As all of you homebrewers know, the worldwide hop shortage this year has finally trickled down to our market and finding a good supply is getting difficult. I went to order up ingredients for three batches this weekend and thought that while it would cost more, at least I could get hops. Not the case... The problem right now, and I'm sure it will only get worse in the next 6-12 months, is that there just aren't any hops available and what is available is being quite limited by my usual online suppliers. I just wanted to give you a heads up of what I found from various vendors:

Northern Brewer: www.northernbrewer.com

From their website: "2007's hop harvest is not expected to be sufficient to meet the current demand for hops in the United States and the rest of the world. At Northern Brewer, we have contracted enough hops from our suppliers to meet the demands of our customers throughout 2008. Unfortunately, as of November 2, 2007, we are still waiting for the 2007 crop to be harvested, processed and shipped, and many varieties of hops are out of stock.

In order to ensure that we have enough hops to sell to our homebrewing customers, any order which contains too many hops will be put on hold, and reviewed by our staff. We will contact customers with details."

The problem, however, is the fact that they are sold out of just about every variety there is so it's pointless to even browse what is left as pickings are slim.

Midwest Supplies: www.midwestsupplies.com

In browsing their online catalog, pickings are slim and for what they have left there is a 4 oz limit for most varieties. Luckily, they did have what I wanted but the 4 oz limit allowed me to purchase hops only for the barley wine I'm brewing.

From the website: " Dear Midwest Customers,

We have learned a few things since our last update. One thing is still true; Midwest is going to going to have plenty of hops for 2008.

We do know that the following hops will not be available through Midwest for 2008. US Fuggles, US Northern Brewer, Horizon, Simcoe, Yakima Magnum and Tettnang. The status of (Slovenian) Styrian Goldings, German Hallertau and Czech Saaz are uncertain at this point. We will update this page as soon as we find out.

Midwest will be offering the following new hops in 2008. Sterling, Vanguard, Glacier, German Northern Brewer, German Perle, Hallertau Tradition, US Goldings, US Spalt, and Millennium. Our new Hallertau Tradition is a great substitution for Fuggle and Tettnang. Vanguard is substitute for German Hallertau.

We know the average price for an ounce of hops has already risen from around $1.00 - $1.50 to $1.90 - $2.75. European varieties have seen the largest increase. The average price of a Midwest recipe kit is going up by $1.20 to $2.40 a kit.

We will have an update on our leaf and plug hops soon.
The crew at Midwest"

Beer-wine.com: www.beer-wine.com

From their website: "Unfortunately, this affects the homebrew market. Due to the need for biofuels, grain crops are being downsized for the growth of corn crops. The majority of European hop farms can't keep up with the demand for US beer production; thus supply and demand is raising the cost of hops. Additionally, US hop farms are disappearing for more profitable crops. How does this affect us as homebrewers?
Due to the worldwide shortage of hops and grains we unfortunately will have to limit the purchase of these items until the 2008 fall harvest. We must restrict customers to a maximum of 4oz. total hops and a maximum of 15 lbs. total grain per customer per week based on availability. All hop prices are subject to change without prior notice. We ask that you be considerate of your fellow home brewers and thank you for your understanding.
What's the bottom line? Certain grain and hop varieties are getting more expensive and a few varieties will run out faster than ever. Home brewers must prepare for the potential need to substitute different grains and hops, to replace varieties that currently give their beers a particular flavor.
We will make every effort to come up some sort of solution in which we can help ease the effects of the current crisis for our valued home brewers.
If you have questions regarding pricing and availability call 1-800-523-5423.
We will not fill orders of ONLY hops or ONLY grain. We will only fill orders on hops and grains based on recipe ingredients being ordered - at our discretion.
Please, please discourage your fellow brewers from stocking up and we will all get through this together. Panic buying is leading to higher and higher prices and putting extra demand on supply."

Don't you just hate when you are limited? They only have varieties left, and you can't buy them without 15 lbs of grain. Next...

Hoptech: www.hoptech.com

I searched a bit for hops on the net and came across this site. The good thing is they seem to only limit a variety to a 4 oz order (which is also the smallest quantity they sell) but the selection is better than most places. I ordered 4 oz of 4 varieties, I'll let you know if they restrict it before delivery but for the time being they seem to be the best bet for hops.


So, overall, brewin' aint ezaaa... Sorry, not sure where that came from. But really, my main point is if you find a good supply, do yourself a favor and stock up. While they are somewhat available now, I see a few dark months to come for the homebrewer. Maybe the year of the mead?

Well I hope the good thing that comes from this is more people growing hops since this is clearly a lucrative business now. Good thing jeff grows hops! Very cool update btw man, thanks for posting this

WOW! Good info, but bad news. Thanks for doing a little work on that, snowman.

I think this will be the year for people to brew less dIPA's and more pale ales. Let's get more creative and see what we can all do with 15 lbs of grain max and 4oz of hops per recipe. On a 5 gallon system, that's still a decently serious beer. It's time to get creative, folks. This is what homebrewing is all about!