Homebrewers are bracing for sticker shock on grains and hop prices. For hops, it will be interesting to see how things play out, but every sign seems to indicate higher prices and limited availability. I think there will be hops, but the selection will be limited, prices will certainly be higher than last year, and things could get sparse as the year progresses. Buying right now could be expensive, but if you have some recipes with signature hops, it might not be such a bad idea if you can find them.
I’ve been hearing about this for the past couple months and finally decided to just pull the trigger. By now, normally I’ve got about ¾ of the hops I plan to use for the year. The rest I buy by the ounce as needed. 2007 crop is pretty hard to find, and is expected to show up towards the end of the year. Rather than take a chance, I bought up about 4 lbs of 2006 pellets. I picked up Amarillo, Magnum, and Liberty, plus a few ounces of Columbus and EKG I could find. I originally was going to just wait until mid-December to do my annual big purchases, but as news kept trickling out, it seems less and less likely prices would really ease up. This week I saw Freshops had 2007 crop of Centennial, Summit, Willamette, and Goldings. I really wanted those, so I just pulled the trigger there too. That should probably carry me through the start of 2009. I’m hoping to pick up some more in the New Year to fill in the inventory, but right now I should be set for all styles without too many compromises.
As a side thought, I wonder what IPA categories in the homebrew competitions will look like come next fall?
Check out this 11/07 presentation on the status of hops and malt for more info.
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