allergic to homebrew?

[thisgoestoeleven]

SWMBO has this theory that she's allergic to homebrewed beer. Around the same time that we were starting to try my first batch, she broke out in a rash. It's happening again this time, but barely noticable. I don't think it's possible to drink as much commercially produced beer as the 2 of us do, and somehow be allergic to exclusively homebrewed beer. anyone?

 

[K5MOW]

WOW Sorry to here this.

Roger

 

[msarro]

Maybe she has a problem with the yeast?

 

[two_hearted]

Maybe a yeast allergy. You're drinking a lot more yeast in your homebrew than commercial brews.

I would go to a doctor and get an allergy profile. As most people said when I posted about an allergic reaction to pulverized grain "Don't get medical advice from a forum. See a doctor."

 

[weagle05]

Did you resolve this yet?
I heard a guy tonight say he was "slightly allergic to import beer." He should experiment with moving beers over national borders to isolate that.
But seriously, you could try making homebrew with a higher flocculating yeast to see if that works out better for her.

 

[nanofreak]

Could it be the sanitizer or something?

 

[Golddiggie]

I would doubt the sanitizer was the issue, unless it was something like bleach... If she doesn't have a gluten allergy, then it could be something that is in any of the ingredients (DME, LME, etc.)...

Other than a full allergy test, you could also go all grain :rockin: and start brewing simple recipes, using clean fermenting yeasts, and see how she reacts. All grain would get you closer to how the big brewers do things, so if she doesn't have an issue with their brews, all grain should give less reaction.

IF it does turn out it's the yeast she has issue with, you could try different ones to see if she still reacts. Another option would be to keg, but filter the brew before putting it on gas to carbonate. It will add a step to the process, but if it means she can also enjoy great brew, isn't it worth it?

 

[nanofreak]

I just really meant it being something used in the process rather than an ingredient. If they drink as much craft beer as is being implied, I would be shocked if it were an ingredient.

 

[C-Rider]

I'm thinking it might be the yeast. My SWMBO'd and I both developed a rash on the insides of our fore arms. Mine more so on the left than the right. Perhaps from sipping the green beer right out of the primary. Mine seems to be going away, although last night I has some that my buddy just bottled. This was the left overs that wasn't enough for a bottle. No new rash developing. Her's was ichy mine not. But maybe I'm a bit "tougher" than my sweet lady.

 

[Revvy]

People can have allergies/ or an intolerence to beer ingredients, someone could have an allergy to hops, or yeast, or the gluten in the grain, someone could be lactose in tolerant and have gastric issues from a sweet stout.

There's going to be two kinds of reactions, things like hives and respiratory, like a peanut allergy, and someone can get cramps and the runs-which is more like a lactose issue.

But they are going to be pretty immediate, the hives and resp are going to happen within minutes, if not sooner, and the GI would still more than likely happen within an hour maybe 2.

True food allergies are your body's immune (IgE) response to food proteins, and only food proteins. The most common are milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish. Food intolerance (Gluten/Lactose) causes strictly GI issues, although food allergens will cause vomiting, but along with the other symptoms, such as hives, swelling, etc.

And the thing is, if someone is allergic to most of the beer ingredients then a) then they will be allergic to all beers, even commercial, unless it is yeast, then it would be with SOME commercial beers, that are unfiltered. BUT they would also then be allergic to bread as well. Since the same yeast is used in baking.

The hardest one to figure would be a hop allergy, since except for beer, hops don't really appear in other things. BUT then also, the person would be allergic to other beers as well.

When people post asking about this, I usually caution them to look to other things in their environment rather than homebrew, since those allergies are rare and manifest with similar ingredients (like bread) or happen with commercial beers as well.

There's no difference really between Homebrew and Commercial brew EXCEPT for the fact that it's unpasteurized (except the commercial ones that aren't pasteurized) and a lot more yeast (except for those that are bottle conditioned) so she'd really more than likely have it happen with commercial beers as well.

Rather than ask a bunch of non doctors though, if she really has an issue she should consult an allergist, maybe even taking a bottle of HB with her.

 

[JoMarky]

I am convinced I am allergic Montrachet yeast. Every time I drank from my first batch of apfelwein I would start sneezing continuously for 20 minutes. Made many batches since with other yeasts and have not had a problem.

 

[bullinachinashop]

Rather than ask a bunch of non doctors though, if she really has an issue she should consult an allergist, maybe even taking a bottle of HB with her.[/QUOTE]


I doubt if the doc's would be willing to barter!

 

[Golddiggie]

I just really meant it being something used in the process rather than an ingredient. If they drink as much craft beer as is being implied, I would be shocked if it were an ingredient.

I knew that... That's why I would be surprised if it was a factor, since it becomes inert pretty quickly...