Hi, all. I have a rather odd alcohol-related (sort of) question.
In the past, I’ve found that drinking red wine often makes my skin turn red in the face (mostly under the eyes), along with the chest and sometimes the back. It doesn’t itch, I don’t feel weird (other than maybe a little warm in those areas), and it goes away within a few minutes, an hour tops. I figured, OK, I’m allergic somehow to red wine. No big deal; I’ll just avoid red wine, since I’m not that fond of it anyway.
Now the weird part. I’ve never had this happen with anything except red wine: not white wine, not beer, not mixed drinks. That is, until yesterday. My friend brought me back some beer from Canada (Labatt’s Ice), and the same thing happened. I should add that this isn’t after drinking a whole lot of it, just one bottle. I should also add that I drink maybe 3-4 drinks (mostly beer) per week, and this has never happened before, except, like I said, with red wine. Again, I felt fine, but my wife pointed out that “that skin thing” was happening again.
What might be the reason? Is there some ingredient or enzyme or something that is found only in red wine and Labatt’s Beer from Canada, but not in other beers? I find this unlikely. So why might my skin so selective as to why it chooses to become red and blotchy? If anyone else has had this experience, I’d love to hear about it and what causes it. Thanks!
Can’t help you here, but I once knew a guy whose face turned red after drinking any amount of any kind of alcohol.
It looked kind of like a medium sunburn, or as if he was ‘red in the face’ from exerting himself. He was fair-skinned, with blondish hair, and Eastern-European. (Jewish. I mention this recalling a factiod from years ago that Jews may be prone to be more sensitive toward alcohol, and because this person mentioned it to me.)
See, that’s the thing. I’d heard of tannins being a factor in the red wine thing; that’s why I just don’t drink red wine anymore. But the beer? Beer doesn’t have tannins, does it? Again, it was only this one beer: Canadian Labatt’s Ice. I’ve had Labatt’s Blue (American version, though…I wonder if that makes a difference) recently with no problems.
Very mysterious. Maybe it was just a bad batch of beer I sampled? I wonder if I should go try another today and see what happens.
Except that sulfite levels tend to be higher in white wine than in red.
In beer, you’ll get different minor components depending on the brewing process and variety of yeast. I doubt that anyone’s really dug into the ability of different beers to cause rashes. Immune sensitivity in people also varies with time, so what irritates one time may not do so a second time. I’d give the Labatt’s Ice one more shot, but prepare to lay off it forever if it causes trouble again.
Pure speculation here, but your recent change in skin color after drinking alcohol may be related to a declining tolerance rather than the type of alcoholic beverage.
If this had been the first beer I’d had in months, I’d say OK. But that wasn’t the case; I’d had Labatt’s Blue a day or two before (maybe 2 or 3 of them) at the Elks Lodge. I’d had a couple of Pabsts a day or two before that, and some Sam Adams stout the day before that, all with no ill effects.
Maybe I’ll try what squink recommends. It won’t be a tragedy to lay off of the Labatt’s Ice if it does happen again; it’s not that good, in my opinion. But I would feel bad about having a whole case and not be able to drink it. I guess I could give it to those at the Superbowl party next week.
Thanks for the input everyone, and if anyone else has any advice/theories, let me know.