hydration from beer?

So we went to Zion. It was 95 degrees and sunny. We slogged our way up Moonlight over 2 full full days. We ran out of water a pitch or three from the top having carried 4L/Person/Day. We finally summitted around midnight after having to cut a rope among other shinanegans and are freaking dying but we still have to get down. Severe cottonmouth, dryheaving, cramping etc. I find a stash of 4 old beers hidden in a bush. Should we drink it? I'm not sure if they were 3.2 or not, hell I dont even remember the brand, all I remember seeing was 'lager'.

We ended up leaving them and hazily making the descent, but I sure thought about them the whole way down. Good decision?

I subscribe to this method.

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You were parched, you found beer and you LEFT IT THERE UNTOUCHED? Fool.

I'd have hit it. I've found ancient beers rolling around the bottom of my climbing pack, all warm and beat up after probably a season of being forgotten down there. They tasted alright.

First off, whenever booty beer is found, yes if the circumstances fit... drink it. That being said, beer is mostly water, but the alcohol formed during fermentation inhibits a hormone in our bodies called the anti-diuretic hormone or ADH. This is why you piss so much when you drink, there's no signal telling us to retain water. Most likely if you would have drank it, it would have worsened your condition, added to your symptoms and added new ones that can mimic hypoglycemia, i.e the "two beer buzz". Take it from a Paramedic, avid climber and boater, beer is great but in that situation you need water and to replenish lost electrolytes not alcohol. Hope that helps.

I once found an entire pony keg of Heineken on a backcountry hiking trip with my family. Don't remember much after that.

I would have drank it. The salts in the beer would have likely put an end to the cramps allowing you to actually get down quicker and in less discomfort. This is based on no medical knowledge, though.

Phill T wrote:...We ended up leaving them and hazily making the descent...Good decision?

I'll first say that I am beer's biggest fan and it's extremely rare that I would say having a beer would be a bad idea.

BUT, in this specific situation, I think you made the right decision. First, alcohol is dehydrating. If you're seriously suffering from dehydration, beer is only going to make it worse.

Secondly, it sounds as though you were already in a diminished mental state based on your description. And, beer certainly wouldn't help with that. Maybe the descent is nothing more than a long hike and there's really no risk of being a little more hazy. But, if there were any sections where a minor slip might result in serious injury or worse, I know I'd want to be in as sharp a state of mind as possible.

I would have taken one and been better off.

Assuming they were actually old/abandoned and not someone else's stash . . . I think the morale boost from the surprise not-so-cold cerveza would outweigh any negative effects due to dehydration . . .

Having just graduated HS, during my first trip to the Valley and on my first big wall, Regular NW face of Half Dome, we ran out of food and water around noon on the 2nd day, which happened to be a pretty hot day in June. I was fortunate to catch an orange rind dropped on our belay by the party above us (and devoured it).

We had to bivy for a second night one pitch below the summit on Thank God Ledge because we had forgotten to bring a head lamp and the final 5.7 face pitch wasn't obvious in the dark.

When the three of us topped out on the morning of the third day, we were both famished and dehydrated, but we did have a six pack (can't remember the brand) with us.

We drained the six pack in celebration of our first big wall, scooted down the cables, and staggered all the way down the trail back to the Valley floor.

In retrospect it might have been our first and last big wall...

Maybe not sucking down 2 or 3, but a bit of liquid over the lips would have helped some I'm sure. Agree on the bad effects of alcohol on a starved thirsty body, but I still think maybe 4 oz each would not have been too bad for you at that point.

Woodchuck ATC wrote:Maybe not sucking down 2 or 3, but a bit of liquid over the lips would have helped some I'm sure. Agree on the bad effects of alcohol on a starved thirsty body, but I still think maybe 4 oz each would not have been too bad for you at that point.

You know, that, or have your buddy pee a dark orange colored shower on your parched face. Hey, a little liquid on the lips... Seriously though, it'd really depend on how old I thought the beer was. At least make it rain beer at that point, something to make my drive home more interesting when I get pulled over speeding and I can pull a fast one on the cop convincing him my sleep deprivation is intoxication.

The idea that beer dehydrates you is an urban legend perpetrated by beer haters. I've done big wall climbs where the only fluid we brought was beer and yet I live...I LIVE!

Bad Decision.

Always drink the beer.

Was it unfiltered? yeast will give needed b-vitamins and the Utard beer is sure to hydrate.

You were in Utah. It was probably 3.2. Definitely hydrating.

Joseph and following purists have science on their side.

But the added calories and morale boost would have made the trip to the car a second adventure, AND the story would be told over and over in glory.

I'm sure the trip was a great time anyway!

Steve

According to this study jap.physiology.org/content/… you would have been better off drinking the beer. Even at 4% (the highest percentage alcohol tested) the beer still had the same hydrating power as pure water. However, at 2% or higher the alcohol did slow down the hydrating process.

Apparently beer is better than water.... I saw this in backpacker magazine a little while back:

Backpacker Article

The source article

Glad to hear you made it... that sun is brutal...
When I did it my partner and I were both dry heaving the whole way down the trail running to catch the last darn shuttle of the night so we didn't have to walk the whole way back to the visitor's center.

Note: If anybody else is thinking about doing this route while it's freaking hot, do it at night.

Drink the beer then you would have peed..........Collect the pee.........Drink the pee.
Problem solved.

Science yes, but a bit of handwaving. I have to defend low alcohol content beer wih my own Bill Nye handwaving.

ADH levels change in your body in response to various stimulus. When you get dehydrated your body cranks out a lot of extra adh to retain water as a normal physio reponse to dehydration. If you add a little alcohol some of the Adh gets moped up, but not all of it. Alcohol is a diuretic for sure, but increased urinary output with beer drinking has a modicum of correlation to a large volume of liquid being injested when drinking and subsequently reqiring voiding from your system as part of general homeostasis.

In the short term, the slightly alcoholic utah sports drink probably would have perked you up. It wouldnt be great for your long term needs but it would have gotten you down that paved knee beater trail in better spirits (pun fully intended).

PT