Strange beer allergy

I've known about this allergy for a couple years now, but since joining here I realized this community might have some insight into the cause of it. Before I found out about this allergy, I drank all kinds of beers: ales, stouts, lagers, etc, from all different regions. But about two years ago, I was drinking with my wife and went to bed only to wake up with my throat swelling and scratching my whole body. My whole body was covered in hives by the time we got to the ER. It wasn't a terrible allergic reaction (not like peanuts or shellfish for some people), but obviously kind of scary.

The only new food/drink item I'd consumed that night was Kronenburg 1664 so we suspected that beer was the cause.

A few months later, my love for beer overpowering fear of allergic reaction, I tried another new beer, Delirium Tremens which resulted in the same allergic reaction, but this time I realized it early, took some Benadryl and it died down (drunk+Benadryl=sooooo tired).

Now my question is, what do you think is in these beers that I might be allergic to? I've always assumed it was the yeast causing the allergy, but I suppose it could be anything, hops, malt, perhaps a bacteria. Is there a shared ingredient between 1664 and DT?

For now, I've just been avoiding Belgian/French beers of any kind, but if I could narrow it down to certain types of Belgians, I could expand my beer options especially since I've got a few bars around me specializing in Belgians.

You think it might be the 'souring' agent in these types of beers? They use other bacteria than yeast during fermentation and/or aging. Some use Lactobacillus delbrueckii which is a lactose producing bacteria. How do you guys do with dairy? Another thing could be the wood these types of beer are conditioned in. Maybe you have oak allergies? Or, and I doubt this in the case of these types of brews, it could be a wheat allergy. I know people who swear any wheat in the brew makes them break out. (I use carapils anyway instead of wheat for mouthfeel).

Just guessing here but pehaps these are some possibilities...

Dude, when your throat starts to swell from an alergic reaction, thats called anaphalyctic (sp) shock. Its not something I would define as "Not Serious"

Stay away from those kinds of beers or get yourself an Epi-Pen or two. lol

Rather than engaging in specualtion with a bunch of non-medical people, as to what could be causing this....Go see an allergist and get tested. If you are having a major allergic reaction to something, then this is NOT the place to get answers. A doctor is.

Revvy said:

Rather than engaging in specualtion with a bunch of non-medical people, as to what could be causing this....Go see an allergist and get tested. If you are having a major allergic reaction to something, then this is NOT the place to get answers. A doctor is.

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This. Allergies, especially ones that cause this kind of reaction, are not to be taken lightly.

Yep but I wonder how they'll hand testing him with the things from beer......I recall the tests had a few things but can't remember beer yest etc........

Revvy said:

Rather than engaging in specualtion with a bunch of non-medical people, as to what could be causing this....Go see an allergist and get tested. If you are having a major allergic reaction to something, then this is NOT the place to get answers. A doctor is.

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while i agree 100% here, i think the OP is more concerned with trying to find a specific set of possible ingredients that could, in theory, be brought to an allergist. Who better to consult than a bunch of beer recipe creators and cloners?

It's tough to diagnose an allergy with alcoholic beverages because they arent required to have an ingredients list. I'm not sure an allergy specialist would be able to pin it down because of that. If you only get it from Belgian beers, your best bet might just be avoidance of all Belgian, Trappest, and French beers.

The things in my mind that stand out as defining characteristics of Belgian beers: high phenols, high ABV, sometimes wheat, sometimes Brett yeast, and sometimes Pedio yeast. I don't think Rye is a common Belgian ingredient.

The high levels of phenols in Belgian beers makes my nose numb.

I agree, throat swelling is nothing to play with. My wife gets that off of bell peppers. Trust me, it's only going to get worse with repeated exposure.

As much as I love beer & brewing - my one word answer is MARTINI.

Some higher quality Allergists could figure it out for you. Find a home brewing doctor and put him/her on the case.

It's probably the yeast. I know a few people that are allergic to specific yeast strains. I'd go get it checked out at an allergist to be sure.

You can be allergic to beer? Oh great, I'm gonna have nightmares tonight...

sp1365 said:

This. Allergies, especially ones that cause this kind of reaction, are not to be taken lightly.

