Hop shortage!!!

[Ooompa Loompa]

Anybody heard about this??

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/290075330547310

http://news.opb.org/article/hop-shortage-may-change-taste-and-cost-your-favorite-brewski/

:( :(

I haven't really seen the effects yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

[xjmatt]

2 years ago I was buying bulk leaf hops by the pound for less than a dollar an ounce. Now those same hops are going for anywhere from $16-30 a pound. Craft breweries have put a huge demand on high alpha hops in particular so if you've got a stash of say Amarillo, Simco, Chinook, or even Centennial and Columbus then use them wisely because if you can even find them later you'll pay a lot more for them.

Combine that with the fact it was just an average to mediocre harvest year and you get the situation we're seeing. I haven't seen the pain at the pump just yet either. Thankfully we're going into the colder months and it's time to start drinking and brewing stouts and porters. Low hop requirements :D

[_CJ]

Haven't really noticed any difference at the homebrew shop, but I'm going to try growing my own next year. I know they won't be ready until fall, but hopefully I can harvest and freeze enough to get me through until the next harvest.

My wife and I were in Creede this year and noticed some wild hops growing on a fence in town, and we were amazed at how perfect they were without anyone really paying attention to them. I really can't wait to pick some off the vine and throw them straight into the boil!

[xjmatt]

Haven't really noticed any difference at the homebrew shop, but I'm going to try growing my own next year. I know they won't be ready until fall, but hopefully I can harvest and freeze enough to get me through until the next harvest.

My wife and I were in Creede this year and noticed some wild hops growing on a fence in town, and we were amazed at how perfect they were without anyone really paying attention to them. I really can't wait to pick some off the vine and throw them straight into the boil!

Despite what everything I've read I have gotten hops off of first year bines. Everything says nothing the first year, some the second, and then by the 3rd you have a full harvest. The yield gets better every year but you can probably get a couple ounces out of a first year bine if well taken care of.

I will warn you though, hop bines are AGRESSIVE! They grow above and below ground at an astounding rate. Plant them somewhere where you want them to be and to stay as they can be very difficult to remove if you decide you don't want them there. Growing hops is fun though, they can be decorative too if you've got an arbor or porch you can grow them over so the wife doesn't get to pissed :D

Funny, I think I saw those same bines down in Creede when I was there this past summer. Cool town, I liked that place. Chances are though they are either Nugget or Cluster. Neither of which are super desireable but are the most predominent varieties found in the wild in North America.

[Jeepindog]

Thankfully we're going into the colder months and it's time to start drinking and brewing stouts and porters. Low hop requirements :D

You need to make a proper stout, then! Yeti Imperial Stout has some pretty high IBUs. Here's to big stouts and hoppy porters. (Original British porters were much hoppier than you think.)

Lachlan

[xjmatt]

You need to make a proper stout, then! Yeti Imperial Stout has some pretty high IBUs. Here's to big stouts and hoppy porters. (Original British porters were much hoppier than you think.)

Lachlan

You're talking Imperial's there and those are a different beast. I know style guidelines don't mean crap these days but by style a stout and porter won't be much more than 50 IBU's. Imperial stout and extra stout usually will go more than that but those are more the exception to the style than the norm.

That said Yeti (especially the oak aged) is one of my favorite Imperial stouts out there, just a great balance that is tough to come across when you're combining so many big flavors (malt, hops, alcohol, oak....)

I'm no expert on British beers except to say I like them, are there any good commercial examples around here that you'd recommend for a hoppier porter? Would love to try one as I am planning up my winter schedule and I'm always open to changes.

[Jeepindog]

I'm no expert on British beers except to say I like them, are there any good commercial examples around here that you'd recommend for a hoppier porter? Would love to try one as I am planning up my winter schedule and I'm always open to changes.

I think Meantime is available in some stores around the area. Bubbles, Total Beverage, and Davidsons usually have Meantime Porter. From their website: (note the last line!) no mention of IBU, though...

"No fewer than seven malts go into our Porter, helping us recreate a recipe of 1750, specially chosen to bring you the flavours so loved by Londoners that demand for Porter made London the brewing capital of the world. Porter offers light roast malt on the nose and on the tongue a sweetish caramel gives way to a mouthful of smokey, dry maltiness, and an astringency on the finish that comes entirely from the brown, black and chocolate malts, rather than hops; and there are an awful lot of Fuggle hops in our Porter."

[Jeffro600]

Perfectly fine with me!! I hate really hoppy, bitter beers!! :flipoff2: