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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Shortage of hops for beer cuts small brewers' profits, Suds to Corn the choice is made |
| 2007-11-02 |
| Barley and wheat price hikes may boost brew's price A worldwide shortage of one of the key ingredients in beer and rising prices for some others are tapping into small brewers' profits and, in some cases, could eventually lead to higher prices. The price of hops has risen sharply in recent months, while malting companies are telling brewers to expect higher prices for malted barley in the coming year as well. "It is absolutely amazing, the way this happened," said Dave Miller, brewmaster at Nashville's Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery on West End Avenue. "I'm sure an economist who's studied the business could have predicted this was going to happen, but most of us aren't nearly that savvy about this stuff," he said. Barley and wheat prices have skyrocketed as more farmers plant corn to meet increasing demand for ethanol, while others plant feed crops to replace acres lost to corn. A decade-long oversupply of hops that had forced farmers to abandon the crop is finally gone and harvests were down this year. In the United States, where one-fourth of the world's hops are grown, acreage fell 30 percent between 1995 and 2006. Brewers say barley prices have risen, too, in the past year. Blackstone paid 23 cents a pound for barley a year ago, Miller said. "It's now up to about 33 cents on this order I got in July," he said. "We're being told by the malting companies to anticipate perhaps as much as a 20 percent increase in the price" in the coming year. So far, Blackstone hasn't increased its beer prices to customers. Some other beer outlets have passed along modest increases. So far, retail price increases have been modest, less than a dollar a 12-pack, said Harry Schuhmacher, editor of the online trade publication Beer Business Daily. Someone else can back track this. The war with islam causing our beer prices to go out. |
| Posted by:Icerigger |
| #13 Of course you know this means WAR! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-11-02 23:18 |
| #12 wait.... that sounds lame. To the barricades for Angie! (and we know all Angie's are hawt!)...works better... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-11-02 21:10 |
| #11 To the barricades! For Niles! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-11-02 21:08 |
| #10 We were in the Midwest this past summer, and Niles was reading in the local paper that barns are disappearing. Farmers don't need them as much anymore because raising livestock is much less profitable than growing corn. They're taking away your beer and steaks, men! To the barricades! |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2007-11-02 20:17 |
| #9 Heck, why not just run a tap straight to the sofa? "That's exactly the kind of radical thinking I need!" [/M. Burns] |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-11-02 19:23 |
| #8 Schematics for the win! |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-11-02 19:18 |
| #7 There is a similar taste substitute for hops - but it is kind-of-very illegal. It may taste vaguely similar, but it ain't no hops. OTOH, the "buzz" people would be getting form a bottle of beer... |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-11-02 18:42 |
| #6 Damn straight there will be blood for beer! LOL! Moose selling the idea to Whirlpool :)! |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-11-02 18:12 |
| #5 There is a similar taste substitute for hops - but it is kind-of-very illegal. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-11-02 17:16 |
| #4 Such a machine might even have an attachment so that the beer can be home bottled. Heck, why not just run a tap straight to the sofa? |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-11-02 17:13 |
| #3 I've semi-designed in my head a home brewery that would look something like a washer-dryer combo. The process would begin by adding 15-20 gallons of bottled water to the "washer" side, along with clarified wort syrup, yeast, and maybe some additional sugar. The lid is then sealed. The extra heat and CO2 are vented through the dryer vent while gentle agitation speeds up the fermentation process. The resulting green beer, ale or lager, is then conditioned, then filtered into the "dryer" side tank, which is mounted on wheels and also serves as a portable refrigerator, with a tap on the top. After the beer has been produced, then the system is flushed with tap water and a flavorless, mild detergent, rinsed with bottled water, and ready for the next batch. Beginning the process with clarified wort avoids the really hard parts of the beer making process. And with the machine monitoring the fermentation and conditioning, it should be fairly trouble free. Best of all, it fits right in to the water, drain and vent set up for a washer/dryer combo, so such a large system has a place to fit in typical residences that don't have a washer/dryer. If two or more people live in a residence, federal law allows up to 200 gallons of beer to be brewed annually. But who's counting? Such a machine might even have an attachment so that the beer can be home bottled. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-02 16:06 |
| #2 A decade-long oversupply of hops that had forced farmers to abandon the crop is finally gone and harvests were down this year. Uh, hops are, as far as I know, not particularly storable. I'm guessing the over-supply was caused by unusually good growing conditions. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-11-02 16:06 |
| #1 Damn straight there will be blood for beer! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-11-02 15:32 |