Comments on: More hops! More hops! More hops!

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:02:07 +0000

Brendan – I guarantee you that by Wednesday afternoon at the Craft Brewers Conference I will be asking about aroma hops.

Not just what is being planted in the NW, but also about Germany and trying to find out about what’s going on with the Styrian Goldings in Slovenia. There’s a real domino effect with those shortages.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:00:12 +0000

Stonch – Ingredient prices are a big deal, with malt contributing more than hops.

I talked to a brewery that recently boosted its prices to distributors a little over $2 a case, so about 50 cents a six-pack. However that distributor won’t just increase a six-pack 50 cents, because they mark things up on a percentage basis. Same with the retailer the distributors sells to. So the increase ends up being (at least) a dollar a six pack.

Hiking a $7.49 six-pack to $8.49 is a 13% increase. That’s a little over 4 pounds for 72 ounces of beer, given exchange rates, BTW.

By: brendan

brendan — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:02:31 +0000

I hope that of those acres planted, some of it at least is aroma hop and not all Super-mega-mega-titan-Alpha hops.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:31:35 +0000

I heard this winter about many virus infected hopyards. I hope they didn’t get cloned –and then sold to hopeful growers.

By: Stonch

Stonch — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:06:41 +0000

I fail to see why an increase in the price of hops – even by a large amount – justifies a significant jump in beer prices for the consumer. Surely the cost of the ingredients of beer is a minimal part of the total?

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:00:12 +0000

Stan – he was actually more unhappy with insurance costs rising. We up here have not had the explosion (err!) in gas prices seeing as part of the US rise is due to the lower US dollar. In the mid-90s our gas in Ontario was only say 60% (59 cents a litre) of what it is now (1.05). I recall about the same time in Maine gas was around 33% (1.12 a gallon) of what is is now (3.30ish?).

SB – nunya though I do have a nice hoppy IPA in hand. He said he did not have to pass it on.

By: Jeff Alworth

Jeff Alworth — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:57:43 +0000

As a brewer in Oregon points out, the three-year start-up may be long for sun-drenched Yakima. Could see some production earlier.

By: Swordboarder

Swordboarder — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:53:57 +0000

Alan, who is your local craft brewer and what style beers do they make?

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:28:00 +0000

Maybe these will help offset the fact energy prices – both the cost of getting the ingredients to the brewer and the cost of drinking beer too far from where it is brewer – don’t seem to be going anywhere but up.

And what about grain prices long haul?

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:55:21 +0000

As noted earlier in the week, grain prices are ready to drop, too, given the increase in acreage and production. I stopped in at a favorite craft brewer on the way back from Toronto who shared his expectations that of course farmers would jump in - and probably too many potentially leading to a bottoming of prices in, say 2010 or 2011. But we all, of course, expect that the present jump in beer prices (which my local craft brewer did not participate in) will be followed by a reasonable drop once the supply chain does what it does.