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Learn The (Alleged) Secret To Drinking All Night Without Getting Drunk
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 26, 2014
Modified Apr 26, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 26, 2014
Modified Apr 26, 2014
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We truly are living in an age of miracles: first we find out that drinking a bottle of wine a day is just dandy. And now, thanks to Esquire and Boston Beer Company chairman Jim Koch, we've found out the secret way to drink beer all night without blacking out on a Citi Bike or, dear god, going full-Michelle Rodriguez. And as it is with Chocolate Babka, it's all about yeast.
Koch, whom you may recognize from the Sam Adams beer commercials, was out drinking with Esquire to talk (and drink) all things beer when he revealed his secret to being able to "drink beer all night long and never get drunk." And that secret is: take "your standard Fleischmann’s dry yeast," mix it in with some yogurt, and eat it up: "One teaspoon per beer, right before you start drinking."
Koch learned the trick from his friend Joseph Owades, a biochemist known as the "godfather of the brewing industry," who helped invent light beers. Koch explains why the yeast works:
You see, what Owades knew was that active dry yeast has an enzyme in it called alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH). Roughly put, ADH is able to break alcohol molecules down into their constituent parts of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Which is the same thing that happens when your body metabolizes alcohol in its liver. Owades realized if you also have that enzyme in your stomach when the alcohol first hits it, the ADH will begin breaking it down before it gets into your bloodstream and, thus, your brain.
“And it will mitigate - not eliminate - but mitigate the effects of alcohol!” Koch told me.
In his final years Owades even patented a product called Prequel, an all-natural pill similarly designed to limit drunkenness. No companies wanted to deal with the potential liabilities of the product, and Owades died in 2005 at the age of 86.
Which means there's a potential million dollar idea just out there, twisting three sheets to the wind. Suffice to say, we will be trying this method out this week to see what comes of it—and if you do as well, let us know how it goes. Best case scenario, it works and you end up spending three times as much money on beer as you originally planned. And worst case scenario, we can all take comfort knowing that we are all already problem drinkers and no amount of yeast can, will, or should change that.
Tagged
alcohol
beer
drinking
jim koch
Joseph Owades
secrets
yeast
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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