# beer yeast in the body? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382 "2002-12-04T06:32:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![polymur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@polymur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polymur)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/1 "2002-12-04T06:32:47Z")
The beer I usually drink (Bridgeport IPA–better than Sierra but cheaper) is a bottle conditioned ale with a layer of yeast on the bottom (see [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147678&highlight=yeast+beer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147678&highlight=yeast+beer) for more information). My question is whether all this yeast in the beer can live through the acidic environment of the stomach and continue on into the rest of the body. I’ve heard that (besides all the known harms of alcohol itself) yeast infections in can be quite troublesome. I gather through google that the sugars in beer can help existing yeast in the body thrive, but nothing about whether the yeast in beer itself can be additive to the effect. Anyone familar with the viability of ingested yeast in the body? ---
**Author:** ![polymur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@polymur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polymur)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/2 "2002-12-04T06:44:02Z")
Oh, one bit of anecdotal evidence … a nurse I know mentioned a case of someone who bought a house with a septic tank that backed up soon after they moved in. According to her, the previous owner drank a lot of beer which in turn kept the bacteria(?) in the tank under control via the yeast in of his urine. Thought it was funny, if not scientific. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/3 "2002-12-04T11:04:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by polymur \* > My question is whether all this yeast in the beer can live through the acidic environment of the stomach and continue on into the rest of the body. I’ve heard that (besides all the known harms of alcohol itself) yeast infections in can be quite troublesome. Beer yeast is not harmful to you. It’s rather the opposite. [Marmite](http://www.worldhealthcare.net/marmite/marmite.html) for instance is made of beer yest. ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/4 "2002-12-04T13:24:12Z")
The yeast in the beer is very dead before you get it. For this you can be very glad. Beer yeast won’t hurt you, exactly. But if you ever get it live, you will damn sure know it. Ask any home brewer what happens when you drink a test beer from a brew before the brew finishes. You will have some very mighty gas and a spectacular case of the trots. Beer yeast dies due to being poisoned by its own waste (the alchohol). If you pull some early while there is any live yeast left at all and neglect to pasturize it, it will fire right back up in your digestive tract. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/5 "2002-12-04T13:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scotth \* > Beer yeast dies due to being poisoned by its own waste (the alchohol). Not altogether true. I once tasted an excellent homemade porter where the brewer had used yeast from Sierra Nevada bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/6 "2002-12-04T14:37:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > Not altogether true. I once tasted an excellent homemade porter where the brewer had used yeast from Sierra Nevada bottles. You can culture yeast from some beer (unpasteurized, obviously; this won’t work with most brews from large commercial breweries), but I think the trick is that the live yeast is present in rather minute quantities in a “finished” beer. The instructions I’d read from culturing yeast from beer seem to indicate that if you get anything live at all out of one, you’ll have to work rather hard at culturing it to grow and reproduce in sufficient quantities to make more beer. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/7 "2002-12-04T14:40:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > \*\*Not altogether true. I once tasted an excellent homemade porter where the brewer had used yeast from Sierra Nevada bottles. \*\* I am a homebrewer as well, not all beers/wines kill their yeast. Most commercially made stuff is pasteurized to kill off any remaining yeast but things like homemade dry ales and or wines can have dormant yeast in them. I have heard you can actually make your own trappist ales by seeding a batch with some ale from the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/8 "2002-12-04T14:44:26Z")
I guess it could very well be that some of the yeast is not dead but has gone dorment. I know that if you still any significant amount of active yeast, it is definitely a problem. You really want to make sure that the bubbler atop the carboy isn’t bubbling **at all**. Really slowly isn’t good enough. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/9 "2002-12-04T15:04:20Z")
The problem with harvesting the yeast sediment (woohoo, I don’t get to participate in hijacks often enough!) in trappist ales is that often the yeast at the bottom is the light, champagne-y yeast they put in to carbonate the ale, not the more robust yeast they use to make the beer. Although it will maintain some elements of trappist ales, you’re better off turning to cultured yeasts from Wyeast or White Labs for the main event, and then using the stuff gleaned from bottles for bottling. Time to turn this hijack around! Or, at least, make a right turn. Anybody ever hear the stories of people whose bodies had acquired intestinal yeasts which converted carbs to alcohol, and they could get drunk on a pasta salad? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-yeast-in-the-body/140382/10 "2002-12-04T17:18:11Z")
I have heard tell of females with recurring yeast infections being told by their doctors to avoid drinking beer. This may be a misconception on the part of the doctors, however. The types of yeast are quite different. BUT [this site](http://alternativehealing.org/yeast_infection.htm) says > [@](#): > > Consuming alcohol increases intestinal permeability. Wine and beer promote candida.