Mead for people allergic to wine?

[dummkauf]

So my wife and I just shared a couple bottles of Stonekeepers mead last night which has me wondering: is there less of whatever people are allergic to in wine in mead?(if that makes sense)

My wife likes wine but can never have more than 1 glass or she gets all stuffed up, however she loved the mead and had about 3-4 glasses last night(she decided she'd just suffer the consequences and drank it anyway), however she wasn't plugged up at all after drinking it. I'm not sure what it would be in wine that she's allergic to, so I'm curious if anyone knows what's in wine that isn't in mead(other than grapes )?

And she's not allergic to grapes so I don't think that's it.

 

[dlester]

Good point. I know much about this because I am allergic and have other family members that are the same. Let me explain. Dark wine contain "histamines." That is why you take anti-histamine medicine.

If you are allergic to wine, stick with white wine, there are no histamines. Do not drink dark wines. There, that is your cure (there is a slight amount of histamines in white wine, but very little, if white wine makes you stuffed up, don't drink that either).

Mead does not contain histamines. In fact, I've had several friends say they will only drink meads because of of allergies.

There, that is the whole issue in a nut shell. Good luck and you should experiment with the white wine to see if you can tolerate it or not.

Cheers,
D Lester

 

[dummkauf]

Thanks for the quick responses!!!

She generally prefers white wines, and those still bother her a little. Note that beer also has a similar affect(both BMC and my homebrew). The histamine explanation seems to make a lot of sense, I never knew that!

I have been sulfating my meads, though none of those are ready to drink yet and I have no idea if Stonekeepers Meadery is using sulfites, but I would guess they do.

 

[FrayAdjacent]

I have allergies myself... I think I'm allergic to just about EVERYTHING that grows outside in Central Texas.

Well, one remedy that gets mentioned often is to consume honey made locally. Well, I'm going to take this even further - I'm going to brew mead using local honey and drink a lot of it! We'll see if that helps any!

 

[MarsColonist]

As dlester mentioned, it is the red wine grape skin that has histamines and people are allergic to that, not sulfites.

I have allergies myself... I think I'm allergic to just about EVERYTHING that grows outside in Central Texas. Well, one remedy that gets mentioned often is to consume honey made locally. Well, I'm going to take this even further - I'm going to brew mead using local honey and drink a lot of it! We'll see if that helps any!

I dont know how long youve lived here, but mold is bad here all the time (it goes from medium to horrible, year round) and right now is a horrible time for cedar.... I doubt that local honey is going to do much for you in that respect. Also, wildflower honey from around here isnt all that great (as compared to wildflower from the northern states)... find some varietals if you can for more interesting mead!

 

[FrayAdjacent]

Sorry for continuing off topic... I've been in Austin for about 20 years... allergies didn't start hitting me much until maybe 5 or 6 years ago. All of it bugs me, but ragweed and cedar are usually the worst. Mold only mildly annoys me. And most of my symptoms are nasal anyway. Thanks for the heads up on the honey, tho!

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Many commercial wineries use malo-lactic fermentation to speed up the wines aging so it can get to market sooner. Malo-lactic fermentation creates histamines. So, wines where this process has been used causes most people to get a sinus headache.

There is a myth that this problem is caused by sulphites. If someone were actually allergic to sulphites they would be in the hospital. Your liver creates suphites. Yeast during fermentation of anything causes sulphites. There are sulphites in the dust we breathe. The problem is not sulphites. You cannot buy a sulphite free wine.

The wine kits that are available to make your own wines are outstanding. They do not use malo-lactic fermentation and they use the bare minimum of chemicals to preserve the wine. You have to use a very small amount of suphites so the wine will last years instead of a couple months.

Forrest

 

[bob1852]

As dlester mentioned, it is the red wine grape skin that has histamines and people are allergic to that, not sulfites.

If someone were actually allergic to sulphites they would be in the hospital.

Thanks folks! Deleted my post as to not perpetuate the myth. (Can't wait to tell my wine-snob friends - they're the one's that told me that )

 

[Yooper]

Thanks folks! Deleted my post as to not perpetuate the myth. (Can't wait to tell my wine-snob friends - they're the one's that told me that )

Yeah, it's the very rare individual who is actually sensitive to sulfites. AND, in that case, they can't eat some other foods like raisins, sauerkraut, mushrooms, or other things.

I say sensitive to sulfites, because as Forrest mentioned, if they were actually allergic, they wouldn't be able to easily live on this planet. But sulfite sensitivity is possible, although rare. In asthmatics (me, and both my kids), there IS a much higher incidence of sulfite sensitivity, and it's not uncommon for sulfites to exacerbate asthma symptoms. So if you have a relative who has asthma, you'll notice that they tend to stay away from certain foods if they are sulfite sensitive. (I am not one of those rare people, but the doctor made us aware when my kids were small to watch certain foods like sauerkraut!)

As Forrest also said, there isn't any such thing as a "sulfite free wine", as sulfites are naturally formed from fermentation. You can buy some wines with "no added sulfites", of course. But you'll never have a sulfite free wine no matter what.

 

[MedsenFey]

In addition to the biogenic amines (there are others besides histamine), there are also some people sensitive to oak extracts (from chips or barrels) and drinking unoaked wines works better for them. Most reds gets some oak. So a mead that has not been oaked may also work for those people.

Medsen

 

[Mar-Kea]

Don't mean to drag up an old thread, but would rather that, than to have false information bring lobbied around.

I am allergic to sulfites. Bad. I can't drink beer or wine. Hot dogs and bologna are a problem. Those are possibly higher sulfite content than other things I don't know. I have never had a problem with most other foods. What occurs naturally is less a problem then added sulfites with me.

By telling someone that allergies do not exist you are giving out false information.

 

[podz]

interesting, i can drink apple cider all night long but if I drink one pear cider then my nose is stopped up immediately. no problem with red wines.

 

[damdaman]

interesting, i can drink apple cider all night long but if I drink one pear cider then my nose is stopped up immediately. no problem with red wines.

"Pear" cider sold commercially is usually apple cider with pear flavoring (chemicals) added. If you read the label, 99 times out of 100 it will say something like "made from apples with other natural flavors." They rarely use real pears.

If you made it yourself, well never mind, but it's possible that's what's setting you off.

 

[podz]

"Pear" cider sold commercially is usually apple cider with pear flavoring (chemicals) added. If you read the label, 99 times out of 100 it will say something like "made from apples with other natural flavors." They rarely use real pears.

If you made it yourself, well never mind, but it's possible that's what's setting you off.

Quite the opposite here in Europe. Berry or lemon cider is usually pear cider with berry aroma added. And pear cider is always 100% pear.