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+1,000,000,000

fineexampl said:

while i agree 100% here, i think the OP is more concerned with trying to find a specific set of possible ingredients that could, in theory, be brought to an allergist. Who better to consult than a bunch of beer recipe creators and cloners?

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No, more than likely he is being a typical guy and looking at anything else for information, RATHER than going to a doctor...

Honestly there is not too much variation chemically from one type of beer to another, if he can drink most beers, then more than likely it is not an ingredient in the beer.....if it were a yeast allergy, he would get a similar reaction from eating bread. Same if it were a gluten allergy, he would react to bread and just about any type of beer, not just one type....if it were something in sour beers in particular, since lactobasillus and aecetobactor are in the air....he'd breathe and have the same reaction.

Again with Hops, it's not likely that only certain hops in certain beers would trigger him and not others.....

Having worked 25 years in Medical education, I know enough about this stuff to understand the basic of allergies.....and being a brewer I know what's in beer....

Again were talking anaphalactic shock here....not something to be taken lightly. And not something any of us, including me should be the primary source of info......the op needs Doctors, not a bunch of armchair sunday quarterbacks.....and that includes me.....He needs an alergist.

It is weird that both he and his wife had a reaction though. Same allergies? And, yes, get ye to a dr., post haste...

BBKing said:

Dude, when your throat starts to swell from an alergic reaction, thats called anaphalyctic (sp) shock. Its not something I would define as "Not Serious"

Stay away from those kinds of beers or get yourself an Epi-Pen or two. lol

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To address the seriousness of the reaction, it's true that it's an anaphylactic reaction, but it's not anaphylactic shock (just confirmed this with my wife who is a medical student). I don't need an epi-pen at this point, since a Benadryl is enough to halt the reaction. It's true if I have this reaction a few more times, it could get worse, but that's why I don't drink any new Belgian/French beers right now. I'm currently following the advice of the ER doctor who told me not to drink Kronenburg 1664, take a benadryl if I have another reaction, go to an ER if that doesn't help and I could see an allergist if I want. I'm just asking to see if I can't identify the allergen more specifically if I do decide to see an allergist. Perhaps, Revvy is correct in that it's not an ingredient but my motivation is what fineexampl wrote:

fineexampl said:

while i agree 100% here, i think the OP is more concerned with trying to find a specific set of possible ingredients that could, in theory, be brought to an allergist. Who better to consult than a bunch of beer recipe creators and cloners?

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As others have stated, make a doctor's appointment immediately, like first thing Monday. I have a stepson with nut & shellfish allergies, among many others which are less severe. His allergy testing on peanuts is off the charts. You may get lucky with the benadryl one time, but the next could be even more severe, and without an epi pen on hand, it could easily kill you. We've had some bad events, like his dad letting him get candy out of a quarter machine that said skittles and was actually reese's pieces. That was fixed with repetitive vomitting and benadryl.

But, one of the worst reactions he had was to a gold coin chocolate at school which wasn't supposed to contain any nuts. The package didn't mention anything about being produced in a factory which used nuts either, and the doctors at the emergency room even smashed up a few of them and couldn't find any signs of nuts. That's how serious allergies like this are, you just never know how bad the reaction will be, even from a tiny unseen particle.

baah said:

To address the seriousness of the reaction, it's true that it's an anaphylactic reaction, but it's not anaphylactic shock (just confirmed this with my wife who is a medical student). I don't need an epi-pen at this point, since a Benadryl is enough to halt the reaction. It's true if I have this reaction a few more times, it could get worse, but that's why I don't drink any new Belgian/French beers right now. I'm currently following the advice of the ER doctor who told me not to drink Kronenburg 1664, take a benadryl if I have another reaction, go to an ER if that doesn't help and I could see an allergist if I want. I'm just asking to see if I can't identify the allergen more specifically if I do decide to see an allergist. Perhaps, Revvy is correct in that it's not an ingredient but my motivation is what fineexampl wrote:

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An ER doc is not an allergist, and more than likely only a resident to begin with.....His exposure to knowing about allergic reactions was a couple of courses on it during the immuno-micro unit during second year...and a 6-10 week clerkship someplace in 3-4th year which may or may not have dealt with allergies.

