Answers.Body: <p>It's all nonsense. You get hangovers when you "mix" because if you're "mixing" you are probably drinking more than you realize. To wit, if you have a beer and then a single shot of liquor, most adults are fine - and there will be no difference if you reverse that.</p>
  
  <p>The rules came from people who would have 4 beers, then switch to whiskey, then tequila and wake up with a hangover and decide it was the switching that did it when what really happened was that they had 6-8 drinks.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-04-14T06:54:20.803Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-04-14T06:54:20.803Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Matt R.
Answers.Body: <p>There was a news item about this on the BBC website which contradicts this piece of verse: </p>
  
  <p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47143368" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47143368</a></p>
  
  <p>So it seems to be nonsense.  Too bad.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-02-13T10:55:35.867Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-02-13T10:55:35.867Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rab Morrison
Answers.Body: <p>According to <a href="https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/hangover3.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this link</a>, different types of alcohol have differing amounts and different types of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congener_(beverages)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">congeners</a> (which are one of the primary toxins contributing to a hangover) in them, leading to varying degrees of hangovers. Combining these varying toxins in different ways can lead to different results. Red wine apparently has the highest amount of congeners in it, while clearer liquids tend to have have fewer. </p>
  
  <p>Another thing noted by this article is that carbonated alcoholic beverages (e.g., beer) cause the body to absorb alcohol more quickly; therefore, if you were to consume beer before liquor, your body would have even less time to deal with the alcohol absorption than the other way around. </p>
  
  <p>Other than your reasoning as to the amount of alcohol content drinks contain, this is the only thing I can think of!</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-03-06T22:19:59.580Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-03-06T22:19:59.580Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: ConcernedHobbit
Body: <p>Growing up in Europe we had a saying that said:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>&quot;Bier auf Wein, das laß sein - Wein auf Bier, das rat' ich dir&quot;</p>
  <p>Translation: Beer after wine, leave it be - wine after beer, that I recommend.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>In the US, a similar saying goes like this:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>&quot;Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.&quot;</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>Those two sayings have always perplexed me, as they seem to be contradictory. Visualizing the order of drinks it would look something like this:</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/i96S9.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/i96S9.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>As is apparent, one recommends to drink by increasing alcohol content, the other recommends against it. Intuitively I assume that these sayings recommend best practices to prevent becoming sick (Reality Check: I understand the order of drinks is mostly irrelevant - it's the total amount of alcohol and the speed of consumption that drives whether someone gets sick.)</p>
  <p>So my question: Are there any other reasons for why one would recommend consuming alcoholic drinks in a certain order?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2019-02-12T21:16:50.590Z
Comments.Text: As far as I understand and have experienced the American version, it basically amounts to a meaningless meme and joke. The reason could be as simple as liquor rhyming with sicker.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Cdn_Dev
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2019-06-25T15:45:30.673Z
Comments.Text: I think it's all old wifes tales... but I always got told to just go lighter in colour. (I.e. red wine/porters first and clear spirits last) from experience, however, just don't mix!
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gamora
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2019-06-25T15:47:32.917Z
Comments.Text: Also to add to that, I (UK) was always told: Beer then wine, you'll feel fine, wine then beer, you'll feel queer.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gamora
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-06-16T21:35:41.313Z
Comments.Text: My Aunt Cass used to say, "Never mix, never worry."
Comments.UserDisplayName: Richard
Tags: <drinking>
Title: Contradicting sayings about the order of drinking alcoholic beverages
UserDisplayName: nodapic
ThreadText: # Contradicting sayings about the order of drinking alcoholic beverages
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2019-02-12)
  
  Growing up in Europe we had a saying that said:
  
  > "Bier auf Wein, das laß sein - Wein auf Bier, das rat' ich dir"
  >
  > Translation: Beer after wine, leave it be - wine after beer, that I recommend.
  
  In the US, a similar saying goes like this:
  
  > "Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear."
  
  Those two sayings have always perplexed me, as they seem to be contradictory. Visualizing the order of drinks it would look something like this:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/i96S9.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/i96S9.png)
  
  As is apparent, one recommends to drink by increasing alcohol content, the other recommends against it. Intuitively I assume that these sayings recommend best practices to prevent becoming sick (Reality Check: I understand the order of drinks is mostly irrelevant - it's the total amount of alcohol and the speed of consumption that drives whether someone gets sick.)
  
  So my question: Are there any other reasons for why one would recommend consuming alcoholic drinks in a certain order?
  
  **Tags:** drinking
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: As far as I understand and have experienced the American version, it basically amounts to a meaningless meme and joke. The reason could be as simple as liquor rhyming with sicker.  
  > **username_2**: I think it's all old wifes tales... but I always got told to just go lighter in colour. (I.e. red wine/porters first and clear spirits last) from experience, however, just don't mix!  
  > **username_2**: Also to add to that, I (UK) was always told: Beer then wine, you'll feel fine, wine then beer, you'll feel queer.  
  > **username_3**: My Aunt Cass used to say, "Never mix, never worry."  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2019-03-06. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
  
  According to [this link](https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/hangover3.htm), different types of alcohol have differing amounts and different types of [congeners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congener_(beverages)) (which are one of the primary toxins contributing to a hangover) in them, leading to varying degrees of hangovers. Combining these varying toxins in different ways can lead to different results. Red wine apparently has the highest amount of congeners in it, while clearer liquids tend to have have fewer.
  
  Another thing noted by this article is that carbonated alcoholic beverages (e.g., beer) cause the body to absorb alcohol more quickly; therefore, if you were to consume beer before liquor, your body would have even less time to deal with the alcohol absorption than the other way around.
  
  Other than your reasoning as to the amount of alcohol content drinks contain, this is the only thing I can think of!
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2019-04-14. Score: 4
  
  It's all nonsense. You get hangovers when you "mix" because if you're "mixing" you are probably drinking more than you realize. To wit, if you have a beer and then a single shot of liquor, most adults are fine - and there will be no difference if you reverse that.
  
  The rules came from people who would have 4 beers, then switch to whiskey, then tequila and wake up with a hangover and decide it was the switching that did it when what really happened was that they had 6-8 drinks.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2019-02-13. Score: 2
  
  There was a news item about this on the BBC website which contradicts this piece of verse:
  
  <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47143368>
  
  So it seems to be nonsense. Too bad.
  
  
  ---
  
  