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I made a porter a while back (Piccadilly from NG). It was my first homebrew. I noticed when I had 3 or 4 in an evening, that I'd get a headache the next day, something that normally doesn't happen with non-homebrew. It happened a couple times, so might be just coincidence. Also of note in that batch: It fermented a bit warm, and was done really quick (like 2 days, I think). Also, this is hard to describe, but the head seemed a little strange. The bubbles seemed able to collapse, leaving large holes in the head, without the head dropping. As if the foam was more durable than a non-homebrew.

I feel like I should have learned something from the above, but I'm not sure what's real, what's my imagination, and of the stuff that's real, I'm not sure what lesson I should learn to take forward... I'm still a total novice - have I missed some learning moment in the above?

If you fermented too warm, depending on the yeast, there's a good chance it would produce a large amount of fusel alcohols which will most likely give you a headache. I seem to remember an apfelwine and a brown ale that I did a long time ago where that happened. It wasn't pleasant.

Good to know. Thanks. I have a piezo cooler kit coming that I hope will nudge future temps down a bit. Is there a way to detect fusel alcohols (distinctive smell, etc) to confirm?

I don't think so.

Sent from the brew timer.