Adverse Reaction To Home Brew

[time01]

afternoon a friend of mine has drank my home brew twice now, and had the same reaction the following day;

The symptoms are swollen, puffy face, in particular the cheeks and around the eyes, and a red rash over the torso. I dont have any nausea or anything, just those physical reactions. A lot of people who have reactions suffer breath shortness etc., but mine is just the swelling and rash. The swelling subsides over about 3 day period.

this is for both kit/extract brews as well as FWK brews.

has anyone else encounted this? the only thing i could think is the powered yeast i use perhaps as opposed to liquid yeast?

he has drank beer all his life and never had the reaction so im at a loss to work out why?

 

[petesbrew]

afternoon a friend of mine has drank my home brew twice now, and had the same reaction the following day;

The symptoms are swollen, puffy face, in particular the cheeks and around the eyes, and a red rash over the torso. I dont have any nausea or anything, just those physical reactions. A lot of people who have reactions suffer breath shortness etc., but mine is just the swelling and rash. The swelling subsides over about 3 day period.

this is for both kit/extract brews as well as FWK brews.

has anyone else encounted this? the only thing i could think is the powered yeast i use perhaps as opposed to liquid yeast?

he has drank beer all his life and never had the reaction so im at a loss to work out why?

Um, are you sure your beer's not infected in some way? Just saying...

 

[jyo]

Assuming you rinse all cleaners/chemicals really well (apart from no-rinse sanitisers)?

 

[Amber Fluid]

Obviously he has an allergy to something you use in the brew or cleaning regime.

My kid has the same type of reaction if he touches milk. We found this out when he ate a block of soap that was made with goats milk!

 

[Batz]

Could be a reaction to yeast perhaps ?
You can get brewers yeast tablets at health shops but that may spin him out completely

 

[loikar]

We found this out when he ate a block of soap that was made with goats milk!

Wait! Whaaaa???

 

[Batz]

Could be a reaction to yeast perhaps ?
You can get brewers yeast tablets at health shops but that may spin him out completely

How does he go with Cooper Pale or Sparkling ?

 

[cam89brewer]

you don't use sodium metabisulphite or anything containing it do you ? It is a common one that also causes shortness of breathe and some of the other symptoms and is used in wines as a preservative and is in the coopers steriliser I am pretty certain..

 

[cam89brewer]

you don't use sodium metabisulphite or anything containing it do you ? It is a common one that also causes shortness of breathe and some of the other symptoms and is used in wines as a preservative and is in the coopers steriliser I am pretty certain..

 

[fraser_john]

Do you use a sulphite based sanitiser? If so, switch to star-san.

Sounds very similar to sulphur allergy to me, having just had the same symptoms from a sulphur based medication. Is the rash itchy?

 

[staggalee]

afternoon a friend of mine has drank my home brew twice now, and had the same reaction the following day;

The symptoms are swollen, puffy face, in particular the cheeks and around the eyes, and a red rash over the torso. I dont have any nausea or anything, just those physical reactions. A lot of people who have reactions suffer breath shortness etc., but mine is just the swelling and rash. The swelling subsides over about 3 day period.

this is for both kit/extract brews as well as FWK brews.

has anyone else encounted this? the only thing i could think is the powered yeast i use perhaps as opposed to liquid yeast?

he has drank beer all his life and never had the reaction so im at a loss to work out why?

Did you use any extra hops in the brew? I have recently discovered I`m allergic to whatever hops are in Cascade light, never had it with any other home or commercial beer.
Just a sniff of the hops sends my eyes watering and itching for a couple of hours

 

[staggalee]

Obviously he has an allergy to something you use in the brew or cleaning regime.

My kid has the same type of reaction if he touches milk. We found this out when he ate a block of soap that was made with goats milk!

Now THAT is funny :lol:
Sorry if it wasn`t meant to be.

 

[time01]

thanks for the replies.

i clean everything thoroughly, and no one else has had a reaction.

my mate has drank lots of various beers all his life without reaction.

id say those that have suggested the cleaning products i have used are too blame, i will find out what thye are and report back.

 

[bum]

id say those that have suggested the cleaning products i have used are too blame

Seems a little unfair to me.

 

[Greg.L]

you don't use sodium metabisulphite or anything containing it do you ? It is a common one that also causes shortness of breathe and some of the other symptoms and is used in wines as a preservative and is in the coopers steriliser I am pretty certain..

Sulphites occur in wine naturally and are common in other foods, specially onions. It's a misconcepton that sulphites cause allergies.

Did the person take some antihistames? If antihistamines fix the reaction then it's definitely an allergy. My Guess would be a cleaning product.

 

[stux]

thanks for the replies.

i clean everything thoroughly, and no one else has had a reaction.

my mate has drank lots of various beers all his life without reaction.

id say those that have suggested the cleaning products i have used are too blame, i will find out what thye are and report back.

Also, any additives you've added, ie finings

But if you just make fresh wort kits with yeast, then it is either a beer allergy, some people are allergic to hops. Or its the cleaning products.

What are you cleaning with? what are you sanitizing with?

Then again, if it is a hop matter allergy... a lot of the crystal clear aussie beers wouldn't have much in the way of hop matter (if they ever did!)

edit: I wonder if its fusel alcohols and the like... do you use temperature control

 

[bowie in space]

Seems a little unfair to me.

:lol:

 

[staggalee]

Seems a little unfair to me.

They were nowhere near the place.
But I spose someone has to wear it

 

[time01]

righto, the cleaning agent i use for fermenters is sodium metabisuphite.
the keg cleaning agent i use contains sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate.

further feedback from my mate is;

"The rash isnt really that itchy. Its very faint- the bigger symptom that you notice is the swollen face as it gives me somewhat of a chipmunk look with the puffy cheeks."

yes i do use temp control.

i guess its one of the cleaning agents, but which one?

 

[seravitae]

You could try an isolation/scratch test.

Make up dilute solutions of everything you use (VERY DILUTE) and gently scratch the skin with each item, see if you get a histamine response.

This is one thing doctors try to find allergies.