Global Food Crisis Gets Serious

Charles E Hill

Sat May 10 18:15:50 -0700 2008

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"When hops were $2 a pound, compared to $20 or $30 a pound now, it didn't matter. We'd throw them into the boil at various times," Gortemiller says. "That was an inaccurate way of doing things. We're modifying recipes and using about 20 percent less hops."

So, when it was cheap they were sloppy and wasteful.  Now that prices are high, they have to be more precise.  Yawn.

The shortage -- caused by a dwindling number of hop growers worldwide, and exacerbated by a Yakima, Washington, warehouse fire...

That sounds like a good time to become a hops farmer.  Price is high, demand is high and competition is low.

Global Food Crisis Gets Serious

Uncle Entity

Sat May 10 19:13:07 -0700 2008

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I think there are unwritten restrictions (there was talk at least) on hop growers because one can splice them onto marijuana roots for some interesting effects.

Re: yawn. Two identical recipes will differ in taste depending on when the hops are added to the mash. It's not like they can add half as much for twice the time and get the same brew, have to start the trial and error process all over without the benefit of the previous 'wasteful' trials. Beer is a crazy complicated process that science has a basic understanding and that's about all.

Kind of like adding sawdust to bread for volume.

bad for the economy

Thomas Lord

Sat May 10 18:26:36 -0700 2008

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So, I don't much make it to my favorite craft micro-brew these days but some anecdotes and thoughts here. I did, coincidently, visit them today to have a little chat with someone over some Serious Matters.

The brewers there (champs; also one of the oldest micro-brews in the country) were feeling rising hops prices many months ago. There was some agony about some supplier substitutions needed.

Interestingly, today, they're trying out a wheat brew -- not very typical of them. They produced an interesting and good one but, still....

I'm not too worried about this place going under tomorrow or the day after but there is a problem here.

If there prices have to inflate sharply, I doubt demand is all that inelastic: people will stay home.

That probably means staff-size reductions, if it lasts long (and there's no reason it shouldn't last long, if things go that way).

In past years these are jobs that sustained single parent households, students working their way through school, apprentices getting ready to brew elsewhere, and more. It would be a non-trivial and human-impactful ding on the local economy.

And that's not to even begin to get into the modest amount of business that gets done there around the tables or at the bar.

On a technical note, the article mentions dry-hopping as a cost saving measure but neglects to mention that it's actually critical to some good recipes, especially when the hops in question are of exceptional quality. Incidentally, good, dried hop buds are tasty when chewed.

And, please, let's not get started on rice as ingredient.

-t

Hops are very easy to grow

lars

Sun May 11 04:09:39 -0700 2008

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Hops are very easy to grow. I grow far more I myself can use. They're decorative and thrive in many conditions. Unfortunately, for consumption, they must be grown with clean air, water and soil - all increasingly rare and not available to many home owners that would otherwise have the opportunity to grow.

There are two main problems with hops, as with other herbs. One is that it is labor intensive to pick them, especially since they must be picked when they are ready, not before, not after. The other is that the flavor and other characteristics vary from site to site and from year to year.

Also, this is far from the first hops shortage. In many countries it used to be required for each family (farmstead) to have a certain number of poles. IIRC in Finland, there was a legal requirement for 50 each which then was increased to 200.

One cannot just steep the hops for longer. The wrong flavors come out and you can just get a nasty result.

Global Food Crisis Gets Serious

Spider

Mon May 12 00:58:19 -0700 2008

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This is indeed a SAD story posted by the Man from Uncle.  Used to brew some really potent beer in an old washing machine bowl and even had a purpose built  "skimmer" to remove the excess froth, this alone was a skillful job.  Hops, malt and the most important ingredient - yeast. Got up to 13% alcohol with one brew. The fields that used to be covered with Hops are now covered with Grape Vines probably because there are too many females in the agricultural business.

Global Food Crisis Gets Serious

Thornton

Mon May 12 05:59:59 -0700 2008

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Beer was not always made with hops. People used all kinds of herbs and spices and sometimes fruit, too.