By: Don Fraser - The St. Catharines Standard - 1/8/2008
dfraser@stcatharinesstandard.ca

The situation isn’t bad enough yet to make them cry in their beer.

However, a worldwide shortage of hops is forcing local brewers to spend more money on supplies and consider measures to cope with the growing problem.

"This already has affected us," said John Tiffin, The Merchant Ale House’s owner and brewer. "Some of our beers are quite hoppy. One hop variety, called fuggles, I can’t even get right now - it seems odd."

About 70 per cent of the beers sold at the downtown St. Catharines establishment are brewed in-house, such as popular quaffs Blonde Bombshell and Old Time Hockey Ale.

Tiffin makes up to four batches of beer each month, with each one producing 13 kegs.

Hops give the suds their bitter flavour and play other roles in the brewing process, such as adding complex tastes and aromas.

The price of hops has soared and the supply of some varieties is restricted, Tiffin said.

Other aromatic hops varieties the bar owner uses for India Pale Ale-style beers are now 3 1/2 times more expensive than they were early in 2007.

"I’ll maybe have to change some of the hops we use and redo some recipes," Tiffin said. "But the market itself doesn’t really know what is going to happen in the end. So far, we’re all right, and I’ve kept prices the same over Christmas," he said. "There’s going to be a small price raise across all the beers, but I’m going to see that coming ... from breweries as well." 

There are four main regions that produce about 90 per cent of the world’s hops: Yakima Valley in Washington state, southern Germany, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.

Hail storms and other bad weather have stricken all four areas over the last two years.

Also, many farmers have switched to growing more lucrative products, such as corn, as the price of hops declined in recent years. A 2006 warehouse fire in Washington also wiped out a large hops supply.

With larger companies gobbling up the bulk of what’s left, microbreweries and other smaller outfits are struggling to get their hands on quality hops.

Just a few steps down St. Paul Street from The Merchant Ale House, Niagara’s Best Beer Ltd. is another local brewer struggling with the crop shortage.

"Oh yeah, (our price jump) happened on Nov. 1," business manager Lou Stranges said. "It was a major increase."

That’s when the price of hops for a 20-kilogram bag jumped to $900 from $400.

As the brewery will need about five or six bags per year, that amounts to a cost increase of at least $2,500.

Niagara’s Best beers include Niagara’s Best Blonde Premium Ale and Niagara’s Best Lager, which is a lower-priced lager.

"Our brands only require a smaller amount of hops," Stranges said. "Our product is not overly hopped, but there are microbreweries out there that are (adding hops) quite a bit," he said.

"Who knows what’s going to happen in a year’s time, because apparently, a lot of the hops crops are being changed over to corn."