Oshkosh Hop Prices Are Coming Down

If you’ve been brewing beer for the past few years, here’s a story you’re painfully familiar with: In 2007 word started going out that the hop harvest would be a miserable one. The cost of hops immediately spiked. All through 2008 and the first half of 2009 prices continues to climb. There were shortages of most hop varieties. Others weren’t available at all.

That’s all changed. 2008 and 2009 saw great harvests. Last fall, some Oregon hop growers said they weren’t even harvesting their full crop due to a glut.  And this new state of affairs is beginning to be reflected in hop prices here in Oshkosh.

Jon at Nutrition Discount Center says the price of his hops has been steadily decreasing. Most of the hops in his store are now selling for about $1.99 an ounce, off from peak prices last year of $3.00 or more an ounce. He said last week, “I decreased eight specialty hops to the $1.99 an ounce price including Chinook and Simcoe,  two previously much more expensive varieties.”

The upshot of all this is that if you brew beer, now is the time to stock-up on hops. The hop market, after years of relative stability, is going the way of most other agricultural markets  where extreme volatility is a way of life. And that’s no fun when you’re dying to brew an IPA and all you can get your hands on are  few lousy packs of low-alpha, Argentinean Cascades.

Links
Nutrition Discount Center - Oshkosh
Good summary of what’s been happening with Oregon hop growers.