Hello all!

[BrewFromAfar]

My name is Andy, and I’m excited to join this wonderful brewing community. I hail from Illinois, USA, and I’m a complete newbie when it comes to brewing.

I'm primarily interested in wheat beers (I'm allergic to hops), meads, wines and ciders.

 

[corkybstewart]

My name is Andy, and I’m excited to join this wonderful brewing community. I hail from Illinois, USA, and I’m a complete newbie when it comes to brewing.

I'm primarily interested in wheat beers (I'm allergic to hops), meads, wines and ciders.

It sucks to be allergic to hops. Keep in mind almost all drinks classified as beer will contain some hops, even wheat beer. You'll be better off sticking to meads, cider, and wine. Is your allergy to a certain component of hops or just hops in general?

 

[BrewFromAfar]

I'm not really sure. I need to look into the hops issue a little more. I truly hope it was a fluke reaction, as sometimes my allergies make me cross react with other things.

I think the problem happens when the hops are added early, because I have been ok with 'gently hopped' German beers. It's something I plan to test.

I'm good with ciders, meads and wines, so I know it's not the alcohol, and I've brewed a barley beer, where in I just used barley malt to make sure it wasn't the barley.

 

[corkybstewart]

I understand the issues with food allergies, in my late 50's/early 60s I suddenly became allergic to several of my favorite foods, but there are still questions. Sometimes I can nibble a piece of peach pie by accident without dying, a couple of weeks ago I had a bite of salad with slivered almonds that made my throat tickle but didn't shut me down. So I have been curious if I'm allergic to the raw foods more than cooked , but I'm not brave enough to truly test that theory.
In most beers the hops required for turning the syrup into a slightly bitter, palatable drink are boiled 60 minutes, sometimes longer. My wheat beers have 60 minute hops, but I use very little if any later hop additions, which would obviously be boiled a much shorter time. My point is that maybe you have it backwards-longer boiling removes or neutralizes the allergen.

 

[BrewFromAfar]

I've never thought on the boiling times before, but it could have something to do with it. When I make a beer next, (getting a kit for a honey ale) I'll make note of the hops and boiling.

My allergy problem hit me out of the blue when I was 35, at 41 me and the allergist are still trying to figure out what's going on.

I do know that some foods, I can't eat raw because of allergies, mainly vegitables, most notably tomatoes. Soy is a big problem for me, as is milk, but oddly enough not heavy whipping cream.

The doc also ended up running tests on me for nutrient deficiencies, and it turned out I was low in omegas, vitimin B, D and protien, despite being on an elimination diet, where in I was eating mainly beef, salt and water, since those were safe for me. Further testing revealed a leaky gut, and a virus called h. Pylori.

Long story short after treating those issues, a lot of my allergies disappeared, but one or two still remain.

 

[ncbrewer]

corkybstewart makes a good point. The early hops (boiled for a longer period of time) are isomerized - for bittering. Late hops (boiled less time, or not at all - dry hops could be lumped in with these) are less isomerized or not at all. Maybe just one or the other is causing your reaction. It would be pretty hard to eliminate bittering hops. I haven't used hop extracts, but maybe these wouldn't have the allergy problem? I'm not well informed on all these allergy issues - just tossing out some thoughts. Anyway, welcome to HBT.

 

[BrewFromAfar]

Thanks for the info! If I can't solve the hops issue, I'm going to look into other bittering agents. I've heard you can use yarrow or avocado leaves. Any truth in that?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

That certainly sucks if you can't use hops in your beer. I can relate to allergies; fish and walnuts can kill me.
A quick search for hop alternatives for beer came up with this link; 8 Best Alternatives to Hops for Homebrew Beer.

You should be able to find something that could replace hops for bittering.

Good Luck!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Oh, and welcome to the group!

The HBT site has a lot to offer, lots of well-versed brewers here.

 

[BrewFromAfar]

Thank you for the link!