Hop Shortage to Drive Beer Prices Up

In national news, 2008 may be dubbed The Year of the Hop Shortage

Hop plants, the small cone-like flowers that bless your beer with bitterness and aroma while providing a counter balance to the beers malty sweetness, are in a worldwide shortage.

Breweries across the U.S. are scrambling to secure hops in order to produce the beers that craft beer enthusiasts have come to love. An increase in beer prices is expected to take place in the coming months. Contributing factors are: the hop scarcity, a strong Euro, increased fuel transportation costs, and the conversion of farm fields from barley malts, to ethanol producing corn.

China is also becoming the number one beer drinking market, creating international competition for hops, which are mainly grown in Europe and North America.

This means beer producers, including homebrewers will have to curb there ability to create new beers just to have enough hops to brew their traditional recipes.

Greg Obendorf, an Idaho hop farmer says, “This may put some small brewers out of business – there just aren’t enough hops to go around.”

To cope, breweries might have to adapt to a changing beer landscape. The wildly popular Pale Ales and IPA’s, which require a healthy dose of hops to give that bitter punch, might be put aside. In the future we might see craft brewers switching to beers that have a low hop profile and a greater use of grains and malts.

Ken Woods, president of Black Oak Brewery, says, “If farmers have ripped the hops out, [it will take] at least three years to grow new ones we can use. Hop prices have gone up 400%.” Woods also noted many hop farmers have switched to crops like corn and soy, which are seeing a steady increase in demand and price due to America’s push for Biofuels.

However, one local bar patron said, “I enjoy my beer and if it costs an extra dollar to have one or two, then so be it.”