Beer bad, fire pretty

June 16, 2007 9:48 PM

Why does drinking beer make me sick? I've tried different types of beers (ales, stouts, weissbeers) and without fail they will make me feel nauseous about an hour after drinking. Why?

I eat well, drink lots of water and have no allergies. Volume doesn't seem to matter, I'll feel just as sick from one beer as from three. Quality doesn't seem to matter either, because the beer that made me sickest was a high quality stout. I have a similar problem with red wine, but things like sake, vodka and rum have never made me sick. What is it about beer that causes nausea?

posted by blueskiesinside to Food & Drink (24 answers total)

Allergic to wheat, gluten, yeast ?

Sometimes you just don't demonstrate allergies to things unless they are in a particular food form.
posted by iamabot at 9:50 PM on June 16, 2007

iambot is right. Sounds like gluten intolerence.
posted by special-k at 9:59 PM on June 16, 2007

When was the last time you were checked for allergies? You can develop allergies as you age. Rare, but possible.
posted by zardoz at 10:06 PM on June 16, 2007

You could be allergic to hops, the main flavoring ingredient in most beer.
posted by paulsc at 10:08 PM on June 16, 2007

Response by poster: Actually, paulsc you might be right because I do have sensitivity to peanuts. I was tested for allergies as a child, so you never know. Could I have a gluten allergy when I have no problems with bread at all?
posted by blueskiesinside at 10:29 PM on June 16, 2007

Keep in mind that nausea is not an allergic reaction. A rash or difficulty breathing would suggest an allergy.
posted by dog food sugar at 10:52 PM on June 16, 2007

you might be having a reaction to sulfites, both beer and red wine can contain them..
posted by smart_ask at 11:18 PM on June 16, 2007

I'm guessing brewer's yeast. I used to have this allergy and the same thing would happen - nausea after a single beer (and terrible hangovers lasting for days after only a few sips.) I was given a list of things to avoid and never had a problem. Several years later, I was tested again and *no brewer's yeast allergy!* I don't drink much, but a beer now causes no problems at all.

Brewer's yeast is in most alcohol, but to a much greater extent in beer and red wine. (I never had a problem with vodka or rum either.) It's apparently a different sort of yeast than what's in bread, which would explain why bread's no problem. Aside from alcohol, it's mostly used in some vitamin supplements and cat/dog food.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 11:35 PM on June 16, 2007

There's really no way to tell for sure, but I agree with some other folks that gluten, hops, or yeasts would definitely be at the top of the list.

If you're interested, you could probably narrow down the possibilities via some testing, just for the cost of some different types of alcohol (and the nausea, of course).

I've seen gluten-free beer around. I know a place locally (DC Metro) that brews it, but I suspect you can find it around if you Google. Some sort of heavily filtered distilled spirit (good vodka) would eliminate everything but the alcohol. Alcohol-free beer would also be interesting to try. (If you can do these as some sort of double-blind, that would really be interesting.)

I can't think of a beer that would have gluten, but not hops, but perhaps they exist somewhere.

Are there any beers that you've tried that seem substantially better or worse than others? Any types that are different could give a clue to what's doing it.

These are the guys who I've seen carrying gluten-free beer. It's not listed on their website, but they're friendly ... if you call them, they might be able to work something out for you, if there's any left:
http://www.shenandoahbrewing.com/
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:16 AM on June 17, 2007

Nausea and vomiting most certainly can be a symptom of an allergic reaction.

Making an appointment to talk to your doctor about allergy testing would be a good idea; you may only be aware that you're reacting to beer now, but food allergies have a distressing tendency to get worse over time.
posted by faineant at 12:28 AM on June 17, 2007

Another possibility: acid reflux. Beer is a trigger for acid reflux, and a minor case can result in nausea as acid irritates the esophagus.
posted by procrastination at 4:49 AM on June 17, 2007

Have you tried lagers yet?

I have on/off food sensitives (seems common in food allergies to be constantly changing through life) and while ales, heffes etc make me literally ill after about half an hour, i can drink anything in a green bottle quite happily. I believe they have less hops on average, and a little less gluten and alcohol too.
posted by shownomercy at 6:32 AM on June 17, 2007

Red wine and beers are high in various sulfide compounds. I dont't think hard alcohol is. I have heard of a level of sulfide intolerance. Just another thought. Good luck.

Green bottle beers do not have less hops on average, but most are made with a hop extract, which have certain compounds stripped. Those compounds are light sensitive and the green (or clear) bottles do not protect the compounds from the sun. It can be assumed that MOST green or clear bottle beers (esp those made by large brewers - ie Heineken or Corona) are made with a hop extract as opposed to full cone or pelletized hops.
posted by beachhead2 at 6:43 AM on June 17, 2007

Sorry to piggyback on your question here, but does anyone know why wheat beer in particular (a.k.a. heffeweisse, weissbier) results in such a raging hangover? It produces a headache like nothing else, even from moderate consumption, and I for one have no allergies whatsoever. It's really too bad that it's a headache in a glass, because it is delicious, especially on these hot summer days . . .
posted by agent99 at 6:48 AM on June 17, 2007

Wheat beer is unfiltered, leaving all those yeast cells. Your system may not like all those yeast guys. It may not be an out-and-out allergy, just a general dislike by your body.

It is too bad for you. A good wheat is lovely.
posted by beachhead2 at 6:55 AM on June 17, 2007

Could it be all the sugars that are in Beer that's doing it?
posted by zaphod at 7:23 AM on June 17, 2007

Can you drink Guinness with no ill effects? It is not made from hops.
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:17 AM on June 17, 2007

My uncle is allergic to all legumes and can't drink beer with actual hops in them. He's able to drink some, I think ones with hops extract, but gets very sick if he drinks really hoppy ones. That may be why a high quality stout did you the worst -- more hops = sicker.
posted by katemonster at 9:36 AM on June 17, 2007

Can you drink Guinness with no ill effects? It is not made from hops.

Guinness most definitely is hopped. There are some beers made without the lovely flower, but theyare going to be really sweet (hops add 'bite' to counter the sweetness of malted barley), and generally not as long lasting.
posted by pupdog at 9:55 AM on June 17, 2007

I am horribly allergic to beer (makes me very very sick) and have no other food allergies, so it's certainly possible to be allergic to beer and not to other wheat products. I've never bothered to be tested as I've never reacted to anything else. I just drink cider instead.
posted by joannemerriam at 10:05 AM on June 17, 2007

I get this too, but it's more of a feeling like I'm suddenly so full that I want to ralph...I just figured it was the sugar content. Hmm. I just drink right through it (it generally passes), and I've never had a really severe hangover from beer.
posted by crinklebat at 10:10 AM on June 17, 2007

I used to be allergic to hops (tested as a child for food allergies before I drank beer). As a young man I didn't like beer at all. Maybe this was the reason. I eventually grew out of it (and out of my dislike for the brew).
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 10:11 AM on June 17, 2007

Perhaps a lambic? Dried hops are used instead of fresh ones, resulting in a milder hops flavor. They're also fermented with different yeast(s) than the standard brewer's yeast. I don't know if that would make a difference, but it's every bit as tasty as a wheat.

Though I tend to avoid beer and red wine during my hayfever season, because it makes my allergies worse.
posted by deinemutti at 10:32 AM on June 17, 2007

Sounds like an intolerance, and it's quite common for them to develop later in life (eg, as the result of exposure to a virus).

Or so an NHS endocrinologist told me last year, as he explained how it was that even a splash of milk on my cornflakes could leave me in stomach-cramping misery.
posted by MinPin at 12:54 PM on June 17, 2007