Skid Roche

Brewers Cope With Global Hops Shortage

Originally uploaded by Thomas Roche

From Wired:

“OAKLAND, California — At Pacific Coast Brewing here, brewer Donald Gortemiller is reworking his recipes and altering his brewing styles like never before.

“Gortemiller isn’t acting on a spurt of creativity. He’s coping with a worldwide shortage of hops — the spice of beer. The dry cones of a particular flowering vine, hops are what give your favorite brew its flavor and aroma. Prices of the commodity are skyrocketing as hop supplies have plummeted, forcing smaller brewmasters around the United States to begin quietly tweaking their recipes, in ways that are easily discerned by serious imbibers.

“The beer-brewing situation demonstrates how the global-commodity shortage is spilling over to affect diverse industries in unexpected ways. The hop shortage lives on the outer edges of a food crisis that’s prompted riots across the planet, and last month led U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon to implore the world’s governments to increase food production to stave off a 40 percent jump in the cost of staples.”

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Image: Wikipedia.