Allergic to Beer? Please say it aint so!!!!

I've been brewing for a little over a year and have discovered that I am allergic to certain beers.  I get a nasty sinus reaction about 2/3 of a pint in.  It's not just my beers either.  Several local micro breweries around town have various beers that do the same thing.  I've been told all sorts of things from hops to yeast could be the culprit. 

Three of my beers caused a reaction, so I tried doing some comparisons of ingredients.  Nothing in mine matched, or I had the same in another brew that didn't effect me.  Yeast makes the most sense to me since I have a mold allergy anyway.

Love to hear if someone has figured this out....

G

If yeast is the culprit (as I'm sure you already know, mold and yeast are both fungus), then filtering might help. Microbrews are less likely to be filtered, so it would make sense that they set you off while more commercial beers do not.  I've got a filtering rig that I used to clear a really cloudy pumpkin ale, but it requires a couple kegs and some gas pressure to push the beer through it. I assume that the lower the micron rating of the filter, the more pressure it takes. Gravity probably won't cut it.  So if you aren't set up to keg, I'm not sure how you could filter it.  Depending on your health insurance coverage, it may be worth it to see an allergist just to know for sure.  I couldn't imagine being allergic to beer. That would suck. I'm lactose intolerant, so that limits my diet. But no beer? Man.  You gotta figure this out.

This has to be the saddest post I've ever come across.

Strange that nothing really stood out from a comparison of ingredients. Like Maine Homebrewer said, it may be worth it to see a medical professional. Or, for the love of beer, continue experimenting on yourself until you can narrow down the culprit (DO NOT do this if your reaction is severe, I don't want to be held accountable )

Considering you have a mold allergy, yeast does seem to be the most likely culprit. Since it sounds like you observed certain yeast strains were fine for one brew but caused a reaction in another brew you might want to consider looking for a trend in other variables like:
- %ABV: Impacts yeast activity during fermentation
- Fermentation temperature: Impacts yeast activity and flocculation during fermentation
- (If bottling) how much priming sugar your using: Impacts yeast activity in bottles

Hope that whatever you're allergic to you can figure it out, I can't image a world without beer.

Hi, sorry to hear of your allergy but I'm willing to bet it's caused by histamine in the beer. Maybe try an antihistamine with your MD's blessing before enjoying (hopefully) your beer?
The histamine content varies in different beers with top fermented ones apparently having higher concentrations.
Best of luck, life without beer-Oh dear!

I too sometimes have allergic reactions to beer (shortness of breath, asthma), although it's difficult to pin-point which ones because it's often impossible to know what's in the drink's complex cocktail, or what my prior state of system sensitivity is. The website http://www.md-health.com/Beer-Allergy.html hints at the multi-causal nature of the problem. I enjoy wine and beer too much to give it up, but I always drink in moderation and keep an inhaler nearby. Also drink water, too. (And keep your health insurance up-to-day!). You should be tested by an allergist: the problem may lie not with the beer per se but due to ingredients (sulfates, various sugars, gluten, yeast, other proteins) in other drinks and foods.