The hop shortage

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

~ A temporary overlap in suppliers creates a glut and the pricing pendulum swings.

~ Prices deteriorate to "give away" levels, as the market attempts to balance inventories.

*** and then ***

We all go back to brewing IIPA's with 2 pounds of hops per 10-gallon batch..

The distributer I deal with says he figures price rise for the next year then a drop to around current prices. This also has a lot to do with hop farmers considering going corn for ethanol as it pays better.

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

I was just looking at the Northern Brewer site and was aghast at their hops prices. I don't think I'll be buying any hops from them for awhile.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I'ts not corn it's grapevines. You can make a lot mor emoney in Yakima valley off vines than hops. For years growers have been complaining about not getting enough for hops.

There is a hop shortage and some distributers are hoarding to make more profit. An honest distrubuter I know told me prices will likey climb a bit further over the next 3-4 months then drop down to about what they are today and stay there for a bout 2-3 years, with shortages of certain varieties. One problem is lower than normal alpha content in a lot of varieties.
http://beerandwindfilter.com

Talk to Bob and tell him Denny sent you.

I just talked to Bob, he said the FDA is giving him problems shipping to the US they get $60 just for the inspection fee and then higher duties and taxes due to the FDA classifying it as a food product. He is making some calls but it doesn't sound too promising for US shipping.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I just talked to Bob, he said the FDA is giving him problems shipping to the US they get $60 just for the inspection fee and then higher duties and taxes due to the FDA classifying it as a food product. He is making some calls but it doesn't sound too promising for US shipping.

Yeah, he mentioned that to me. Kinda screwy when the hops come from the US in the first place. Canada doesn't care when they ship em this way.

 

[the_bird]

I was just looking at the Northern Brewer site and was aghast at their hops prices. I don't think I'll be buying any hops from them for awhile.

Where you going to buy them from, then?

I'm more and more thankful that I've got enough stockpiled to get me through the year.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Where you going to buy them from, then?

I'm more and more thankful that I've got enough stockpiled to get me through the year.

SHAZAM! How big is your current supply? I have quite a bit left, but I just don't see it lasting me the rest of the year.

 

[the_bird]

Well, I bought a pound each of Cascade and Fuggles from hopsdirect right before they shut down, so read that as two pounds each. Bought a (true) pound of Tettnag from NB as the shortage was heating up, as well. So, that gives me a baseline for American, British, and German beers. Those are all whole hops, I still have a decent amount of pellets around (bought a pound of Amarillo pellets before the shortage, have some bulk Centenial, and assorted things here and there). All frozen, all the bulk hops are vacuum-sealed (as least as well as that freakin' Reynolds thing will work).

So, I'm a LONG ways from panic mode. Made an investment in some excess inventory when the market was getting heated, now I'm glad that I did.

 

[Homercidal]

I feel good that I don't brew as much as some here. I can still measure my hops in ounces...

You know, for some, the solution might be jsut start growing them. I'm doing it this year, but not because of the shortage. Just because I want to. But, it migh tmake sense for some to do this to help them get some hops they can't get otherwise.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Problem for me is that I don't know how long I'll be living here. Kinda hard to bring your hop plants with you.

5lb bullion and 5lbs tett finally arrived today. yay!

 

[Homercidal]

Problem for me is that I don't know how long I'll be living here. Kinda hard to bring your hop plants with you.

5lb bullion and 5lbs tett finally arrived today. yay!

A friend of mine is growing some in large planters. If they are treated right, they should work ok. Then you can dig up the roots and replant wherever you move to.

This isn't the best way to go about it, but might work in a pinch. For me, the growning isn't because I can't get hops, or dont' want to pay more for them, it's because I want to grow my own hops. Maybe some day I'll malt my own barley too...

 

[Smogre]

Problem for me is that I don't know how long I'll be living here. Kinda hard to bring your hop plants with you...

I can guarantee you that I'll be digging my plants up if I ever move.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Perhaps I should order some rhizomes.

 

[The Pol]

Give me another year and there will be NO hop shortage here at my house with 6 rhizomes growing and I can only physically brew 6 batches a year or so... I will be able to brew some serious IPAs lol

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I'm thinking of ordering 15. For $4.50 a pice that's not a bad cost.

 

[mmb]

I've got 3lbs on order from Hops Direct, but the shipping notice says 5 lbs.

I'll repost Thursday when they arrive on what exact weight is.

 

[Mustangj]

I've got 3lbs on order from Hops Direct, but the shipping notice says 5 lbs.

