Hope for Hops?

But, the beer community shouldn't panic. There are signs that things will improve. For example, Yakima Valley hop farmers are pulling some of their other crops to plant more hops. An article in the Yakima Herald-Republic estimates that hop acreage in the Northwest may expand by up to 25% this year. According to Hop Union general manager, Ralph Olson, the Yakima Valley could see an increase of up to 8,000 acres of hops in 2008. While this won't solve the hop shortage overnight, it's a good indicator that the problem will be short-term.

As recovery comes, hopefully farmers will be able to maintain equilibrium between supply and demand or we could end up with another hop crisis. For now, brewers just have to do their best with what they can get and maybe try experimenting a bit with different ingredients and beer styles that don't require as many hops. We beer drinkers can play our part as well. We can't let an increase in prices change our beer-drinking habits. We need to continue supporting smaller, local breweries by drinking lots of beer. Maybe it's even time to consider having a pint with breakfast.