Growing Hops is a great idea if you dont want Aphids in your beer!!

Heres a link i read about bugs in foods, read the section about Aphids. Its reads "The FDA legally allows 2,500 aphids for every 10 grams of hops" WOW!!:


http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/grossest-bugs-you-dont-know-youre-eating

Aren't there aphids on home-grown hops?

We're going start needing an Alpha Aphids value with our hops.

Whirlfloc should take care of them.

At 2500 per 10 grams wouldn't that be more aphid than hop? The FDA also allows a certain level of fecal matter in and on food as well...better stop eating.

Wulfman said:

Heres a link i read about bugs in foods, read the section about Aphids. Its reads "The FDA legally allows 2,500 aphids for every 10 grams of hops" WOW!!:


http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/grossest-bugs-you-dont-know-youre-eating

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An aphid is between 500μg and 1mg. That means you're getting 1.25g and 2.5g of aphid per 10g of hops. That is the live weight though and I'm assuming the 10g of hops is dried. So, if you assume an aphid is about 75% water (like most living animals) and is lowered to 10% water content which is about the water content of dried hops, you're looking at 4375mg to 8750mg per 10g so .... approximately 4% - 9% of your dried hops is probably bugs.

Gross.

Do aphids add bitterness?

Wait......

Weevils in the grain, aphids on the hops, you could make a 2 bugged brown IPA.

uberg33k said:

An aphid is between 500μg and 1mg. That means you're getting 1.25g and 2.5g of aphid per 10g of hops. That is the live weight though and I'm assuming the 10g of hops is dried. So, if you assume an aphid is about 75% water (like most living animals) and is lowered to 10% water content which is about the water content of dried hops, you're looking at 4375mg to 8750mg per 10g so .... approximately 4% - 9% of your dried hops is probably bugs.

Gross.

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I wouldn't say is probably, but could possibly be up to. You eat a lot of bugs every day whether homegrown or store-bought. Just not aware. You eat a lot of crap and too, and one of the best fertilizers out there is crap. It didn't hurt you to eat your food after you dropped it when you were a kid, and it generally isn't going to do a thing now either.

dbhokie said:

I wouldn't say is probably, but could possibly be up to. You eat a lot of bugs every day whether homegrown or store-bought. Just not aware. You eat a lot of crap and too, and one of the best fertilizers out there is crap. It didn't hurt you to eat your food after you dropped it when you were a kid, and it generally isn't going to do a thing now either.

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Oh, I realize there are lots of bugs/poop that are permissible in food and we're consuming it all the time. It's just a bit gross to actually crunch the numbers and realize how much that actually is. Unfortunately, bugs and poop are not the grossest things you find in processed food.

better then pesticides in the hops.

Did u see the news on what is happening to people in places like china that throws hormones and pesticides in the veggies without xare to the final products.

Its a double edge sword.

Ive always know there are bugs in everyday food, but to see numbers is intersting...

Nothing a good boil and sparge through a packed grain- bed can't take care of...!

protein....i've heard some stories from big breweries that are stripping bails and find things like: birds, lizards, rats, mice, tools, and even a finger and i mean who doesn't like some fresh metacarpal in their IPA?

Wonder if the extra protein would cause haze..?

steadfasthops said:

i mean who doesn't like some fresh metacarpal in their IPA?

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You want a metatarsal? I'll get you a metatarsal. Heck, I can get you a metatarsal with nail polish by 3pm. :rockin:

I get aphids on my hops. They all take off when I throw the cones in the dehydrator. After about a day, you can see them crawling around the outside. If you ever smash one with your finger and happen to smell it, they smell awful. I'm pretty sure I don't end up with too many in my dried hops. If I do, it hasn't affected my beer any.

You should probably try to keep aphids off of your hops while they are growing as well. Not the best creatures for the plants! Insecticidal soap works.

Don't ever drink a wet hopped beer (homegrown or commercial) if you don't want aphids in your beer. I attempted to dry some of my first year nuggets last year in a paper bag in the sun. I should have taken a picture of the aphid ball that formed at the folded closed opening from them trying to escape. Compared to my willamette and cascades, these were very clean looking hops but the ball of aphids that crawled out was more than an inch in diameter. I stopped dry hopping because of what I saw.

Who cares, most of the hops brewed with the beer so I'm sure it kills everything. The alcohol probably kills any that were dry hopped.

uberg33k said:

approximately 4% - 9% of your dried hops is probably bugs.

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AA%: 4-9% (Approximate Aphids)

great, another stat to keep track of on my spreadsheet...

bhughes said:

Who cares, most of the hops brewed with the beer so I'm sure it kills everything. The alcohol probably kills any that were dry hopped.

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this. i'm really not worried about aphids, or other bugs, in my hops. their flavor contribution is certainly negligible to non-existent compared to everything else that goes in there, and if anything they add a smidgen of nutrition

sweetcell said:

this. i'm really not worried about aphids, or other bugs, in my hops. their flavor contribution is certainly negligible to non-existent compared to everything else that goes in there, and if anything they add a smidgen of nutrition

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Squish and aphid and then smell your fingers. You might change your mind.

I would agree though that bugs are less of a worry for throwing off flavors compared to pesticides.

I like poop and small organisms in my grain-based snacks and beverages. As homebrewers, we are all united by a common love of yeast piss/poop - in my case, I have a particular affinity for belgian yeast piss. The organic world is a disgusting place if you are both learned and squeemish.

And those are the FDA allowable amounts. I doubt that you will get close to the allowable amounts unless you DO grow your own hops and get an infestation at harvest time or while drying.

If you worry too much about s#*t like this it will give you ulcers!

http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Tick_Beer_Brewery

sweetcell said:

AA%: 4-9% (Approximate Aphids)

great, another stat to keep track of on my spreadsheet...

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Thanks. I actually laughed out loud at my desk when I read this.

Bugs in your beer? Meh.


I have five kids. New parents amuse me to no end. Sanitizing pacifiers, throwing dropped potatoe chips away...

I'm at the point now that there IS no five second rule. If a kid finds something edible on the ground, and it's not covered in hair/dirt, and it's not mummified in the couch cushions, they eat it. Heck, sometimes, they do, anyway.

My kids are quite healthy.

cheezydemon3 said:

Do aphids add bitterness?

Wait......

Weevils in the grain, aphids on the hops, you could make a 2 bugged brown IPA.

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They do create bitterness.

Like my wife, they generate a lot of honeydo. And that just leads to bitterness.