The hop shortage

[Beerthoven]

I have about 6 lbs in my freezer right now. 1.25# Amarillo, 1# U.S. Goldings, 1.25# Willamette, 1# Summit, .5# Pac Gem, and 2-4 oz each of EKG, Tettnang, Perle, and Challenger. I'll be careful and hope that is enough to get me through the year.

Since SWMBO likes IPAs the best, I'll buy kits for some of those brews in order to stretch out the hops I have. I've already brewed one IPA kit and purchased another so far this year just to conserve on my own hops.

I'm planning on planting at least two varieties of hops this year, too.

 

[RICLARK]

in BYO they said the 2007 crop will be pretty much useless they said that if you actually do get Saaz.. They will only be about 1 % aau and Hallertaur and cascade will be obsolete.

 

[cubbies]

The hop prices are one thing, the temporary unavailability is another, but the possibility of certain strands simply going away is the main problem. The hops will be back, and like most things that cause hysteria, it likely wont be as bad as expected. However, it is very possible that some varieties, even popular ones, will never be back.

What concerns me is in the BYO article it mentions that low AA hops are very likely to go away for good. It makes sense. If you can get more poundage per acre, and more money per pound for the higher AA stuff, any logical person would plant the high AA hops. However, I almost never use high AA hops. My favorite hops are EKG, Fuggles, Mt Hood, Hallertau and Liberty. It is reasonably feasible that these could simply go away. I doubt it, but it is possible.

Me personally, I have gotten by fine. I rarely, if ever, use any of the big C's, so that hasn't been a problem for me, and the hops I do use, I have plenty of to last me a while. Hopefully when the time comes, I will be able to get some of my favorites. Particularly EKG. My beers simply would not be the same without EKG. IMO, there is no substitute.

 

[z987k]

Good thing I like wheat beers, both wits and hefewiezens are low IBU. What I figured I can do is get a high AA hop and use less of it. I got some warrior, nugget and simcoe on hand all above 13%. I figured I'd make a wit and hefe out of 1 oz of simcoe.

 

[jds]

All this time, I've been telling myself 'don't panic, don't panic'.

I panicked, and ordered about 18 Oz of various hops form Freshops. I hope the LHBS doesn't run out of Columbus any time soon...

 

[BarleyWater]

I panicked too, got 14oz from homebrew heaven for no reason, just picked out a good selection. They had the best price to selection ratio that I found, with a better selection than almost everyone else, and prices not over the $3 per ounce mark yet.

Austin Homebrew, my main shop, has moved their hop arrival date back 3 times now, and are charging $3.50 to $4.50 per ounce for their small selection. I love my big C's, but couldn't imagine Fuggles or Hallertau going away either. Oh the horror, the horror of it all.

 

[Mustangj]

I ordered lb of Saaz. Will see what happens.

I just got an E-Mail from Brew it yourself. 28.25 for plugs and 34.91 for loose + shipping.

 

[Seabee John]

I guess I panicked a little too... I'm up to 42 oz of different varieties...

 

[Chriso]

You could say I'm planning for a few months from now. Just vacuum sealed the last of it tonight.

 

[Brew-boy]

I love me those IPA'S as well but have been cutting back to just pale ales to get me buy. I have about a years worth of hops in the freezer as well. I might be doing more German style beers so I wont need as much hops. Last year I planted N.Brewer,Centennial, and Sterling hops this year I will add more to the farm...lol

 

[EinGutesBier]

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with everyone's preparedness for the hop situation. I only started brewing last August so I have about 12 ounces of Galena, a little bit of Willamette, Saaz and a couple other noble hops. Not much though. Luckily, I've been doing only Belgian ales lately, which doesn't really require a lot of hops. Especially the lambics I'm planning on. Even now I'm not in a good financial position to buy hops, even for whatever deals are left out there, so I'm hoping that when Spring comes I can get some rhizomes and get a decent initial "crop" by this fall.

 

[sleepystevenson]

My favorite hops are EKG, Fuggles, Mt Hood, Hallertau and Liberty. It is reasonably feasible that these could simply go away. I doubt it, but it is possible.

Me personally, I have gotten by fine. I rarely, if ever, use any of the big C's, so that hasn't been a problem for me, and the hops I do use, I have plenty of to last me a while. Hopefully when the time comes, I will be able to get some of my favorites. Particularly EKG. My beers simply would not be the same without EKG. IMO, there is no substitute.

Hey Cubbies -

Sounds like we have the same hop tastes. I use EKG and Fuggles nearly every batch. To me, you gotta have em for those stouts!

I recently acquired about 3 pounds of mt. hoods, though...
I see you like them, so I thought you might be able to recommend some good recipes and/or styles?

Thanks!

 

[Seabee John]

Just put in my pre-order for Rhizomes up at Midwest...

 

[Mustangj]

Just put in my pre-order for Rhizomes up at Midwest...

What can you expect out of one vine the first season?

 

[Seabee John]

What can you expect out of one vine the first season?

That varies depending on the soil, light conditions, watering...and of course... who you ask. I've heard anywhere from expect nothing to reports of a full pound (dried) at the end of season one. Since this is my first attempt, I plan on killing them all like the rest of my plants. If I get any the first year I'll be happy.

