A hail of a mess for German hops and beer

May 28, 5:22 PMBeer ExaminerCharlie Papazian

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Beer Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Damaged hop yard photos from German Hop Growers Assn. 

Hops are an essential component of beer.  Quality matters.  Origin matters.  Especially for craft pro brewers and homebrewers who delight in the use of whole or pelletized hop varieties in their traditional and innovative beers.  Hops are the poetry expressed with every beer.

Incoming reports on the giant hail storm that devastated parts of the German hop crop on Monday, May 26 keep coming in.  It’s bad, but not as bad as originally indicated.  Reports from hop merchants, distributors, hop organizations and beer importers, John I Haas, HopUnion, German 'Union of Hop Growers'   and Dutch based Bierenco give their assessments.  Here is a summary.

Hallertau: 
Favorable growing conditions until the end of May were abruptly interrupted by a severe hail storm that hit the Southern Hallertau in the evening of May 26.

One source reports:In some instances hop bines were completely stripped of their leaves and shoots; in the worst cases only the wire remains. Approx. 1.800 hectares (4,500 acres) must be considered a complete loss.

Photo left: from www.merkur-online.de

Another source is reporting: In Hallertau, the worlds' largest hop growing region, 4,000 hectare (10,000 acres) has been hit. This represents 25% of hop fields in Hallertau.  2,500 acres is completely destroyed; 3,750 acres is reported to have been severely hit and another 3,750 acres has been lightly damaged

Tettnang:  
Likewise the Southern part of the Tettnang region was heavily affected by the hailstorm, which passed the area a few hours before it reached the Hallertau. First estimates show that 350 hectares (875 acres) were badly affected, about 400 ha (1,000 acres) moderately and only 500 ha (1,250 acres) have weathered the storm without significant damage.

Another source reports: In Tettnang am Bodensee over 30% of hop fields have been damaged or destroyed

Saaz, Czech Republic: 
Damage to approx. 130 ha (325 acres) is also reported from the Saaz growing region, with 70ha (175 acres) suffering severe and 60 ha (150 acres) moderate damage.

Another source reports: The Saaz area was partly hit by the storms; around 500 acres in that region was more or less hurt

John I Haas reports their “Market Outlook”

It is unlikely that hop crops will reach long-term averages for the Hallertau and Tettnang after the devastating storm. The total effect to the German crop could be in the neighbourhood of 15% or close to 5000 metric tons. Hop merchant John I Haas is reporting that they do not predict another hop shortage for crop 2009 at this point. 

The storm is a forceful reminder of the unpredictability of agricultural markets.

HopUnion based out of Yakima recalls seeing damage like this in Yakima on occasion. “It does a pretty good job of making a mess out of what it falls on.” Reports hop czar Ralph Olson.

The 2008 German hop crop was better than average, so there’s likely going to be some pressure on supplies, but not to the extent that hops will be in extremely short supply. 

Homebrewers

If you’re a homebrewer and have access to German hops it might be a good idea to vacuum bag/pack a moderate supply of German hops and put them in your freezer for assured availability next year about this time of year when you’ll be wanting to brew those traditional German and Czech pilsener styles or German Maibocks for festive spring celebrations.

For the average beer drinker this is more information than you ever wanted to know.  But now you know how passionate craft brewers are and that they care a lot about the agricultural world of hop origins.  It’s all about love of beer and their ingredients and appreciation for those who grow them.