Excessive...ummmm...gas from a recipe?

[Brian W]

Hey all,

How do I ask this question: have you experienced or had complaints from patrons that a specific beer causes excessive flatulence after being consumed?

Beer and gas go hand-in-hand, but I've gotten a couple comments on a Hefeweizen that I made that make me wonder if this particular beer causes people to break wind a little more than usual.

Recipe was very basic: white wheat malt, Munich 20L, Hallertau Mittelfruh, and White Labs WLP300.

Brian

PS. Follow up question: that recipe has yielded a beer that does not retain a head very long. Any suggestions to fix?

[zbrew2k]

If you served the Hefeweizen cloudy, that is a common "comment". It would seem to me that the yeast causes some disturbance with some people's GI tract. The cure? Don't drink HW if they get gas. Once they get used to it though they won't have the problem anymore. Their intestinal flora will accomodate the new "food".

As for your other problem of head retention, you are too vague in describing the problem to be of much help. Wheat beers usually are quite the opposite in head retention. It could be anything from your bar glass ware washing procedures, your draught system, your bright beer tank, carbonation procedures, an "oil" somewhere in the brewing or serving process, mashing procedures, transfer procedures... etc. Way too much to pinpoint without more info.

Good luck,
B

[Sir Brewsalot]

Excessive gas is a bad thing?

[Mike Eden]

Beano or Gas-X?

[BrianU21]

If I DON'T get gas from drinking a beer I get upset.

[David Quinn]

I was listening to a radio show about gastrointestinal problems the other day. They had all kinds of advice for people constipated, or those that had ulcers and hearburn. When it came to gas, the whole panel of doctors, specialists even, admitted that gas is one of the least understood occurences in the human body. They all agreed though that mainly the problem was bacteria in the colon which fed on sugars or some other undigested thing that was not fully broken down by the upper intestine, causing gas in the lower...

There you have the "I heard it on the radio" update by a non-doctor.