Those suffering from auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) can, in essence, make beer in their bellies without assistance.
From Dionysus to Jesus, turning water into wine has been a hallmark of divinity. For mere mortals, though, achieving a similar feat is the result of a disease, and can become the source of quite a few problems. Just take the case of the Belgian brewery worker, who earlier this week, made global headlines for being acquitted of a drunk driving charge. As it turns out, he wasn’t getting high on the beer he made at work — in fact, he didn’t drink at all. It was a rare case of immaculate intoxication. Those suffering from auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) can, in essence, make beer in their bellies without assistance.
In the case from Belgium, the victim was charged with driving intoxicated several times before he was diagnosed. He did not know that he was taking his work home with him, that the rare combination microbes in his digestive system were doing what so many artisanal beer-makers from Brussels to Bengaluru are constantly striving to: Creating a rare, unique ale. Unfortunately, there is neither commercial advantage nor divine benefit to ABS. Quite the opposite. Getting into the driver’s seat believing you’re sober is more than a little dangerous, and displaying all the symptoms of inebriation will only have loved ones suspect the victim — as was the case in 2019 with a ABS sufferer whose wife recorded him secretly, thinking he had fallen off the wagon.
There are perhaps some lessons to be drawn from the immaculate intoxication. It’s always good to suspend judgement: The drunk stumbling across the street might just be suffering from a disease. And there is always a danger that people will see a person only from the prism of what they do: A brewer may always be suspected of having one too many of his creations.
