The Newest Brewery in Texas - Your Stomach?

NPR recently published a story about a 61 year old man who stumbled into an ER and complained of dizziness. The nurses suspected the man was drunk and gave him a breathalyzer test, which the man failed, clocking in at 0.37. The man was adamant that he hadn't had a beer all day! It happened before, he said. He said it would happen at church and other odd times of the day.

Sure, the nurses said, nudging and winking at each other, figuring he was secretly drinking. But Dr. Justin McCarthy, a gastroenterologist in Lubbock decided to look into the matter, and learned that the man, a homebrewer, had brewers yeast in his intestinal track and when he ate sugary foods, it would ferment and create ethanol. It's called auto-brewery syndrome. It usually occurs after someone takes anti-biotics which wipe out the natural bugs in the gut. The brewers yeast then can grow to create a mini brewery.

Still no word if the man has received TABC label approval.