Go see an allergist... I sit through plenty of Morbidity and Mortality conferences in my job, and you wouldn't believe the number of ER residents who get b!tch-slapped for making calls like that. Again it is highly un-likely that you could only be allergic to Kronenburgs 1664's and not other beers.

A beer is a beer is a beer, no matter what you may think...the ingredients are going to be the same...unless there's something like peanuts in it and you had an allergy to those, but then it would present itself elsewhere.

I just googled Kronenbourg 1664, and it's just a pale lager, not anything really different from any other pale lagers on this planet, like Budweiser. It doesn't have any magic ingredients that would place it differently for other pale lagers. The adjuncts are not going to be different than the adjuncts in other pale lagers...it's going to be barley, malt, hops, water, and either rice or corn.

If it were me, I would go to an allergist, and I would take a bottle of it with me if I were convinced that it was causing the reaction, which it seems you believe....he can even try to see if you have the reaction to it...and if you don't then he can get to the bottom of what is really causing it. Or if it is, then he can figure out perhaps what specifically can trigger it in that beer...not us...

I too have this crazy beer allergy. Just last night I was drinking beer and before long the room was spinning about 30 minutes later I was violently ill, I'm still feeling off 24 hour later. Damn I'm going to have to give up beer.

I thought it might be best to resurrect this thread as opposed to starting a new one.

As someone mentioned, there seems like no better place to ask a question like this than in a place where people are interested in the details of brewing.

I have a similar strange "allergy". Maybe someone here can put two and two together.

BTW, I do see a rather good University allergist, but the arcane details that are involved in this issue might be outside the realm of what is reasonable for even a good doc to get after.

I used to be able to drink beer with the best of them, but right around 1992 or 1993 I began noticing that I was getting hangovers, which was something I never really had before. Since my normal was a half dozen or more brews a night, I figured I was just getting "old" and needed to moderate the volume but eventually, I noticed that I could get a "hangover" from as little as one or two pints.

Symptoms are very similar to a hangover; severe head ache and resultant nausea, usually after 4-6 hours of consumption. Certainly by the time I wake up the next morning and sometimes the headache will wake me early. Gradually, it became clear that the culprit was, well, beer. Over time I have found that IPA is nearly always safe for me, but most other brews are nearly always NOT.

Wine? Once in a while an odd red or even an occasional white will down me the next day, but for the most part they are safe. I take the risk.

Never been a big fan of whiskeys and ryes, but now, a single one will give me a reaction.

Vodka? Rum? Tequila? Bring 'em. No problem. Yo-ho-ho.

I eat and enjoy everything. The only other thing I ever have an issue with is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). In fact, the reaction I get from that is very similar to the bad reaction from beer. Severe headache and nausea.

So, what is it with the IPA? How is it so consistently different from the other brews? I've had dozens of different IPAs and they are nearly always safe. Once, someone recommended a wheaten beer and it was worse than most.

I ventured into ales and the first one I tried was OK, but subsequent ones could be very bad, so even they aren't near as consistent as the IPA.

Any ideas out there?

GrainMan said:

ISo, what is it with the IPA? How is it so consistently different from the other brews? I've had dozens of different IPAs and they are nearly always safe. Once, someone recommended a wheaten beer and it was worse than most.

I ventured into ales and the first one I tried was OK, but subsequent ones could be very bad, so even they aren't near as consistent as the IPA.

Any ideas out there?

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Nope, an Ipa is simply just like any other ale, except that it has a higher hop amount then other beers. It's really just a pale ale with more hops. It's still water, malt yeast and hops.

It has no more or less of anything thing else really except hops.

Well, maybe the hops or the lupulin is deactivating whatever it is that poisons me. I distinctly remember thinking the one IPA that wasn't good wasn't very hoppy.

Is there any reason to think that there would be less variation in the yeasts used for commercial IPAs?

GrainMan said:

Well, maybe the hops or the lupulin is deactivating whatever it is that poisons me. I distinctly remember thinking the one IPA that wasn't good wasn't very hoppy.

