Has anyone brewed all organic?

I find myself eating more organic stuff and I find the taste to be noticably different with some foods. I can't really stomach non organic milk and eggs anymore. I am thinking of trying an all organic brew but I would have to mail order the ingredients and I'm wondering if anyone notices a difference.

I brewed an all organic Hefe and it turned out awesome. Regardless or whether it's organic or not, good quality ingredients will make a great beer no matter what as long as your process is good. Most of the "bad stuff" associated with inorganic ingredients evaporates off in the boil so the main reason to brew organically is too support organic farms and methods and to decrease the negative effects pesticies and petroleum based fertilizers have on the environment. I got my stuff from Seven Bridges, they have a great selection of organic ingredients.

Hi Patirck. I brew organic, by which I mean I use certified organic grains and hops. Where is Glendale? Are you anywhere near Seven Bridges Co-op? www.breworganic.org

I buy organic base grain in bulk (55 lb bags) which helps with the cost. The cost of hops isn't bad. Overall, it is a little more expensive than non-organic brewing, but I still brew a typical 5 gallon batch for around $15 -18.

I'm certain I could not pick out an organic beer from a regularly brewed beer in a blind tasting - there's way too many other factors. But that's not why I use organic ingredients, as Jon said above.

Besides the Seven Bridges, here's a couple of other links you might find interesting:

http://beeractivist.com/
http://www.beardedbrewing.org/
http://www.peakbrewing.com/
http://bisonbrew.com/organic-beer
http://www.greenamerica.org/pubs/realgreen/articles/beerandwine.cfm
http://www.singingboysbrewing.com (our little brew site for family and friends)

Forgot to mention, Bison was on the brewnetwork a few weeks ago. Good interview about organic brewing. His assistant/marketing lady is an idiot though. She says something about GHGs being less with organic. As someone who counts GHGs for large companies as part of my job, I can say with certaintly that she is full is $h!t.

GHG = green house gas, Jon?

I think that the production of commercial fertilizers uses a lot of energy, which often leads to green house gases (electric plants that burn coal, for example), I would think. But I didn't hear the interview, so don't know what she was talking about, of course.

I have wondered about using organic hops that come from New Zealand or other far-away lands. The carbon foot-print of shipping is a serious concern, perhaps outweighing the concern for using certified organic hops. That's why its been great that in the last two years there seems to be more organic hop growers here in the USA. Glen Fuller in Colorado is great to work with http://www.coloradoorganichops.com/

I am not near Seven Bridges - they are up north near Santa Clara (a little south of San Francisco) and I am near L.A.. I exchanged some email with the big grain wholesaler to see if there was a retail outlet that stocks organic grains closer to L.A. but so far, no luck. I have had a few LHBS offer to special order a sack for me but that is a big commitment and the shipping costs are pretty high. I may end up ordering just enough for a 5 gallon batch to try it out.