Why is draught (draft) beer known to cause more hangovers than bottled beer?

  • 1
    I haven't heard this before. You say it's known; where did you hear that? Or is this based on experience? Either way, could you edit more information into your question? Thanks. – Monica Cellio May 17 '16 at 3:56
  • I changed to canned beer (VB CANS) in australia and have not been sick once.. If i drink tap beer or even some bottled beer i get really crook.. Try cans or "tinnies" as we call them here – user5885 Sep 8 '16 at 20:43

Draft beer does not give you a hangover, headache, or any kind of sickness just because it is a draft beer. If you’ve ever felt sick after drinking draft beer, you either:

  • Had too much
  • Drank from a dirty tap.
  • I would add "Did not drink enough water" – Zoleas May 23 '16 at 14:18
  • I think the 'had too much' part should be removed or add a reason to associate 'had too much' with draft beer. – JimmyJames May 23 '16 at 19:12

Because you end up drinking more of it ;-)

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    yes, there is some truth to that. Draft beer usually comes in pints or larger, as apposed to 12 oz. bottles. So 3 drafts = 4 bottles, but most people count them both as "beers" – jalynn2 Jul 7 '15 at 18:08

Any alcoholic drink will cause a hangouver if you drink too much. Bottled beer and draft beer are basically the same product, they should produce the same hangover. But it's easier to drink too much of draft beer as they are typically served in larger volumes.

The exception are darker beverages (like wine and cognac), they produce worse hangovers because part of their alcohol is in worser forms to your body then ethanol. I am not aware of any beer containing it.

  • Beers do contain othere alcohols, depending on the strain of yeast and fermentation conditions. – fqq Jun 6 '16 at 9:18

Headaches from draft beer could be caused by a sensitivity to tyramine. People with this food and beverage allergy should be aware of the consequences of what happens when consuming foods high in tyramine. HealthLine explains why you may have to say no to draft beer: http://www.healthline.com/health/tyramine-free-diets

  • 3
    That article does not explain why "tap beer" is high in tyramines and bottle beer is moderate. That makes no sense to me because draft beer and bottled beer are made from exactly the same recipe and the only difference is in the container the beer is put into -- in fact a microbrewery will often fill kegs and bottles from the same batch of beer. – jalynn2 May 16 '16 at 20:41

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