Is there any reason to think that there would be less variation in the yeasts used for commercial IPAs?

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Nope we use pretty much the same yeasts as the comercial guys use AND the same yeasts we use to make ipas, we use to make just about every american and english style ale. I think you're reaching....Like I said, there is really little difference between an ipa and any other ale....except the ibu's of it.

For what it's worth, I have a friend who has the same sort of allergy. American beers; no problem. Any sort of German or Belgian brew and her face gets hives for weeks, painful rashes, etc. Worst reaction seemed to be from Hacker Pschorr. I think that there are just certain yeasts that people are allergic to, since she has no problems drinking an American IPA, etc.

Revvy said:

I think you're reaching....

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Reaching....

Yup. That I am.

For someone who used to gleefully sample any brew presented and who was around to support the rise of microbrewing, this is pretty inconvenient.

Of course......not to say that IPA wouldn't be my first choice, but there are still establishments where you ask for an IPA and the waitress says "What's that?".

overflow said:

I think that there are just certain yeasts that people are allergic to, since she has no problems drinking an American IPA, etc.

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That's sorta where I went with thinking that ales might be different from everything else, but no, didn't find any relief there.

Allergic reactions are very interesting, especially when they develop against something we have consumed for years without a problem.

My father developed a violent reaction to beer about 15 years ago. From the stories I have heard he could drink beer with the best of them. Then, in rapid progression he was unable to drink beer. One sip and he would be violently ill, nausea vomiting, instantly. Through some trial and error we have found that it is a reaction to hops. Possibly your reaction is to specific hop varieties. I know this is a stretch, but its possible.

Anyone ever heard of a reaction to hops?

Just an off the wall guess, but some yeats and sugar reactions in the brewing process can form substances similiar to MSG at least thats what I have read, it might be a place to look at if there are no other ideas. Le me know what you all think?

I echo the "see a professional" like the others. This sounds pretty bad but what if it starts to effect you with every beer??? because that is a very real possibility. Get it under control before it controls you.

Allergies seldom just "go away" and most times get worse. From my EXTREMELY limited knowledge on this matter, I believe that almost all reactions like this are caused by your body falsely attacking the allergen, most likely a protein of some kind. (Yeast is a GOOD place to look) It is not that the protein is bad, in most cases, but your body thinks it is.

So with that, seek real medical advise ASAP. Ya, I hate the pecker checker too but if there was even a remote chance that this would start effecting me from every beer, I would not leave without some answers...

best of luck.

About 12 years ago or so, I started being told by my friends that my face would get really red when I drank beer. Just half a beer, (it doesn't seem to matter what type) and I'll get red across my eyes like a raccoon mask, and my forehead. Over time, I could tell it was happening because my face would feel warm too. It's not really uncomfortable for me, and it doesn't get worse the more I drink, and it goes away after a while. Doesn't happen with wine or spirits, and oddly doesn't seem to happen with the beer I've made so far.

I've always been curious what caused it, but it would have to bother me a lot more before I went to the allergist.

-A

GrainMan said:

Symptoms are very similar to a hangover; severe head ache and resultant nausea, usually after 4-6 hours of consumption. Certainly by the time I wake up the next morning and sometimes the headache will wake me early. Gradually, it became clear that the culprit was, well, beer. Over time I have found that IPA is nearly always safe for me, but most other brews are nearly always NOT.

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Sounds less like an allergy reaction then a migraine instead. Everyone is different as to what sets of the migraine, and what kind of severity they have. Migraines can be related to allergies, as whatever substance you're sensitive to can release histamine, which then dialates blood vessels in the brain. My dad used to get bad migraines from drinking red wines with sulfites. He doesn't anymore, since he's taking blood pressure medication. Do you know if you have high blood pressure? That would be one thing to address, which can help. For me, being in low light might trigger a migraine.

Funny you mention this. After resuming drinking after having our son my wife started randomly getting hives (no diet change), it has taken a while to pin down - but it seems to be commercial lite beer.

It's either a lager issue or I think it is not an ingredient issue but a quantity issue because the BMC she drinks is low alcohol she will have a few vs. homebrew which she will have 2 at the most.

