NOT THE BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if we needed any further prrof that global warming is real, your beer drinking liberties are at stake, people. NOW is the time t act:

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Reply to
Ben.
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It's an interesting article, but the problem with hops is underproduction for the last few years because prices were so low. If it's time to act, start growing your own hops!

Fuel costs are what's driving up the cost of beer, aluminum can, and glass bottles and that's a function of the oil cartel, not global warming. Want to do something about that? Start distilling ethanol for fuel.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

So true, so true. I live in this area of the country and several of my clients are hop producers. They did take some of their fields out of production due to oversupply. Most of the reason was that concentrates were able to be shelved, thus, adding to the oversupply in recent years. Right now, the Spot market is about 8 times higher than it was last year. Ouch! That's why the micorbrewers (the smaller buyers) are suffering shortages. You will see it impact the larger producers (who buy through contracts) in coming years.

Reply to
dugjustdug

How will a brewery, a "craft brewer", such as Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. be affected? Not a huge outfit, but well past the micro level...

Reply to
Ben.

Actually, that ethanol thing is part of the problem too. Farmers have replaced barley crops with corn, enjoying the subsidies and the guaranteed markets for turning the corn into ethanol. Never mind that corn-to-ethanol sucks in terms of energy efficiency.

Reply to
dgs

I presume the shortage of hops will not affect the price of Bud/Coors/Miller because I don't think there are actually any hops in those beers.

Tom

Reply to
Tom Yost

I don't drink lagers, but I have seen hops farms near the Great Sand Dunes that were contracted to Coors.

Reply to
Howard Brazee

quoted text -

I don't know for sure, Ben, but my guess would be that they are part of a buying group (like "Hop Union, USA" for example) and their power within that group is most likely based upon their production and market share. The Bud's and Miller's of the world do their own buying.

At one point (mid-60's to early-80's), ALL of the hops sold in the world were brokered through 4 distributors. Two were located in Yakima. Right now, the Yakima Valley is the largest hop producer in the world, but, there are many more avenues through which to sell.

(Sorry for the Ag Econ lesson, but, here goes...) If you are a hop farmer and you need to assure your banker that you will be able to pay your bills long term, you set up contracts that guarantee you a rate for your product. Those are comparitively low. If you have some leeway, you may want to take a portion of your production and sell through the Spot Market where you basically throw your product in the hop equivalent of eBay and sell to the highest bidder.

If there is bountiful supply, the Spot Market sucks. If there is shortage, you make a killing.

Problem has been that stoarage techniques have improved in recent years and distributors were still trying to sell the prior year's stock during the current year's harvest. It put downward pressure on contract and spot prices, so, some of the farmers took fields out of production or shifted to other commodities.

To start a new hop field requires investment in irrigation and trellising - not to mention the plants themselves. It may be a year or 2 before the production catches up again. (end Econ sermon)

It's wierd but our valley has struggled economically for many years. For the past 4 or 5, however, pretty much every crop has done amazingly well. Hops included. I'll be sure to savor my next beer. And the next one after that. :-)

Reply to
dugjustdug

What?! You're missing out of a lot of great beer. Weltenburger Asam-Bock, for one.

Reply to
Joel

Strange -- I have a bottle of their Pale India Ale in front of me --- hoppy stuff!

Reply to
Kommienezuspadt

Thirty years ago, we were told that we were rapidly heading for the next ice age. Now it's global warming.

I need a beer.

Phil

Reply to
Phil

It's my loss, true brew lovers like all styles of beer - often they like lagers at a hot ball game. But I'm more limited - I love ales, but don't care for lagers or wheat beers.

I also like fine dining but am limited in not caring for mushrooms. Again - my loss. But I periodically test things to see if my tastes change, not being stuck because of an unwillingness to try.

I know my tastes are such that it wouldn't take long for me to like fine Scotch - but I also know my wallet well enough to know that I don't want to acquire that particular taste.

Reply to
Howard Brazee

Try the Harvest Hop Ale, a seasonal out right now - then get back to me! Oh, shortly, we'll have the grandaddy of them all, Celebration Ale...a finer ale I have never tasted.

Reply to
Ben.

Hops are also a preservative that increase shelf life so there is some in most beers even if you can't smell it or taste it.

I presume you mean you don't drink most American lagers. Bock, Oktoberfest, and Munich Dunkel are just some of the many great lagers.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

It just Chicken Little and the Sky is Falling deja vu.

I only drink on special occasions - like finding an empty glass.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

Aye, aye. Exactly my stand on it. It was in the 1970s, it was. The hype was "global cooling". Next its going to be "global shrinking".

Reply to
sammy

The stuff is not easy to find in my parts ---

Reply to
Kommienezuspadt

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Benjamin Franklin

Reply to
SteveB

I sell a sign with that on it in my business.

Reply to
Kommienezuspadt

"Shortly"? I've been drinking it for the past several days already (and kicking myself for only buying the 12 pack- with gas prices going up, what was I thinking!). It is a great beer and quickly becomes my "house" IPA for the short duration of it's existence.

Reply to
jesskidden

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