Hop shortage?

[Sadfield]

Growing and harvesting your own is
certainly an eye opener.

One positive for home brewers is the ease of storing pellets at sub zero temperatures. And there's usually the last two years harvests knocking around.

 

[Clarence]

Germany (Huell, I think, have hedged their bets by developing Magnum (and was it Hercules to plug the resistance gaps in Magnum?). Why do we have to have a deteriorating and increasingly expensive commercial brand just because it has to taste exactly like last year's pint? Brewers should hedge their bets too by introducing lines using hops with a greater reliability of supply. Are we as anal about our malts or do we chop and change according to the variety of the day (genuine q. as I don't know). Looking through Protz' Almanac 1st edition, I see malts like Pipikin and Halcyon, which I'm sure are not used by those brewers today. Maybe the Pilsner-purveyers of Germany still stick to traditional varieties, I don't know.
In any case I'm looking forward to experimenting with my 100g of Rottenburger Spat 1.9% alpha, which came to me from Germany, via the Neds, via France. I'll bitter with Magnum use a good dollop of the RS in late additions to get the measure of it.


A nice slug of peppermint cordial will bring out the best of it, I'm sure.

 

[MrRook]

Time to start brewing gruit?

 

[Andrew Booth]

Well I’m not fond of hop bomb beers. At the moment I’m learning how to layer malts in the grist to balance out more complex beers got to love this hobby more to learn every day

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Germany (Huell, I think, have hedged their bets by developing Magnum (and was it Hercules to plug the resistance gaps in Magnum?).

I'm not sure that it was a question of hedging any bets, Magnum is all about getting higher-alpha cones, which means more alpha per hectare. If anything Hercules is a backward step for resistance - it's rather more susceptible to downy mildew - but it is capable of insane yields.

Why do we have to have a deteriorating and increasingly expensive commercial brand just because it has to taste exactly like last year's pint?

Because that's the market wants, consistency from year to year.....

Brewers should hedge their bets too by introducing lines using hops with a greater reliability of supply.

And yet you yourself are using Magnum, when that could be substituted with a British bittering variety like Admiral or Pilgrim, which would also reduce food miles and (certainly in the case of Pilgrim) reduce pesticide usage.

Are we as anal about our malts or do we chop and change according to the variety of the day (genuine q. as I don't know). Looking through Protz' Almanac 1st edition, I see malts like Pipikin and Halcyon, which I'm sure are not used by those brewers today. Maybe the Pilsner-purveyers of Germany still stick to traditional varieties, I don't know.

With both malt and hops, there are elements of "commodity" and "specialist", where the former are essentially interchangeable and the latter where end-users are wanting a particular flavour and won't substitute with something else. Up until the late 20th century hops were primarily viewed as a source of alpha acids, and were generally bought on the basis of % alpha - obviously that's changed now and we're a lot more interested in their flavour contribution in late/dry-hop additions.
It's a bit the same with barley but the other way round - there are a handful of heritage varieties that are grown for flavour, such as Otter, Golden Promise, Chevalier and Hana but they are not much more than a rounding error in the scheme of things, well over 90% of barley is just a commodity for supplying sugar. As such, it's much more about the agricultural side as long as it's meeting certain requirements for malting. The way that happens is that each year a Recommended List is published of around 10-12 varieties that give the best yield, disease resistance etc based on extensive trials around the UK whilst meeting minimum standards for malting for brewing and/or distilling. Farmers can then safely choose one of those varieties knowing that they're best of breed and that they should be able to sell them into the market.

A big difference between hops and barley is that hops are perennial and barley is annual, so barley breeding happens much quicker (and as a much £££-bigger crop it has a lot more money put into it). Typically a variety lasts <10 years on the Recommended List, classics like Optic and Pearl were very unusual in lasting as long as 20 years. Being annual also means farmers are choosing new seed every year, allowing them to respond to changes in disease pressure etc much more quickly. So barley varieties come and go much more quickly than hops - this chart gives you an idea :

 

[Clarence]

I'm not sure that it was a question of hedging any bets, Magnum is all about getting higher-alpha cones, which means more alpha per hectare. If anything Hercules is a backward step for resistance - it's rather more susceptible to downy mildew - but it is capable of insane yields.

Because that's the market wants, consistency from year to year.....

And yet you yourself are using Magnum, when that could be substituted with a British bittering variety like Admiral or Pilgrim, which would also reduce food miles and (certainly in the case of Pilgrim) reduce pesticide usage.


