Hop shortage?

My LHBS mentioned that they already have limits on select hops that you can buy. I know there was a shortage in 2008 but is this something that happens every year?

no, this doesn't happen every year. we actually had a glut of hops after the shortage a few years ago.

I have not looked at any news on the hop harvest from 2010, so I cannot comment on what the crop was like. But, I wonder if they are just imposing limits on the extremely popular strains so that nobody walks into his store to find that ht is out of something.

For example: I know that simcoe tends to run out of stock WAY before many other strains because it is so popular for american pales and IPAs.

Did he tell you which varieties he is imposing limits on?

To expand upon "Walker"'s comments, I think this is behaving like other shortages. Shortages produce hoarding behavior, and it's very possible people (and commercial operations) are still hoarding hops, to some extent. I think it's important to know, as was mentioned, which hops are being rationed by your LHBS, and then see if they are available elsewhere, say, online. I ordered a big bunch of stuff, including a half-dozen varieties of hops, from Northern Brewer a month ago, and didn't see any sign that anything was being rationed.

This is analogous to what went on for about two years with some kinds of ammunition and components. Same kind of behavior, shortages, rationing by vendors. Now it's all evaporated, except for certain kinds of components, and I imagine it's because some people are still pack-ratting it away....

My LHBS ran out of a few varieties of hops and says he is having a hard time getting them.

He ran out of Amarillo and that is one of my faves. So I ordered a pound of them online. I use them a lot so they won't last long.

There's also an issue of shifting demand between varietals. I was talking to a hops distributor and he was saying that a few strains every year are just way more in demand than expected (he mentioned Amarillo specifically), and can fall into very short supply even if general hops levels are healthy.

Amarillo, Columbus, and Simicoe were on the board along with 4 - 5 others. It was packed and I was in a hurry so I dont remember all of them.

My recipe called for 3 oz of Cent. hops and 1 oz Warrior he checked the board to make sure cent. wasnt on the board.

Have your LHBS check with LD Carlson. They still had many of the "rare" varieties as of a couple of weeks ago, at least as whole hops.

I have heard Amarillo will be in short supply this year. I grabbed the last two 1 OZ packs of Amarillo from my LHBS last night. I am sure it's a little over hyped, but I have heard lots of people saying it may be a short enough supply that even some small commercial breweries will need to reformulate a recipe or two...

BTW is was LD Carlson pellet Amarillo...

I haven't been all that happy with the selection of hops at any of the LHBS I've gone to the past few months. I just ordered a couple lbs of various varieties from freshops and have been very happy. They had most things in stock and as long as I order them early in the week they'll be in my mailbox in time for Saturday's brewing. Also, it's cheaper than buying from my LHBS which is an extra bonus.