Yeast allergy and Beer help?

[StillsNMash]

All my life I have had high allergies, including yeasts. I would never really drink beer because the leftover yeast would always cause a reaction in my gut that I had to tolerate for days. Light beers like Rolling Rock, Corona, etc. don't affect me as bad as others, and quality of product does matter on my reaction.

Now that I am making my own, I am curious what I can do as a home brewer to remove as much yeast as possible to my finished product. I know yeast is required to create the carbonation at bottling time, so there may not be a solution per se, but I wanted to ask the question in case others who enjoy beer but have adverse reactions have come up with some ideas or resolutions to alleviate their circumstances and still be able to enjoy their favorite brew.

I am also going to search the forums for any other threads relating to this as well.

Thanks Folks.

-Stills.

 

[Chorgey]

I wonder if Wyeast, White Labs, Omega or anyone else might be able to help you out there.

 

[Transamguy77]

I think the only way possible is to keg your beer then you could filter it before kegging. That may lead to a difference in taste though because while you are stripping out the yeast you will also strip out other compounds that have to do with flavor and aroma.

What kind of gut issues do you have that yeast bothers you? If I could ask....

 

[seatazzz]

Forgive me for seeming insensitive, but could it be a sensitivity/allergy to something other than yeast? Yeast (in some form or another) is in/on many many things humans consume. Also we have yeast in our bodies in at least one form (as a woman I am VERY familiar with these). Almost all produce (I'm thinking fruits) have yeast on them. Can you eat bread without having issues? Or it might be just a particular strain of yeast that affects you?

As a homebrewer, too much yeast remaining in my beer has an affect on me, that I don't care to elaborate on here but many of us have experienced (I have LOTS of books in my bathroom for this reason). Do you see an allergist?

For removing yeast, your best bet is using either a fining agent (whirlfloc/carrageenan in the boil, and/or gelatin at packaging) that will make most of the yeast drop out of your beer. Cold crashing as well will help, but you need to be careful at packaging to draw up as little of the trub as you can. If you bottle, leaving at least 1/2 inch of beer in the bottom of the bottle (as hard as it may seem) may also help.

 

[I love beer.]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/dining/drinks/craft-beer-yeast-hops.html

 

[I love beer.]

For those interested.

 

[Calder]

I have a friend with the same issue. Can't drink beer or wine, but distilled products seem fine.

For the home brew level I think you will need to make some investments. You will need to filter the beer through a 1 micron or finer filter to strip the yeast from the beer. This is what Bud/Miller/Coors do. And use a CO2/Keg system to dispense the beer.

Filtering does strip some flavors, so if you go this route, you may want to dry hop in the keg.

The suggest ion of finnings is not going to solve your problem.

 

[kpsalerno]

I used to have terrible allergies I acquired from accute exposure to industrial pesticides, back in 2007. I couldn't have beer, wine or any alcohol without sneezing and having allergic asthma attacks that would wake me up at night.

I since learned that the root cause of allergies is an inflammatory response, stemming from chronic inflammation. I was able to completely rid myself of all allergic responses by going on a strict anti-inflammatory diet, which means avoiding insulin spikes that cause inflammation in the body.

What worked for me, and it took months and years to have a dramatic effect, was to cut out all grains (except beer!) and sugar, including hidden sugar like MSG and refined carbohydrates - basically avoiding anything in a box in the supermarket. The diet is essentially vegetables, fruit, nuts, beans, lentils and meat plus probiotics and prebiotics like cabbage and gelatin to repair your intestines.

Hope that helps!

 

[TheMadKing]

All my life I have had high allergies, including yeasts. I would never really drink beer because the leftover yeast would always cause a reaction in my gut that I had to tolerate for days. Light beers like Rolling Rock, Corona, etc. don't affect me as bad as others, and quality of product does matter on my reaction.

Now that I am making my own, I am curious what I can do as a home brewer to remove as much yeast as possible to my finished product. I know yeast is required to create the carbonation at bottling time, so there may not be a solution per se, but I wanted to ask the question in case others who enjoy beer but have adverse reactions have come up with some ideas or resolutions to alleviate their circumstances and still be able to enjoy their favorite brew.

I am also going to search the forums for any other threads relating to this as well.

Thanks Folks.

-Stills.

A high percentage of commercial beers are filtered and do not contain any yeast at all. It seems unlikely if your reaction is only averted by LIGHT commercial beers that your allergy is to the yeast, and not just a sensitivity to alcohol, gluten, or even hops.

 

[StillsNMash]

What kind of gut issues do you have that yeast bothers you? If I could ask....

