This is already common knowledge in the beer geek kingdom, but we’re about to face a sizeable price increase for almost every beer made.  Two of the main ingredients, malt and hops, are in high demand and prices have skyrocketed the past year.  For a typical six pack, expect to see a 50 cent to 1 dollar increase in what you will pay as of this month.

Why has this happened?  I’m going to include several articles below that go into greater detail but the demand for barley and hops is extremely high and supply is dangerously low.  European hops were already in low supply last year due to some catastrophic storms and so a lot of European brewers bought a larger than normal amount of American hops (grown in eastern Washington and Oregon).  Then the hops season here was not plentiful and an already-depleted American hops bounty is almost completely tapped out.  Since hops are one of the main four ingredients used for beers and since American style beers, especially ales, tend to be hopped much more than their European counterparts, we’re in crisis mode in terms of what small brewers can get their hands on.  If a brewery wasn’t under contract with a hops supplier this year, or they didn’t have a locked-in rate, they’re either out of luck or are paying through the nose for their hops this year.  Of course brewers then have no choice but to pass that cost on to the consumer.  This month is the beginning of such increases.

In addition, the current out-of-control frenzy for ethanol has made American farmers go cuckoo for growing only corn and soybeans.  With farming being as precarious as it is, I can’t blame them for jumping on board to raise a crop that is much more profitable in the current political climate than something like barley or hops.  This isn’t just a beer-related problem – we’re going to see other crops prices rise while corn and soybeans take over fields that could be used for what they initially were intended for.  Obviously this change is going to affect the small brewer more than the larger ones who have their own barley and hops fields (Anheuser-Busch comes to mind).

Here’s a good example.  Sam Adams has a yearly Longshot competition where they take 4 homebrewers’ recipes and release them as a limited edition 4-pack.  One of the winners this year had a recipe that included a certain type of hops that was essential to the beer’s taste.  With this insane hops shortage, even Sam Adams wasn’t able to procure enough of an amount to even make these limited edition batches.  Thus, they had to delay that winner’s beer until next year’s edition.  Since Sam Adams is at the top of the pile when it comes to craft brewers, imagine how hard it is for much smaller brewers to get the amount and type of hops they’re used to purchasing.

If you have the time, read the links below. This will shed an even better light on this issue.  In the meantime, continue to support your local craft brewer if at all possible.  There will unfortunately be some breweries that will be a casualty of this crisis before the cycle rights itself.  Hopefully your favorite brewery won’t be one of those victims.