I'll repost Thursday when they arrive on what exact weight is.

What kind?

 

[mmb]

What kind?

Item 01: 1 each HGALP1 Galena Pellet Hops 1 lb. $ 31.79
Item 02: 1 each HWILP1 Willamette Pellet Hops 1 lb. $ 29.13
Item 03: 1 each HVANL1 Vanguard Leaf Hops: 1 lb. $ 25.94


SubTotal: $ 86.86

Galena is supposed to be a pretty nutral bittering hop and Vanguard is a cross from Hallertau. Willamette and Hallertau are my two favorite finishing hops, so I'm happy with those in bulk.

 

[Mustangj]

Argentina Cascade 1 Pound for 25.

http://www.homebrewing.org/Argentina-Cascade-Pellet-Hops-1-Pound_p_18-1051.html

 

[bajabuc]

I consider myself lucky. The local homebrew club did their annual order and bought a pallet of grain and a couple of hundred pounds of hops.
I bought 2 bags of Canadian 2 row and 2 pounds of Cascade for 111.50. That's 4 batches...80 gallons should last at least a month.

 

[reshp1]

I just paid $7.75 an 1 oz for Northern Brewer. Hold me.

 

[Mustangj]

Midwest is selling Northern Brewer for 3.25oz

 

[mr x]

I just paid $7.75 an 1 oz for Northern Brewer. Hold me.

Now that's just obscene.

 

[reshp1]

Midwest is selling Northern Brewer for 3.25oz

Dammit, I missed that somehow, I think because I was looking in domestic hops. Just called Northern Brewer (the store) and tried to cancel, hopefully they can catch it before it goes out. Thanks for the heads up

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Finally ordered my hops rhizomes today. Five of each: Mt Hood, Magnum and Williamette.

I was a little late and missed out on the Sterling, which I really wanted.
Ordered the Mt Hood instead.

Any Canadians ordering from Crannog, the order deadline is April 7th. They are dug out in April and ship out April-May.

http://www.crannogales.com/farm.html
http://www.crannogales.com/2008HopsPriceList.pdf

 

[The Pol]

My rhizomes arrived today... my wife calls me:

"Hunny, you have these little trees that came for you today"

Gotta love her!

 

[Mustangj]

Dammit, I missed that somehow, I think because I was looking in domestic hops. Just called Northern Brewer (the store) and tried to cancel, hopefully they can catch it before it goes out. Thanks for the heads up

Next time check this out.

http://www.brew365.com/hop_availability_chart.php

 

[ronrad]

I live in oregon, corn for ethanol does not grow well here as it needs to dry in the fields before harvest and we get wet falls so ;hops are not losing growing space to corn however because of the growing acres of corn other crops are going up and some of those crops will grow in oregon, and oregon is growing canola to make ethanol, theres atleast one refinery operting here and more planned.

i have a small acerage and am putting it in hops. I hope to have a sellable crop in 2009(the AA might be a tad low first year) As I will not be a major grower I plan on selling all my hops to homebrewers online. I don't expect prices to drop to 2007 levels anytime soon even if theres a bumper crop. Demands is larger than supply and not alot of acerage is going to be planted anytime soon. All farmers are doing well right now. As a farmer i feel its about time. However the fact that the worlds poor will be suffering even more does bother me

 

[mZnthebend]

I just paid $7.75 an 1 oz for Northern Brewer. Hold me.

I showed a friend how to brew this weekend and we decided on doing a California Common. I figured for the sake of showing my friend how simple it can be, I would just purchase an LD Carlson kit from LHBS. I figured this would be the easiest way to get some Northern Brewer without having to worry about if the LHBS had any in the fridge.

I was pretty upset to see they switched out the Northern Brewer for Cascade with a little piece of paper saying "Due to the global shortage..."

 

[shmevinator]

Here's an article I just found. It's nice to see that the growers are responding to the shortage. Of course, the hop yields will take two years to have an effect, but hope for the distant future is better than no hope at all!

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/3048

And of course, this probably means that Washington apples will increase in price...hmmm, beer or apples, beer or apples...I think I'll go with beer.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Here's an article I just found. It's nice to see that the growers are responding to the shortage. Of course, the hop yields will take two years to have an effect, but hope for the distant future is better than no hope at all!

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/3048

And of course, this probably means that Washington apples will increase in price...hmmm, beer or apples, beer or apples...I think I'll go with beer.

Cheaper hops or more expensive apfelwine?