My issues include upper abdominal swelling, eosinophilic esophagitis, irritable bowel syndrome, candida [fungal/yeast] flare ups, etc. I've dealt with this for decades, through which things have changed so I can't quite nail it all down. The worst was finding out about the Candida imbalance. Once I got that under control, many symptoms were alleviated. It seems my reactions are mostly systemic - for example, if I drink too much HFCS, the skin on my hands dies, crusts and flakes off to the point that my fingers break open and bleed [much like eczema]. This will happen a day or two AFTER I have the food and lasts for days afterwards. Only after I stop all intake of HFCS does it clear up. I've found one or two coca-cola or equivalent a day seems tolerable, but more than that or sourced from more than one item is a collective problem. I digress.

Regarding beer, the stronger beers like guiness extra stout, BASS, Red Stripe, cause symptoms of swelling in the stomach area [Black and tan's are one of my favorites], not gas or bloating, but tissue swelling. the eosinophils from the reaction collect in my esophagus and make swallowing hard - not to be confused with inability to breathe as in anaphylactic reactions which are bad juju - and after several days the symptoms subside.

I've always just avoided beer, about the only wines I can tolerate are sweeter desert wines, Rieslings and Sake as all others just make me feel horrible. I attributed that to the sulphites [like yeast in beer] and much ignorance at the time. Liquor is totally fine, tequila makes strange things happen though but that's not an allergy issue .

Since I am starting to roll my own brews I am delving more into the sciences and ingredients that makes things happen. I am somewhat of a nerdy guy in that I like to know the mechanics and chemistry that bring about whatever it is I am doing. As has been said before, I may seem to be reinventing wheels, but like Charles Goodyear, the combination of goodies to make something better, even if just for me, intrigues me. If I can make stuff that could help others, that's a bonus. I'll never be rich, but will have a lot of fun and much experience at whatever I tinker with. At least I believe my knowledge and experience are the only things I can take with me beyond this big blue ball we all share.

-Stills.

 

[StillsNMash]

Forgive me for seeming insensitive, but could it be a sensitivity/allergy to something other than yeast? Yeast (in some form or another) is in/on many many things humans consume. Also we have yeast in our bodies in at least one form (as a woman I am VERY familiar with these). Almost all produce (I'm thinking fruits) have yeast on them. Can you eat bread without having issues? Or it might be just a particular strain of yeast that affects you?

As a homebrewer, too much yeast remaining in my beer has an affect on me, that I don't care to elaborate on here but many of us have experienced (I have LOTS of books in my bathroom for this reason). Do you see an allergist?

For removing yeast, your best bet is using either a fining agent (whirlfloc/carrageenan in the boil, and/or gelatin at packaging) that will make most of the yeast drop out of your beer. Cold crashing as well will help, but you need to be careful at packaging to draw up as little of the trub as you can. If you bottle, leaving at least 1/2 inch of beer in the bottom of the bottle (as hard as it may seem) may also help.

No insenistivity taken. I respect your openness. I too have a throne in a library for similar reasons. Bread did affect me, especially home made breads, until I got the Candida imbalance under control. As I said previously, finding that out [which took six months and two totally unrelated events to happen to find out the underlying issue] really bought me a whole new life in that I was more able to isolate and manage what was causing what symptoms.

I took allergy shots as a teen which did away with the bi annual migranes that lasted a week and cost me a week at school. The last allergist I saw was less than impressible.

Thanks for the notes on the additives and procedures. I AM one that will leave an oil bottle for 20 minutes on the engine to leech every single drop I can so yes, leaving an 1/2 inch of beer on the bottom will be an instinct I will have to break.

You will need to filter the beer through a 1 micron or finer filter to strip the yeast from the beer. This is what Bud/Miller/Coors do. And use a CO2/Keg system to dispense the beer.

Filtering does strip some flavors, so if you go this route, you may want to dry hop in the keg.

This I can do since I already filter my house water [which is well water] down to 1 micron through a 4x20" canister filter. I have a smaller 10" filter I can plumb to a pump that would force the beer through, or setup a gravity feed system. I will have to also research dry hopping in the keg.

Regarding sensitivity to other ingredients, that is an underlying purpose of another thread I posted about making a baseline "pseudo-brew" to test various ingredients without going into the allergy aspect there.

-Stills

 

[MickB]

Sounds like your a terrific candidate for combining your love of beer brewing with session meads. A lot more ppl are finding ways to make "beer" but replace the grains with different honeys.

The yeast? That's still a problem for me too. Likely not as sensitive as you are, but if I sample anything during the ferment and don't spit it out, i pay for it for atleast a day unless I totally overdose on some hardcore enzymes to help my stomach.