relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough and sneezing.”

While this study was conducted using a hot fruit drink (not beer), it nevertheless lends strong support to the idea that a warm beverage, beer or otherwise, would confer the same kind of cold symptom relieving effects.

3. Hops as a Sleep Aid

A Spanish study from 2012 confirmed the sedative properties of hops, while a subsequent study showed that women who drank one bottle (330 ml/11.16 oz) of non-alcoholic beer that contained hops per night had improved sleep quality and reduced levels of anxiety.

And according to a 2015 U.S. study, sleep turned out to be the single most important factor in preventing colds, more so than age, stress levels, race, education or income. People who sleep six hours a night or less are four times more likely to catch a cold when exposed to the virus, compared to those who sleep more than seven hours a night.

Short story shorter: hops improve sleep, and sleep helps prevent colds.

4. Beer Often Contains Helpful Vitamins

Yes, the chemical compound “humulone” found in hops has virus-fighting properties according to a 2012 Japanese study, but you’d need to down about 30 twelve-ounce beers to get the associated antivirus benefits. Don’t do that. (Of course that’s still better than the roughly 80 glasses of red wine needed to get the recommend daily 40 mg of resveratrol.)

That said, just one beer may provide up to 12.5% of the recommended daily dose of B6. Vitamin B6 is a metabolism enhancer that helps to unlock and better utilize the energy and nutrients in food. That’s an extra energy and nutrient boost that can be used in the battle of You-vs-Cold. B6 in beer is derived from the yeast used to make the beer, which means unfiltered beers or bottle-conditioned beers will have the highest amount of vitamin B6, whereas filtered beers will have the lowest amount if any.

5. Beer and Alcohol as Immune System Boosters

A German study involving athletes showed that the risk of catching a cold was reduced by 33% after drinking alcohol-free wheat beer. Meanwhile, two other studies found that moderate alcohol consumption boosts the immune system.

As it turns out, science has shown that moderate consumption of alcohol is effective in preventing the common cold, but in the interest of fair reporting, there are a couple potential draw-backs of alcohol to keep in mind.

A) If taking any medication that recommends against the use of alcohol, it’s reasonable to follow that advice.
B) Alcohol is a diuretic which means it has a dehydrating effect by way of increasing the amount of urine produced in the body by about 160% in the case of beer. Translation: for every 12 ounces of beer you drink at 5% ABV, you expel about 19 ounces of water for a net loss of 7 ounces of water.

Staying hydrated is important particularly when fighting a cold because water helps to transport cold-fighting nutrients throughout the body, although watch how much water you consume as science seems to suggest that drinking excess water won’t help beat a cold.

So why not just drink an additional 7 ounces of water per beer to make up for the loss?

Clever idea. There’s just one catch: the body only hangs on to about 33-50% of the extra water you drink. If you’re thinking just drink a little more water, we really like the way you think, you problem-solver, you. Something like 14-21 ounces of water per beer sound about right?

Will “Warmed Beer to Fight a Cold” Become a Thing Again?

Only time will tell. Meanwhile, it turns out there might have just been something to that old German home remedy of warmed beer to ward off a cold after all.

Auf dein Wohl! (To your well-being!)

[Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this article is to be considered medical advice. In fact, we’re a little weary of medical-related stuff in general, seeing as how medical errors are now the third leading cause of death at least in the U.S. In other words, good luck!]

[expand title=”References: (Click to Expand)“]

