It seems to me that the hop shortage panic has been reduced, in my opinion due to economic times. I see few if any brew suppliers limited hops; I see prices coming down and inventories up. It points to a couple of possible things:
1. The hop shortage was more hype than reality where prices were driven more by the perception of a shortage than an actual shortage.
2. Less people are brewing right now or brewing less, leaving more hops to be had.
However, because the perception of a shortage caused growers to jack their prices, suppliers bought at higher prices and are selling at higher prices, although in some cases, a lack of demand is reducing prices slightly (at least at the places I looked into or buy from).
And when hops were supposedly short and the panic was peaking, hops on ebay were flying with multiple bids and ridiculous prices. Now, the majority of hops listed have no bids.
My suggestion is to start looking for better prices because supply is steady and demand is dropping, thereby making it a buyers market!!!
1. The hop shortage was more hype than reality where prices were driven more by the perception of a shortage than an actual shortage.
2. Less people are brewing right now or brewing less, leaving more hops to be had.
However, because the perception of a shortage caused growers to jack their prices, suppliers bought at higher prices and are selling at higher prices, although in some cases, a lack of demand is reducing prices slightly (at least at the places I looked into or buy from).
And when hops were supposedly short and the panic was peaking, hops on ebay were flying with multiple bids and ridiculous prices. Now, the majority of hops listed have no bids.
My suggestion is to start looking for better prices because supply is steady and demand is dropping, thereby making it a buyers market!!!