Little bummed out, hops shortage?????

I have been making beer now for a couple of years now. 8 batches in I found an easy drinking American Wheat recipe that is outstanding. So I go to my local homebrew shop and ask to get it together and I am told that their is a shortage on Amarillo hops. So I then ask to make a clone of Alpha King and I told the same thing that hops I need are not available yet. I found some Amarillo online (some days that have it some days they don't). Whats going on?

Btw how safe is it to order hops on line? I am concerned about spoilage in transit.

Humer

Many of us order them online regularly. Should be no problem at all.

Part of the problem is increased demand. There is a lot more brewing out there than there used to be.

Part of the problem also is decreased supply. For example, the hops warehouse fire will be problem in the market until the 2007 crop comes out and is processed. Just about every brewer I talk to right now is a bit anxious about it and coming up with contigency plans.


TL

TexLaw said:

Part of the problem is increased demand. There is a lot more brewing out there than there used to be.

Part of the problem also is decreased supply. For example, the hops warehouse fire will be problem in the market until the 2007 crop comes out and is processed. Just about every brewer I talk to right now is a bit anxious about it and coming up with contigency plans.


TL

Click to expand...

Supply issues, yes. The fire, not really.

Threads on this already:
http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=41321
http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42471
http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=38617