1. Anderson, Will. From beer to eternity: everything you always wanted to know about beer (pp. 93). S. Greene Press, 1987.
2. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland, 6th Edition, Chap. One, Article 7.4(c)
3. Driscoll, David B. “Schlitz ‘Sunshine Vitamin D Beer Can’.” Wisconsin Historical Society. N.p., 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2017.
4. Gambino, Megan. “During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 7 Oct. 2013
5. Churchill, Winston S. An archive of correspondence between Winston S. Churchill and Dr. Otto C. Pickhardt, the treating physician after Churchill’s New York City traffic accident, December 1931 – April 1963.
6. (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. “How Germans Fight Colds | All Media Content | DW | 02.01.2015.” DW.COM, www.dw.com/en/how-germans-fight-colds/g-18133946.
7. Woodrow, Kenneth M., and Lorne G. Eltherington. “Feeling No Pain: Alcohol as an Analgesic.” Pain, vol. 32, no. 2, 1988, pp. 159–163., doi:10.1016/0304-3959(88)90064-4.
8. Trevor Thompson, et al. “Systematic Review: Alcohol Has Analgesic Effects.” Alcohol Other Drugs and Health Current Evidence Systematic Review Alcohol Has Analgesic Effects Comments, May 2017, www.bu.edu/aodhealth/2017/04/27/systematic-review-alcohol-has-analgesic-effects/.
9. Raymond, Joan. “Study Explains the Science behind Your Beer Buzz.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 11 Jan. 2012, bodyodd.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/01/11/10120223-study-explains-the-science-behind-your-beer-buzz?lite.
10. Ebrahim, Irshaad O., et al. “Alcohol and Sleep I: Effects on Normal Sleep.” Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 24 Jan. 2013, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.12006/full.
11. Justo, Patrick Di. “What’s Inside: NyQuil, Fortified With Powerful Narcotics!” Wired, Conde Nast, 4 June 2017, www.wired.com/2007/10/st-nyquil/.
12. Sanu, A, and R Eccles. “The Effects of a Hot Drink on Nasal Airflow and Symptoms of Common Cold and Flu.” Rhinology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2008, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19145994.
13. Franco, L, et al. “The Sedative Effects of Hops (Humulus Lupulus), a Component of Beer, on the Activity/Rest Rhythm.” Acta Physiologica Hungarica., U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22849837.
14. Franco, Lourdes, et al. “The Sedative Effect of Non-Alcoholic Beer in Healthy Female Nurses.” PLoS ONE, Public Library of Science, 18 July 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3399866/.
15. Prather, A A, et al. “Behaviorally Assessed Sleep and Susceptibility to the Common Cold.” Sleep., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Sept. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26118561.
16. Mosbergen, Dominique. “Beer May Have Anti-Virus Properties, According To Study Funded By Sapporo Breweries (VIDEO).” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/beer-has-anti-virus-properties-study-sapporo_n_2258735.html.
17. Pitot, Henry. “Resveratrol Recommended Dosage.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 3 Oct. 2017, www.livestrong.com/article/443759-resveratrol-recommended-dosage/.
18. Scutti, Susan. “4 Health Benefits Of Beer Drinking: Antioxidants, B-Vitamin, And Protein Are There… But Don’t Overdo It.” Medical Daily, 1 Oct. 2013, www.medicaldaily.com/4-health-benefits-beer-drinking-antioxidants-b-vitamin-and-protein-are-there-dont-overdo-it-258658.
19. “Can You Live off of the Vitamins and Protein in Beer?” Healthy Eating | SF Gate, healthyeating.sfgate.com/can-live-off-vitamins-protein-beer-4960.html.
20. “Studienergebnisse.” Home, www.bemagic-studie.de/studienergebnisse.
21. Ohsunews. “Study: Moderate Alcohol Consumption Boosts Body’s Immune System.” EurekAlert!, 17 Dec. 2013, www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/ohs-sma121713.php.
22. Cohen, S, et al. “Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, and Susceptibility to the Common Cold.” American Journal of Public Health., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 1993, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8363004.
23. Kruszelnicki, Karl S. “Why Does Drinking Alcohol Cause Dehydration?” ABC – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 28 Feb. 2012, www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/02/28/3441707.htm.
24. O’connor, Anahad. “The Claim: Drink Plenty of Fluids to Beat a Cold.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Jan. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/health/11really.html.
[/expand]

Hi, I’m Dan: Beer Editor for BeerSyndicate.com, Beer and Drinking Writer, Award-Winning Brewer, BJCP Beer Judge, Beer Reviewer, American Homebrewers Association Member, Shameless Beer Promoter, and Beer Traveler.

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Beer Floaties, Floaters & Snowflakes, Oh My!

By Daniel J. Leonard

On October 10, 2017

In Beer Related

If you’ve never seen “floaties” in bottled beer, that’s typically a good thing.

[Floaties in Seven-Year-Old Witbier.]

What are “beer floaties”?
Floaties (also known as floaters or “snowflakes”) are small chunks of coagulated protein that have fallen out of the solution of the liquid beer as a result of aging, and are often (but not always) darker in color in darker colored beers.

[Floaties in Five-Year-Old Flanders Red.]

Floaties can develop and become noticeable in as little as two years depending on the
particular beer style and storage conditions (floaties may appear sooner in beer that is
not refrigerated).

To be clear, floaties are not the same thing as yeast sediment which is normal in bottle-conditioned beers of any age. Yeast tends to be smooth and dense and gives beer a cloudy hazy appearance when aggressively disturbed as when rolling a bottle of bottle-conditioned Hefeweizen or swirling the bottle during the pour.

[Foaties in Yeast.]

Floaties, on the other hand, are approximately bread crumb-sized clumps of protein and if present are easily disturbed like the white particles (“snowflakes”) inside a snow globe. Even some beers that are appropriate for aging like Gueuze and Flanders Red may likely develop floaties over time.

Floaties don’t taste like much of anything (bland grain mush/soggy white bread crumb), but if serving an aged beer with floaties, the floaties can sometimes be left behind in the bottle if poured carefully.

When purchasing beer, remember that floaties are a sign of aged beer, and if floaties are visible when held to the light in a bottled beer that is not intended for aging, the beer should probably be avoided, especially if the beer is beyond a year of the bottling date, or if there is no bottling date at all.

