Hops update

By know you are probably well aware of the worldwide hop shortage. There has been a lot of information now about why there is a hop shortage its price increase. In Europe there has been a drought in Austrailia, a over abundance of rain in the UK, and a decrease of hop acreage in the US. It takes 3 years once hops are planted to yield a profitable crop, that is assuming that they are not infected.

For more information and possible hop substitutions you can visit Hop Union's website:

www.hopunion.com/hopunion-variety-databook.pdf

More green for same old green

I have heard all about hops and their price increase, but I was still shocked by the price increase at the homebrew store that I shop at, especially since I live in the west coast. The prices increased by 40%-100% depending on availability and popularity. The regular prices used to be $2.50/2-ounces and have skyrocketed to $3.50-$5.00/2-ounces, with some hops unavailable. After a brief conversation with some of the workers they admitted that they will have to change a few recipes and stop producing a couple of their beers. I find this very disappointing and a saddening state of affairs.

Although, I do not see this hop shortage and price spike to be over soon, I hope that over the next year that hop prices and availability will become more reasonable soon.