Hop Shortage

Luckily I heard about the hops crisis back when the harvest came out in late fall. I have been slowly buying up hops so that I could make all of my recipes for 2008. The hop crisis is blamed on a variety of reasons, including weather problems around the world destroying crops, the common problems such as plant disease and wilting, the weak dollar exchange rate resulting in other countries buying up US hops, emerging beer consumption markets in China and India, farmers abandoning hops for more lucrative crops such as corn, and some other factors. Here is a good article. Unfortunately it takes 2-3 years for a farmer to successfully grow a hop crop, so it may take a while for the hop market to recover. Some larger brewers are protected by contracts, while smaller brewers have been forced to find substitute hops or abandon certain recipes. Homebrewers are even lower on the food chain, as the shops are supplied after brewers. Every shop and website I have visited has raised their prices on hops 2-3 times, placed limits on orders, and some require that grain be bought with hops. Although I am fortunate to have most of the hops I need for 2008, I realize 2009 will be worse as no one will be caught off guard. I will be forced to use substitute varieties, which will have an effect on the taste and aroma.