That said, some fresh unfiltered IPAs (particularly dry-hopped versions) may contain elevated levels of “chill haze particles” due to increased polyphenols from the hops that bond to malt-derived protein and beta glucan, which can be exacerbated if the beer is not properly “cold crashed” or chilled prior to filtration. Such special cases are separate from age-related floaties that appear in beers that have been sitting on the shelves beyond their best-by date.

To be clear, it’s highly unlikely that old beer causes any sort of health risk to humans, but most beer is beyond its prime after a year, and even less for most hop-forward styles of beer. Again, if no packaging date or “best by” date is present on a beer that contains floaties and was not intended for aging like some sour beers and high ABV brews, it is best to avoid purchasing that beer as a general rule of thumb.

[Floaties in Imperial Pilsner.]

Lastly, just because a beer is old does not mean it will contain floaties. For example, no floaties were visible in a 12-year-old bottle of bottle-conditioned lager.

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The Philosophy of Ordering Beer

By Daniel J. Leonard

On October 6, 2017

In Beer Inspired Thoughts

You can tell a lot about the philosophy of a person by how that person orders a beer.

Find out which philosophy best speaks to you in:

Beer Syndicate’s Guide to…

The Philosophy of Ordering Beer

Fatalist: “It’s a logical or conceptual truth that we are powerless to do anything other than what we actually do. Accordingly, it really doesn’t matter what I order, you’ll just end up bringing me the exact beer I was fated to have anyways.”

Fatalism

Empiricist: “Knowledge comes only from testing things with the senses, so the only way I’ll know which beer I’ll like is by experiencing each one personally. It’s best then that I order a sample of everything.”

Utilitarian: “I’ll choose the beer that leads to the most happiness for the greatest number of people. First, I just need to assign a precise and impartial ‘happiness value’ to each beer that I might choose and then somehow predict whether the consequences of choosing that particular beer will yield the most collective happiness, assuming there is such a thing as a ‘collective happiness’. You might want to come back to me… this may take a while.”

Platonist: “Every object or quality (like a cat or softness) in the world is merely a representation or copy of a perfect, unchanging, ideal Form that exists outside of space and time. Therefore, I’ll have a pint of whatever you have on tap that best represents the ideal ‘Form of beer’.”

Absurdist: “Humans live with the conflicting absurdity of trying to find the meaning of our existence in a meaningless universe. As such, there are only three solutions to resolve this problem: (1) suicide, (2) belief in religion, or (3) embracing the Absurd while defiantly searching for our own individual meaning. I’m not in the mood for suicide or religion, so just bring me whichever beer you think might be the meaning of life. No pressure.”

Absurdism

Relativist: “There is no such thing as objective knowledge, truth, morality or taste. Therefore, feel free to pour me a pint of any kind of beer as they are all relatively good according to some framework or another!”

Phenomenalist: “Physical objects do not exist in and of themselves, but are actually only logical constructions derived from perceptual properties (such as “hardness” and “roundness”) within space-time. This means that reference to any object is fundamentally a reference to some sense-experience, as we cannot sense anything beyond the phenomenon of our experience. Based on this, I’ll have a pint of medium bitterness, wetness, coldness, brownness, semi-sweetness, with about 10% alcohol-ness.”

Marxist: “Under capitalism, commodities are produced so that they can be exchanged for profit instead of being produced based on what is needed by society. Wage-workers are viewed as mere instruments, valued only for their labor and exploited for their ability to generate profit for their capitalist employer, which ultimately alienates the worker from their humanity and individuality. The workforce will only regain its freedom and humanity when the means of production are commonly owned by everyone, money no longer exists, and no profit is made. In order to help with this transition, I’ll just go ahead and pour myself a pint, free of charge.”

Kantian: “Act as if the maxims of your action were to become a universal law of nature through your will, and that these maxims do not result in logical contradictions when we attempt to universalize them. Personally, I’d prefer a rare barrel-aged sour beer, but if I made it a universal law that all people ought to order a rare barrel-aged sour, then not everyone would be able to have it due to scarcity, thus resulting in a logical contradiction. I ought not do that. Instead, it seems I’m duty-bound to order whichever cheap mass-produced beer you have so that other people in the world would also be able to order it.”

Spinozist: “The universe is ‘God’, and ‘God’ is the universe, and everything exists within the universe. Extension is an attribute of God, and all material objects are simply modes of Extension. Consequently, I will have a pint of God, extended in the mode of a Pilsner, of course.”

Spinoza

Hi, I’m Dan: Co-Founder and Beer Editor for BeerSyndicate.com, Beer and Drinking Writer, BJCP Beer Judge, Gold Medal-Winning Homebrewer, Beer Reviewer, AHA Member, Beer Traveler, and Shameless Beer Promoter.

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Warmed Beer: The Science Behind an Old German Remedy for the Common Cold

The Philosophy of Ordering Beer

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