# Beer before liquor, never sicker...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 20, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419 "2003-02-20T22:44:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KillerFig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/51bf81/32.png) [@KillerFig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KillerFig)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419/1 "2003-02-20T22:44:51Z")

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I often hear the phrase “Beer before liquor, never sicker; liquor then beer, never fear (or ‘you’re in the clear’)” offered as a piece of advice about avoiding nausea and hangovers following drinking. I’m curious as to whether or not there’s an actual reason for this, or if it’s just a bit of folklore. Is there any actual reason why drinking beer then liquor will make you feel worse than drinking the liquor first? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419/2 "2003-02-20T22:51:11Z")

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I can only speak from my own experience. I think the old folklore is a crock. Alcohol is alcohol.

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**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419/3 "2003-02-20T22:51:22Z")

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Folklore. The true danger is a contest to see who can do the most Irish car bombs at 4am. Don’t do this.

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**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419/4 "2003-02-20T22:57:41Z")

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In my experience it has more to do with over drinking. It is my case that after drinking beer if I then decide to have some whisky I will probably drink too much.

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419/5 "2003-02-20T22:57:43Z")

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There have been other threads about this, and you should search for them. I will summarize:

If you get used to the “pints at a time” pace of beer drinking, and then switch to liquor, you’re going to drink way too much.

If you get used to the sipping pace of liquor, and then switch to beer, you’re going to drink less.

If there’s any other truth to that old saw, no one knows about it.

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**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-before-liquor-never-sicker/156419/6 "2003-02-20T23:03:07Z")

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Well heres basically how it goes, the short version. Liquor can intoxicate you much quicker then beer. Say you’ve been drinking shots all night, then you switch to beer. Beer takes longer to do it’s thing, so you will most likely end up milking that beer, and then decide you’ve had enough.

Now say, you’ve been drinking beer all night, and then you take a shot, theres a good chance that it will push you past feeling nice, and all the way to sick, very quickly.