She drank 2 Budweiser American Ales and had 0 issues.

How many (if any) commercial beers have sulfites in them? If I drink wines with sulfites, I get terrible headache & sinus symptoms. No sulfites, no symptoms.

baah said:

I've known about this allergy for a couple years now, but since joining here I realized this community might have some insight into the cause of it. Before I found out about this allergy, I drank all kinds of beers: ales, stouts, lagers, etc, from all different regions. But about two years ago, I was drinking with my wife and went to bed only to wake up with my throat swelling and scratching my whole body. My whole body was covered in hives by the time we got to the ER. It wasn't a terrible allergic reaction (not like peanuts or shellfish for some people), but obviously kind of scary.

The only new food/drink item I'd consumed that night was Kronenburg 1664 so we suspected that beer was the cause.

A few months later, my love for beer overpowering fear of allergic reaction, I tried another new beer, Delirium Tremens which resulted in the same allergic reaction, but this time I realized it early, took some Benadryl and it died down (drunk+Benadryl=sooooo tired).

Now my question is, what do you think is in these beers that I might be allergic to? I've always assumed it was the yeast causing the allergy, but I suppose it could be anything, hops, malt, perhaps a bacteria. Is there a shared ingredient between 1664 and DT?

For now, I've just been avoiding Belgian/French beers of any kind, but if I could narrow it down to certain types of Belgians, I could expand my beer options especially since I've got a few bars around me specializing in Belgians.

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sorry i didnt read the whole thread but someone i know is allergic to brewers yeast aka Saccharomyces cervisiae

ARittner said:

About 12 years ago or so, I started being told by my friends that my face would get really red when I drank beer. Just half a beer, (it doesn't seem to matter what type) and I'll get red across my eyes like a raccoon mask, and my forehead. Over time, I could tell it was happening because my face would feel warm too. It's not really uncomfortable for me, and it doesn't get worse the more I drink, and it goes away after a while. Doesn't happen with wine or spirits, and oddly doesn't seem to happen with the beer I've made so far.

I've always been curious what caused it, but it would have to bother me a lot more before I went to the allergist.

-A

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That sounds like alcohol flush reaction, a lot of Chinese suffer from it, so much so that it's also known as Asian flush.

It's a result of certain peoples inability to metabolise acetaldehyde.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction

step said:

Allergic reactions are very interesting, especially when they develop against something we have consumed for years without a problem.

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I grew up spending all summer and weekends year round with family on the Jersey Shore, eating every type of shellfish you could imagine, mostly fresh-caught by us. At 25, on Christmas Eve, which is the Italian day to eat as much shellfish as you can, I almost died from an anaphylactic reaction. I stopped eating shell fish because it was obvious what caused it, and then confirmed it a few months later after getting tested.

It's wierd, and uncommon, to develop an alergy later in life, but it happens. In my case even more-so: food allergies only affect 2% of adults!

I found this thread on google when I searched for "Delirium Tremens Beer Allergy". I had a really strong allergic reaction to the Delirium Tremens last night (similar to the first poster on this thread). In one of the responses someone mentioned the possibility of an oak allergy, from aging the beer in oak barrels. I do have an allergy to oak and have had allergic reactions to wines aged in oak barrels. Are there beers that are aged in oak, too? I have never had this reaction from a beer before and have enjoyed many other Belgian beers before. Does anyone know about this? Thanks!

Lots of beers have undergone the Oak treatment. You can add oak chips to get the same effect as aging in a barrel. The one I recall was Blind Pig IPA from Russian River. I don't think they still oak it however.

Any way to find out which beers are aged in oak, or have been treated with oak?

I am goign with yesties as well. A co-worker of mineis allergic to all belgian strains.

JoanH said:

Any way to find out which beers are aged in oak, or have been treated with oak?

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I think something like this is going to be at the bottom of the problem. That is why it is so hard to pin down.

JoanH said:

I do have an allergy to oak and have had allergic reactions to wines aged in oak barrels.

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That's interesting. Do you get a reaction from skin contact with unfinished oak? For example, if you lay a piece of raw oak on the inside of your forearm does it raise a welt?