Where have all the flowers gone?
By Mark Tichenor and Bruce Lish

Your beer costs more now. Sorry about that.

There’s not much that brewers can do about it. The costs of producing beer have risen dramatically. The main problem is hops. We’re in the throes of a major hop shortage. This is the freakin’ Great Depression of hops. Prices for the precious flowers have risen over 300% across the board.

Terrible weather in both Europe and the USA decimated the hop crop, so we’re in a full worldwide shortage. The miserable 2007 harvest was a perfect storm of agricultural failure.

We can lay partial blame on the ethanol movement. You know, that huge government initiative that has resulted in exactly one ethanol pump within the Greater Rochester area? Due to government ethanol subsidies, an acre of corn is substantially more profitable for a farmer to plant than an acre of hops. So total hop acreage across the USA has been reduced.

Come to think of it, farm work is a pain in the butt anyway. The offspring of farming families often choose technical or office careers instead of lapping fields in big green machines. As family farms close, fewer hops are planted and grown.

And then there’s the horticulture of the hops themselves. From time of planting, it can take up to three years for the full hop crop to develop. That’s three years of no return on investment for the new hop farmer. And, since farmers, like producers in every other business, need to squeeze the maximum profit potential out of their crop, many concentrate on growing modified high alpha acid hops, which pack much more bang for the buck per hop flower, and thus consume less acreage, leaving field space to grow other crops.

And, to be frank, American craft beer producers have been going off the deep end with the hops over the past few years. In converting American palates toward comically bitter beer, they used hops as if they were going out of style.

Which, as it turns out, they were.

Naturally, the shortage is causing havoc among brewers. It’s the big conglomerates that buy up most of the crop, and most independent breweries have contracts with hop sellers, so their supplies still roll in, albeit at top-dollar pricing. Breweries without those contracts, however, face a much bigger challenge.

Strangely, it’s the Boston Beer Company to the rescue. The producer of Sam Adams actually has a hop surplus, putting them in an enviable position. Instead of hoarding their cones, they’re making the extra hops available to breweries without hop contracts, a gesture of good faith (and good PR) that seems almost anachronistic in the cutthroat world of modern business.

So, once again, Boston Beer Company founder and owner Jim Koch is riding to the rescue of the industry he was instrumental in founding. Koch’s move might be the thing that keeps peoples’ favorite small beer brands from going extinct.

Good to see he’s still minding the store.

In Other Beers
We’ve got some good news and we’ve got some bad news. This week is loaded with two big beer events. Unfortunately, they’re both on the same day at the same time: Wednesday, February 27th.

The Old Toad is hosting a high-end beer and cheese tasting, featuring six uncommon cheeses from Europe and Great Britain, each thoughtfully paired with a beer that compliments it well. This is a good chance to see first hand how harmoniously the flavors of beer and cheese meld.

Tickets cost $25 and seating is limited, so call the Toad, (585) 232-2626, if you’d like a seat at the tasting.

Competing for your attention will be the second of the Tap & Mallet’s ongoing Beer Social series, this time featuring the beers of Duvel Moortgat, Belgian parent company of Cooperstown’s Ommegang Brewery.

You’ll sample beers from Ommegang and, various Belgian breweries, interspersing your hurried gulping with delicious antipasti from the Tap’s own kitchen. Tickets for the 8pm event are on sale at the Tap. Seating is limited and the night WILL sell out, so get them now if you’re going.

Bruce is a certified beer judge and commercial brewer. Mark owns a laptop and likes beer. For more on beer, check out the beercraft blog, updated regularly, at http:://www.beercraftsite.com. Send your questions, suggestions, or comments to beercraft@rochester.rr.com.