Should we be concerned about chemicals and pesticides on grain and hops?

U recently made a tea from sone hops to sample the flavour and aroma but i was left with a harsh chemical after taste and slightly numb mouth.

Got me thinking. But here in UK quality organic grains are hard to find and hops even harder.

Any ideas?

I don't use organic grains and am not concerned about it.
Compared to the crap put into commercially brewed beer I think home brewers are quite ahead of the purity issue.
It's all relative.

Oh, boy. Here we go....

Can we have some facts, please? We LOVE to tell ourselves scary stories, but let's not tell lies.

Pahlavan, are you aware that high hop concentrations can cause numbness? Brewers report it about certain IPAs, all the time. The reason is phenols and tannins found in the plant. Phenols are part of Listerine and Chloroseptic, giving them a tingly, numbing sensation. These hop phenols are part of why hops are anti bacterial in beer.

Pesticide use on hops is well thought out. The University of Oregon has one of the best hop development programs in the world. Here are their guidelines:
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/24001/CLNO589.pdf?sequence=1

A hop tea made your mouth a bit numb and you're then going to go after malt? Seriously?

Perhaps you're not aware that malting barley is the highest quality available? In fact, there's just two categories: malting barley, and everything else. Malting requires extensive time in water, being spritzed with water, then time in a kiln. Once malted, there aren't even trace amounts of pesticide, if there were any to begin with.

Sorry, Baron. You're usually right on the spot with information, but this one isn't a credible source. She has so many errors with logic, facts, chemistry and processes that it takes a whole article to explain.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/scam-stud/

Maybe two....

http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/new-yellow-journalism/

That blogger uses guilt by association, manipulative wording and deceptive sound-alike tactics.

On the subject of Organic, I think every brewer should spend at least a year brewing with only organic ingredients. The sheer scarcity of organics in brewing will change the way a brewer thinks about flavor development and goals in brewing. It certainly will improve brewing skills. Besides, more demand may lead to more products!  8)

On a practical level, making consistent organic recipes is a huge challenge. Weyermann has a little over a dozen, Crisp one, Gambrinus one. Great Western and Briess each have nine. Compare these to the much larger array available from each, much less the overall market. They seem to change a lot depending on if the certification is current.

For beer, field pesticides are not a concern. Going organic is more about one's own feelings on ecological stewardship for environmental impact. With (my opinion) New Zealand coming in at the top, and the US probably lowest. Yet, to buy exclusively organics from NZ would be more than offset by my carbon footprint to get it all to me.

Good gawd... I'm bud-yellow with embarrassment.
I should have done a bit more research before posting....OK.. A LOT more research.
I have a cursory knowledge that commercial beers do put additives in to stabilize bottled beer for better storage in fluctuating temperatures. Is that bad? Likely not.
Thanks for an informative post brewfun. And calling me out on my bad one.

Baron Von MunchKrausen said:

Thanks for an informative post brewfun. And calling me out on my bad one.

Click to expand...

Bah! If I haven't made a mistake all day, I haven't gotten out of bed.  ;D

Thanks guys. Its always good to ask

I just wonder why people are not concerned about chemicals and pesticides on grain and hops!! You know when I hired pest control and Termite inspection mid north coast they told me harmful effects of these chemicals. We should consider all these things while buying grain.

Such an informative thread it is! My dad and mom both are really concerned about pesticides and chemicals on grains. Nearby my home there are bed bugs which are really dangerous! So we usually search online on how to treat bed bug bites immediately.