 

[Mustangj]

I plan on killing them all like the rest of my plants. If I get any the first year I'll be happy.

LOL.... I'm going to give it a try also. I Know some farmers and my dad is a master gardner so maybe they can help me out.

 

[Chriso]

Me growing them is a lot of work, and I have a funky back yard. My parents, on the other hand, are avid gardeners. Humm. Maybe I know what Mothers' Day present is this year. Some Fuggles or something.

 

[Brew Runner]

I often say that "plants usually survive in spite of the care they receive."

My hops are stuck in some nasty decomposed granite that I'm sure is exhausted by now. They're coming out in the next week so I can relocate them to better soil. Fortunately the rhizomes have multiplied. Unfortunately none of them are high alpha varieties. I would have some Centennial if a certain HBS hadn't shipped the rhizomes late in the week, meaning they sat in a UPS warehouse over a hot May weekend and died.

 

[Fender230]

I just got finished reading this whole thread and went down to my LHBS to get some supplies for a pale ale (sort of turned into an IPA) I am brewing tomorrow. I called ahead to make sure they had the hops that I was looking for and they did so I proceeded down. Reading this thread I expected huge prices for poor hops. I paid a bit more but not that much... $2 an ounce for Bramling Cross and $2.50 for cascade. I mentioned this to the proprietor of the establishment and he said some places (particularly online) are experiencing tons of panic buying and that is why the prices have sharply curved up to $6+ on certain varieties.

Basically there is a shortage but it isn't that bad... no potato famine going on here. Prices will go down eventually and I am sure that this is going to cause a surplus year where people can go back to using ridiculous amounts of hops without a care. Markets are cyclical, there will be another shortage and there will be another surplus. Neither will heavily effect your beer unless you don't like to substitute... but then again I am a 22yr old fairly newbie and haven't gotten set in my ways.

Relax, have a homebrew and such.

 

[olllllo]

I just got finished reading this whole thread and went down to my LHBS to get some supplies for a pale ale (sort of turned into an IPA) I am brewing tomorrow. I called ahead to make sure they had the hops that I was looking for and they did so I proceeded down. Reading this thread I expected huge prices for poor hops. I paid a bit more but not that much... $2 an ounce for Bramling Cross and $2.50 for cascade. I mentioned this to the proprietor of the establishment and he said some places (particularly online) are experiencing tons of panic buying and that is why the prices have sharply curved up to $6+ on certain varieties.

Basically there is a shortage but it isn't that bad... no potato famine going on here. Prices will go down eventually and I am sure that this is going to cause a surplus year where people can go back to using ridiculous amounts of hops without a care. Markets are cyclical, there will be another shortage and there will be another surplus. Neither will heavily effect your beer unless you don't like to substitute... but then again I am a 22yr old fairly newbie and haven't gotten set in my ways.

Relax, have a homebrew and such.

Most feel that the cycle you speak of is a 2-3 year one.
Go the brewingnetwork and listen to the Sunday Session show with Ralph from HopUnion.

On another note, I'll paraphrase because I was drunk at the time. Some of us had the pleasure of speaking with Ray McNeil recently and he basically said the hop shortage was the reason he had to scale back his expansion plans on the order of 30%*.

*again I was drunk, but it was a significant %.

 

[Chello]

Yesterday i ordered 1lb of Cascade Leaf hops for $22.00 shipped to my door from www.morebeer.com. They have them $4.20 per 4oz. I just couldn't resist that kind of price for such a versatile hop.

 

[Jekster]

Yesterday i ordered 1lb of Cascade Leaf hops for $22.00 shipped to my door from www.morebeer.com. They have them $4.20 per 4oz. I just couldn't resist that kind of price for such a versatile hop.

That's a damn good price. Since the price has gone up to $6.00 shipped. =/

 

[Chello]

Your looking at the pellets. The whole leaf hops are still priced as $4.20 per 4oz but says Temp. out of stock....

 

[Mustangj]

I ordered 12oz of Cascade Leaf hops from More Beer and they called me today.
They will be out of stock for a week to ten days.

 

[Kharz]

They shipped me 1.5 lbs of cascade yesterday and 1 lb of Willamette yesterday in Pellet form. $6 per 4 oz ... which seems like a pretty good deal these days

 

[Mustangj]

They shipped me 1.5 lbs of cascade yesterday and 1 lb of Willamette yesterday in Pellet form. $6 per 4 oz ... which seems like a pretty good deal these days

Ya I see how you are. They set you my hops. LOL .........J/K

 

[Kharz]

Heh, in their defense ... I have spent over $1,500 there in the past 6 months I started this hobby last spring and have gotten a little obsessed with it ....

I personally love Morebeer for everything. Their communications, quality, and availability of stuff is amazing. About 95% of all of my business goes there ... and I live in Connecticut!!

 

[Mustangj]

I just had to pull your chain.

 

[z987k]

$9.99 for 1lb of Nugget, saw it at the lhbs so i had to buy it.

 

[Chello]

$9.99 for 1lb of Nugget, saw it at the lhbs so i had to buy it.

Wow... thats cheap for 2 years ago...