I’ve always heard things like liquor before beer. You’re in the clear and that mixing brown and white can go bad, but why are you not supposed to mix alcohols?
In: Biology
There are a variety of issues, but really its not about the alcohol mixing as much as it is:
– Alcohols are of different potencies and metabolized at a different rate. A shot of 80 proof liqour for example is about one 12 oz 5% beer. But that liqour is part of much less liquid.
So over time, you might not realize how much you’ve downed and if the beers you started with start getting into the bloodstream at the same time as the shots, you’re going to feel it very suddenly.
– Becuase of this, it gets hard to track how much you had and part of responsible drinking is knowing your limits and your pacing. Lets say over a 3 hour hockey game, I tend to have 4 16 oz beers of about 5%, one for pre skate, 1st period, 2nd period, 3rd period. I know how buzzed this gets me and I know I can conduct myself like a human being.
Now lets add a swig from my hip flask of 100 proof rum at the midpount of each beer. I mean, its 4 quick moutfuls. Its LESS than a cup of liquid. Cant be that bad, right?
Except I’ve just about DOUBLED my alcohol intake over the same period. Significantly higher chance of total brain fog. Total brain fog leads to more drinking. Next thing I know i’m horking bad arena dog in a doce bar bathroom.
– The different types of liqours and colors of booze tend to mean different flavors and eventually these dont mix well.
Lets take liqour out of the situation and just focus on beers. Lets say over a night I drink the following
– Bud Light opener – Standard yellow pee beer.
– O’Dells 90 Schilling – Amber ale, chocolate malts, kinda biscuity taste
– Duclaws Sweet Baby Jesus – Chocolate peanut butter stout, dark brown color. Tastes like a Reeses Cup kinda
– Leinenkugels summer shandy – yellowish color, lemony, summer vobe taste
– victory Dirtwolf – Double IPA, paleish color, VERY earthy taste
– Great Divide Yeti – Imperial stout, like liquid dark bread with some caramel, near black in color
– New Holland Dragons Milk – Dark brown stout thats aged in boutbon barrels, I have no idea how to describe the taste.
Think about some of the flavors I’ve just described, and think of eating those flavors: Bitter hops, Reeses Cups, Biscuits, lemon, earthy bread, toffee, caramel, etc.
For some people, this combination of food tastes would lead to a tummy ache. Booze can do the same.
– Sugar – Beers tend to have maltose, which is related to glucose and can spike your blood sugar. Liqours have their own impact, whoch is too scientific for my brain and an ELI5, and they tend to be mixed in sugary combinations (Rum and Coke, Fruit Juices, etc).
When you’re mixing drinks, you can easily begin to spike your blood sugar. The sugar that cant be broken down and absorbed sits in your gut, ferments, becomes gas. That’ll make you feel very sick.
So in the end, its not some specifical chemical reaction, but how micing properties of each begins to hide the damaging effects of large quanities of booze, huge inrushes of sugar, and weird combinations of flavors that dont always end well.
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