Hopful Thinking

After sampling some of Wigram’s beers at the 2012 New Zealand Beer Festival I was happy to spy a bottle of their Spruce Beer at New World Victoria Park.

This beer is based on Captain’s Cooks original recipe as first made in Dusky Sound, New Zealand, 1771.

Was this recipe developed by Captain Cook and his men in desperation upon their arrival in New Zealand? With no hops or barley to be found?

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Because it is …

Epic Brewing Company – Larger

Couldn’t agree more…  in fact I warmed up with one before the Beer Fest.  But definitely not a session beer (unless it’s a very, very serious session!)

Anyone try Larger for the first time on Saturday?  Mind blown?

Achievement unlocked – Survived NZ Beer Festival 2012. Just. Having failed to follow my own advice… and wishing I’d noticed the free water stands earlier in the day!

What a great venue the Cloud proved to be for this event. Everyone together in one space, big enough but not too big for the sell-out crowd. I don’t think you could have asked for more. There were still the usual wimps, sticking with their Carlsberg or whatever, but we managed to steer a few of them towards Epic Armageddon or a Brewery Britomart Customs 69. I am sure minds were blown. And the nice security lady I spoke to said that there had really been very little trouble at all. Which is great to hear. You see, we Aucklanders CAN have a successful beer event. Sure it’s no Beervana, but a good event nonetheless. Everyone I ran into seemed to be enjoying themselves, and surely that is “the main thing”.

But now it’s the day after the night before. And it’s looking pretty sombre (not just the Auckland weather). At least drinking proper craft beer, there is none of that steinbomb thumping headache stuff going on (you know what I’m talking about), but I’m still feeling a bit the worse for wear. How to get ship-shape to face the day? Like all adventures, coming out the other side of a hangover requires preparation. The best cure of all is to not drink to excess in the first place, however as we all know, it’s too easy for “one quiet” to turn into something quite different, if you and your mates are of a certain persuasion, and there are just so many delicious craft beers to try. Hell, they ain’t gonna drink themselves, right??

Well, here’s my “Never-Fail” tips for superior hangover management.

1. Preparation
   Before heading out, make sure you have a big glass of water within reach of your sleeping place. If it’s going to be a big one, some panadol might not hurt either.
2. Pre-Loading
   Take a good multivitamin before you go out. Alcohol, or more, your body’s way of processing alcohol, tends to strip you of precious antioxidants and minerals (although beer does contain a good dose of them as well), so you had better have some spares floating around. That, and it makes your pee flouro green! Which is always kind of cool I think.
3. Pace thyself
   The old trick of a water or a soft drink between beers is not a bad idea, especially when venturing into the >;6% categories. It not only slows you down but it keeps you hydrated too. Of course it doesn’t always happen… which brings us to…
4. Homecoming
   You climb out of the cab and mutter something resembling “thanks” at the driver. Things are a bit hazy. Use the bathroom. Find your way to bed and lie down. Reach out for that glass and take a good sip. Dehydration is the main cause for a hangover, so get the jump on it.
5. Hydrate
   Unless you’ve managed to drink yourself into a coma, you’ll probably wake up a few times. Each time you wake up, reach for that water again. Just a sip each time is fine. The more water you can get down before the booze wears off, the better. As well as helping with dehydration, it will help your liver to process the alcohol. At this stage, your liver needs all the help it can get.
6. Headache
   If you just know you’re going to have a thumping headache in the morning, pre-empt it. Pop some Panadol (paracetemol) during the night. That way you won’t even get the headache to begin with! see comments.. Maybe better to wait till morning… Not having a headache will also help with nausea…
7. Breakfast
   If you can stomach some food, get an early breakfast into you once you can drag yourself out of bed. And if you can’t, try anyway. The food helps to settle things down and gives your stomach something to process so that it’s not churning away empty and producing bile, which tends to make one sick, and there is some evidence it helps with hydration, too. Bacon butties have been scientifically proven* to be a superior hangover breakfast, or scrambled eggs, but if you are not one who dines on the swine, and you couldn’t stomach cooking an egg, toast will work too.
   *not really, but it does work wonders. Trust me on this one.
8. Vite up
   Once you’ve eaten something, pop another multivitamin. All that diuresis (increased urine production) will have depleted your body of pretty much anything good. If you’ve been sick, all the more so. Get that good stuff back into you.
9. Gonna Vom
   Still feel like throwing up? If the nausea is really getting to you, go and get it out of your system, but if you can, fight it, it will pass, besides – throwing up this late in the game is not really going to help you. If you do, brush your teeth to get rid of the stomach acid, and make sure you try and drink more water, and eat again as soon as you can.

Now I’m no doctor, but I can verify that these tips have served me very well on the rare occasion that I’ve needed them. So I hope they can help some of our fellow beer enthusiasts as well! Although they may be coming too late for some today…

Now just like politics, beer, and religion – I’m sure everyone has an opinion on this one… So what’s your never-fail hangover cure? Oh yeah, and what’d you think of the Beer Festival!?