Why is cheap beer so much better than cheap liquor

Since about 14 I’ve gone ‘up and down’ with alcohol, not in an “I cant stop drinking” way, but I’d just drink maybe 5 times a week every 6 months or so, for a few weeks.

Well, last time I drank, I decided on vodka. Being a couple years ago, I was short on cash and would prefer to save money, to get better drinks at the bar. And drink cheaper stuff at home.

This method worked great for me, until vodka. I’ll drink the shut out of some jim beam, jack, and other cheap whiskeys. But cheap vodka ruined me.

It could have been how easy it was to get down 8-10 drinks, and a light stomach, and no water. But those 8-10 drinks KILLED me for three days, and I’m not an old man by any metric.

Which brings me to, I love cheap beer. Busch/natural light, goes down like water. Cheap IPA’s with horrible reviews on the beer subreddit, I tend to like them. And I literally always wake up feeling well rested.

Can anyone else relate? I’ve written off liquor in general at this point, unless it’s some really decent scotch whiskey whisky or tequila (I know tequila is random but ive always loved the ‘fresh’ quality of the agave)

And even then, I don’t get the good buzz from it as I do beer or wine.

Can anyone relate to getting a completely different feel from beer/wine vs liquor? As corny as it sounds liquor just feels dirtier.

Is this a water issue? If I drank equal drinks of water would the ‘feel’ be different? I want to get back into liquor, but at this point I need good bottles to even drink it, or something 35% like bacardi dark rum.