Comments on: Hops shortages serious, but nothing new

By: The Value of Beer « Beer, Beats & Bites

The Value of Beer « Beer, Beats & Bites — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 03:02:00 +0000

[...] hell, if the rumours are true, we’re going to be paying more for all beer soon enough, so we might as well get used to [...]

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:14:02 +0000

Matthew – You are correct. The additional cost of hops are not nearly as big a deal as almost everything else. Nonetheless brewers are looking for ways to use hops more efficiently, getting more bang for their buck.

Higher malt prices are more important, particularly on top of all the other things you mention (and glass is no “maybe”). I’ve talked to packaging brewers who expect they will have to raise prices between $1 and $2 to distributors – and that will be marked up again on the way to you. So could be at least $1 per 6-pack.

By: Baums

Baums — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:40:59 +0000

Will these shortages really have a significant impact on the cost of your average 6 pack? The retail price might be $7. What does the brewery actually sell it for? How much of that is glass? How much of that is energy? Infrastructure/overhead? Labor? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but my guess is that the cost of ingredients is only a small contributor to the retail cost of the products. I wouldn’t be surprised if recent cost increases in energy, transportation, and maybe glass are more significant than these ingredient shortages.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:20:20 +0000

Nothing to do with hops. Love the picture at the top of the page. Our local homebrew shop is “the flying barrel”, which is great!
frederick, maryland

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:19:09 +0000

Alan, so I guess the relative book isn’t “The World is Flat” but “Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally” or ” Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.”

And maybe rising hop/barley prices are good if they make local ingredients (there is a reason that the region let production go elsewhere) more competitive. The question is if drinkers will spend more for beer with additional local pedigree.

By: Alan

Alan — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 15:53:26 +0000

Stan: I should have bit my lip but the day the two US parties actually are “in trouble” – meaning at risk of losing their shared monopoly – is the day I drink only PBR from there on in. And to think such a concept, even if it were plausible, would be found in one book (or rather “book!“)…well.

On hops, I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a buyer of a volume of hops and was encouraging them to think of the concept of contracting for their own plantings given they were located in a heartland of former hop growing. Wouldn’t it be interesting if, as a result of scares and shortages, this part of the world located in the eastern Great Lakes remembered that it is one of the places where local hops and local barley can actually be grown.

By: Stonch

Stonch — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:38:07 +0000

As anyone who watches Eastenders will know, hop shortages are unsurprising. Dot Cotton’s husband Jim took her to see the old hop fields in Kent she visited as a young woman and they weren’t there anymore. That was months ago. If only you lot kept up to date with BBC soap operas you would have seen this coming.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:54:33 +0000

Todd – This is a subject that you and I have talked about before.

There is a finite amount of land available for growing things and all agricultural products are going to fight for this land. One good thing about hops is that they are perennials and put down roots. We need to continue to develop wheat and barley that does the same.

By: Todd

Todd — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:37:10 +0000

Is it soon to be time that the USA subsidizes it’s hops farmers like Germany? And surplus for all? Or should we all just watch our hopyards become land to plant ‘house seeds” on? China may be a big place where alot can be grown, but the quality of products recently has left a bit to be desired. I say grow hops locally, here, soon. Deep rooted, long life perennials like hops just makes sense.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:57:23 +0000

God save me, though, if I ever have to read this line again: “…if you want to know why the two major political parties are in trouble — read this book!”

Alan, I realize that probably means we’ll be going w-a-a-a-a-y off topic, but would you care to elaborate?