With both malt and hops, there are elements of "commodity" and "specialist", where the former are essentially interchangeable and the latter where end-users are wanting a particular flavour and won't substitute with something else. Up until the late 20th century hops were primarily viewed as a source of alpha acids, and were generally bought on the basis of % alpha - obviously that's changed now and we're a lot more interested in their flavour contribution in late/dry-hop additions.
It's a bit the same with barley but the other way round - there are a handful of heritage varieties that are grown for flavour, such as Otter, Golden Promise, Chevalier and Hana but they are not much more than a rounding error in the scheme of things, well over 90% of barley is just a commodity for supplying sugar. As such, it's much more about the agricultural side as long as it's meeting certain requirements for malting. The way that happens is that each year a Recommended List is published of around 10-12 varieties that give the best yield, disease resistance etc based on extensive trials around the UK whilst meeting minimum standards for malting for brewing and/or distilling. Farmers can then safely choose one of those varieties knowing that they're best of breed and that they should be able to sell them into the market.

A big difference between hops and barley is that hops are perennial and barley is annual, so barley breeding happens much quicker (and as a much £££-bigger crop it has a lot more money put into it). Typically a variety lasts <10 years on the Recommended List, classics like Optic and Pearl were very unusual in lasting as long as 20 years. Being annual also means farmers are choosing new seed every year, allowing them to respond to changes in disease pressure etc much more quickly. So barley varieties come and go much more quickly than hops - this chart gives you an idea :
View attachment 90879

Your last point is well made and the graphic is very clear. Interesting to see how otter has carved its niche.
But no. I don't think producers a so keen to satisfy what the market wants. The bottom line is, well, the bottom line and when margins start getting squeezed and competition tightens they'll do what they always have= manipulate the market to convince the boozer that he or she is getting a better/newer/sexier product. I'm talking about the "big boys" here, the purveyors of blandness, Here in jolly old Blighty, consistency is the last thing we want or get: the first pint from a cask of real ale is not the last pint or one from the middle for example (unless the cask is emptied at a sitting). The move towards "craft" ales shows we want novelty rather than consistency. Not so for the supermarket "slab" beers, I agree. My point about malts, however, was vague. What I was thinking of is whether the big Pilsner brewers in Germany and Czechland , or the Heineken or Stella or Carlsberg brands or even the Budweiser (US) brand insist on the same malt year in year out in the name of consistency. But I can look into that for myself.

Magnum hops. I use very few magnum hops. They're my preferred bittering hop for European pilsner styles. I prefer NZ pisner styles and tend to use Green Bullet or Pacific Jade at the bittering stage. I certainly wouldn't use Admiral or Pilgrim.
For no good reason other than personal preference, I try not to mix hops. If I'm doing an NZ, I'll use all NZ hops, If an Australian I'll risk PoR. When making British styles (and my favourite is mild) I use only English hops. I've seen recipes mixing Galaxy and Cascade- I'd never do it- for no reason that I can explain. Yeah, carbon footprint when I'm getting PoR flown over from Beerco.com by Australia post. Scandalous!!! That Beerco.com is often cheaper and fresher than the same product bought in the UK (even with postage) might have something to do with it.
So at the end of the day, it;s all abut market forces.

 

[MashBag]

I don't think producers a so keen to satisfy what the market wants.

I bet they jolly well are. These are farmers with significant investment in long term plantings. Hops are not a seasonal seeded crop.

The bottom line is, well, the bottom line and when margins start getting squeezed and competition tightens they'll do what they always have= manipulate the market to convince the boozer that he or she is getting a better/newer/sexier product. I'm talking about the "big boys" here, the purveyors of blandness,

Now you got the nail in there... The "big boys" won't give a flying ***** about the producers just there bottom line.

Ps.
"Purveyors of blandness"
Brilliant

 

[Sadfield]

The bottom line is, well, the bottom line and when margins start getting squeezed and competition tightens they'll do what they always have= manipulate the market to convince the boozer that he or she is getting a better/newer/sexier product. I'm talking about the "big boys" here,

Is that true. Carling make a point of using British barley, could they buy it cheaper? Or does their production method heavily rely on consistency and quality, and a strong working relationship with farmers?

 

[Clarence]

Is that true. Carling make a point of using British barley, could they buy it cheaper? Or does their production method heavily rely on consistency and quality, and a strong working relationship with farmers?

Not sure, @Sadfield. I'm always suspicious of big companies as they have to do what they have to do: make a profit, pay the shareholders and stay competitive. Don't know much about carling, but I don't think it's a niche company.

But perhaps we've come full circle. We started looking at "sensationalist" articles implying that difficulties with landrace varieties in Hallertau were going to result in an increase in beer prices and a drop in quality. And I'm wondering whether market forces are not going to intervene to mitigate both unless "sensationalism" trumps all and results in a "greed" hike.
But I'm quite the cynic.

 

[Clarence]

It seems not everybody is suffering. This from Stocks Farm:
No Ideas what a Bruff is, but I'm going to get one and keep it with my spunding valve.

Harvest 2023 is complete!​

The Bruff hop picker has stopped for another year and our stores are full of hops once again. The weather this year has been unpredictable, but the harvest was better than expected, with incredible quality hops, full of flavour and intense aroma. There's always a challenge when it comes to hop picking, but the hard work from the team has meant lots of perfect hops made their way through the machine this year, ready for your beers!