Brewing Without Sulfites?

[manticle]

I think from memory, he get reactions from dried apricots, avocado, sun flower seeds and a whole bunch of others, that all point to sulfur or sulfite allergy.

From an earlier post

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

i'm a somewhat fello suffer with reactions in control. What about other gluten based or yeast based products? I'd be getting checked for celiac diseases or gluten intolerance. Or he could be allergic to yeast. When you said craft beer and champagne do it the first thing I thought was yeast used in bottle conditioning. Even if your kegging yours I doubt you could filter out all you yeast as well as the mega swill beers.

Also does an anti histamine stop his reaction?

+ 1 for getting it checked out by the doctor. I mean no doubt the doctor will do some AHB checking for an answer as well. But let's face it after getting side tracked by another thread on pork spin and cold conditioning he'll have so tests to also help work it out.

 

[scottc1178]

i'm a somewhat fello suffer with reactions in control. What about other gluten based or yeast based products? I'd be getting checked for celiac diseases or gluten intolerance. Or he could be allergic to yeast. When you said craft beer and champagne do it the first thing I thought was yeast used in bottle conditioning. Even if your kegging yours I doubt you could filter out all you yeast as well as the mega swill beers.

Also does an anti histamine stop his reaction?

+ 1 for getting it checked out by the doctor. I mean no doubt the doctor will do some AHB checking for an answer as well. But let's face it after getting side tracked by another thread on pork spin and cold conditioning he'll have so tests to also help work it out.

yeah, I think he normally takes anti histamines and an asthma puffer which brings it under control. If it's caused by yeasts, then it seems to be only certain types, but he definitely needs to find out exactly what the allergy is to, before I can start to brew around it.... either that or I'll just buy him a six pack of west coast coolers and tell him to harden the **** up!! :lol:

 

[Feldon]

Might find some useful information here: http://www.allergy.org.au/patients/product...sulfite-allergy

Says in part:
Diagnosis of suspected sulfite sensitivity.
Most people with sulfite sensitivity do not have positive allergy tests and there is currently no reliable blood or skin allergy test to test for sulfite intolerances.
At times, it may be important to undertake a deliberate food challenge with sulfites in a graded fashion under medical supervision to confirm or exclude sensitivity.


Edit:

Also this:
Low or no sulfite wines and beers

Sulfites are generally found at higher levels in the cask wine than bottled wine, and are at much higher concentrations in white wine than red wine, which is preserved by natural tannins. Some wine makers in Australia produce wines that state that they do not add sulfites into the wine. Some brewers produce beer and state that they do not add sulfites. There are various technical reasons related to wine making and brewing, which may mean that very low levels of sulfites are still present, even when not deliberately added.

The following Australian wine makers claim to produce low or no sulfite wines or beers. This listing is for information purposes only, is not exhaustive, and should not be interpreted as a recommendation. Those interested should make inquiries of the manufacturer to verify these claims. There is also a product available that may reduce sulfite levels in wine without affecting the taste www.so2go.com.au

 

[Lurks]

I have a sensitivity to sulfites, bordering on allergy. The symptoms are asthmatic congestion, immediate strong headache and occasionally hayfever like symptoms if it's a lot. Like at Christmas when I foolishly accepted a glass of white wine.

I imagine, though I don't really know, that different ones in the group affect me differently. For example, just about anything that comes out of CUB, in bottle or tap (why the hell do they put so much sulfites in CUB kegs?!), gives me an immediate headache but no other symptoms. Craft beer is fine, I was at Mrs Parmas in Melbourne last night and swigged many a craft brew with zero issue.

Wine tends to add the whole wheezing and hayfever to the mix. Maybe it's just strength of the dose?

At any rate, I've never had a whiff of it from any home brew ever. Nor any craft brew.

 

[mckenry]

Just wondering if the OP found out the facts? I have just yesterday had my homebrewing mate complain of an asthma attack after drinking his first hb Belgian. I believe it was one of the Trappist wyeasts. I am kind of dismissing sanitisers as he has brewed many pales darks and lagers with no problem. His first attack was on a Monday straight after downing it. Next two days drank other hbs then on day 4 had another of his Belgians and another attack. Coincidence?

