Hops allergy

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

citingzero

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2012
Messages
107
Reaction score
12
Well it's been a while since I've brewed anything (Scottish light ale in the primary now though!!!). But a few years ago one of my batches was an IPA. It was very tasty and I was pretty proud of myself. However, if I drank it, I immediately got a killer headache. I managed to find something online about hop allergies. At the time I was on a big IPA kick and nothing else bothered me. Maybe it was the fact that it was a home brewed IPA? I don't think it was any sort of infection (looked and tasted great). Kinda has me afraid to brew an IPA now that I'm starting to brew again. Anyone else had this problem?
 
I'm assuming you don't know but I'll ask anyways, what temps were you fermenting at?

I know that if you ferment at temps too high fusel alcohols can cause that headache
 
Since it was a few years ago, I don't remember exactly. It was in a closet in my apt and I have always kept my thermostat at 71 or 72. None of the other batches done at the time caused headaches.
 
If commercial IPAs weren't causing headaches it's definitely not a hop allergy. I would lean toward too high temperature. If the gravity were fairly high on that batch the fermenting beer could have reached 81 pretty easily if the ambient temp were 71. You should try to control your temps a little more. The fermenting process produces heat, so if you're starting with your room temperature up at the high range for yeast your wort is getting too hot.
 
I agree with the other posters about fermenting too hot. Fusels=instant headache.

Try a commercial IPA with a lot of hops to see if that gives you a headache. If it does not then the culprit is ferment temps.
 
I agree with the other posters about fermenting too hot. Fusels=instant headache.

Try a commercial IPA with a lot of hops to see if that gives you a headache. If it does not then the culprit is ferment temps.

This

Fusel alcohol to me causes the same effect as a "wine headache" from to much tannins which is why I stick to White wines as a general rule.
 
Yeah I've always enjoyed commercial IPAs. That's what had me confused. I didn't think about fermentation creating additional heat. Thanks
 
Back
Top