Why do I break out in a red rash (head,neck,arms,stomach) after a couple of beers?

Question

Why do I break out in a red rash (head,neck,arms,stomach) after a couple of beers?

Answer 1

You are probably allergic to the yeast and/or the Hops in the beer. Could also be the malt, even the barley/grain. You might try a few brands. My suggestion is to find another drink.

Answer 2

You just might be allergic to something in the beer. Hops, Corn, Barley. Malt or the way that it is made. Technically beer is all of those ingredient heated up and allowed to ferment or go bad. Maybe your system can't handle the corn, barley, hops or malt that has gone bad.

Answer 3

Beer can cause allergic type of reactions for some people, due to several factors:

The Hops - or the female flower cone of the Hop plant, is used to help flavor and stabilize beer, and because of it's rather good relationship with yeast, it almost intensifies the yeast in beer, which for many people with allergies, is NOT a good thing.

Yeast is the other ingredient which tends to give people with allergies - problems, and depending on the amount of yeast, AND the amount of Hops that are added to different beers, it can really give 'allergic' people, a run for their money.

Your reaction could be to either the Hops, or the Yeast, or to both, so the only real way for you to figure it out, is to try different beers with different levels of hops and yeast.

Otherwise, take an antihistamine such as benadryl before having a few, and be careful, because alcohol and benadryl or other medications can be a dangerous combination :-(.

Definitely best to stick to 'light' beer, or those with less flavor to minimize the reaction. Coors light has become my beer of choice, not because I necessarily like the 'lack' of flavor, but because i can usually get away with NOT taking an antihistamine when drinking it :-).

ALSO: If you indulge in chinese takeout, another problem for you if you tend to have allergies, is MSG (monosodium glutamate). It can cause allergies for some people and terrible migraines for some.

2 weeks ago

Source(s):

My 30 yr history of severe allergies (yes, to hops and yeast both), MSG, and my medical training.

Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/...

http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/ind...

http://www.greydragon.org/library/hops.h...

and from the below listed website comes this warning:

Hops allergy has been reported in a patient with previous severe allergic reactions from peanut, chestnut and banana. Therefore, people allergic to any of these agents should avoid hops.

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSI...

Answer 4

You are allergic to something in the beer.  You are probably going to have to give it up to stop the rash from happening.