 

[treefiddy]

One thing that jumps out at me is fructose, which is an odd thing for people to be allergic to (but it does happen).

Wine obviously has fructose, but most beers don't. Big Belgian beers are likely to use Candi (invert) sugar which contain fructose. Maybe it doesn't all ferment out?

 

[mckenry]

One thing that jumps out at me is fructose, which is an odd thing for people to be allergic to (but it does happen).

Wine obviously has fructose, but most beers don't. Big Belgian beers are likely to use Candi (invert) sugar which contain fructose. Maybe it doesn't all ferment out?

This was his hb Belgian, so there was no candi sugar, but possibly regular white sugar. I dont know too much about invert sugar, but google tells me you can make invert sugar from table sugar. So the fructose is there from the beginning anyway right?

 

[treefiddy]

Yeah, except the yeast need to first split the table sugar (sucrose) into fructose and glucose before fermentation.

Probably not that if he goes ok with normal fruits though.

 

[drsmurto]

All yeast produces sulphite. It is part of the sulphate reduction pathway and how they synthesise the sulphur containing amino acids (cysteine and methionine). Some of it can end up in the finished product.

You can't/shouldn't claim a wine (beer or cider) is sulphite free for this reason. You can, however, claim your wine (beer or cider) is preservative free or contains no added sulphites. I use some preservative free wines in my research into sulphites in wine - Temple Bruer is one example.

I wasn't aware that breweries added sulphite to beer. I was under the impression the yeast they use produce quite a lot of sulphites naturally.

 

[technobabble66]

A not-so-quick 2c (FWIW, i'm a practicing Naturopath of 10 years).

Fructose has a potential issue with absorbance, or the lack thereof. So it's not an allergic reaction. What it does do (if relevant for the individual) is cause a gut flora imbalance (ie: too many "bad" bugs, including yeasts, sometimes) which can then upset the immune system via the gut. So it could contribute, but i'd say it's unlikely to produce the type of immediate reactions reported here.

There may well be a few factors required for these guys to have a full blown reaction triggered. eg: someone could have a mild sensitivity (read: allergic reaction) to sulfites, plus certain metabolites of yeasts (higher with some strains more than others), plus histamines in some foods/drinks. Only when all are present do they get a full reaction, etc.
This helps explain why people with dietary sensitivities tend to have many triggers in common, but may have some individual differences, or that (in this case) some things with sulfites, yeasts, etc may be ok, but others are not.

If you're getting such a strong reaction from something you're exposed to (ie: asthma attack - sadly they can definitely be fatal; let alone an anaphylactic reaction) you need to get professional advice/diagnosis, and determine what the hell is going on. Self diagnosis is dangerous with something this severe.
[Though taking note of what you have specifically reacted to is always a great idea]

*****
On the brewing front, could there be an issue with SMS/DMS & other sulfur compounds, etc? Maybe extracts have the crap cooked out of them and are substantially lower in sulfur compounds; whereas homebrew AG still has 10-20% retained? Also, i think i've read that certain countries produce grains lower/higher in sulfur compounds (from memory, Australia & Germany were low?).

A spike in blood sugar may slightly enhance someone's reactivity. So i wonder if the higher FG beers could be contributing slightly more to the sensitivity? Just speculating...

 

[mabrungard]

Sulfites can be incorporated into wort if campden tablets (metabisulfite) are used to dechlorinate brewing water. When dosed properly, all of the metabisulfite is oxidized into its ionic components and there is no sulfite left in the wort. But if you overdose the water with metabisulfite, the water and wort can be left with sulfites. With that said, there is still the issue of the effects of heating upon the sulfite molecule. Sulfite is not a very stable molecule and heating (boiling) should speed the degradation of the molecule into its ionic components. I'm not sure if sulfite can make it into finished beer. The question of sulfite coming from the fermentation process is interesting and I don't know if that occurs. For the most part, I'd say that the occurence of sulfites in beer should be rare.