There are some varieties you want, but you haven’t been able get them … Sound familiar? Maybe that’ll change this year. I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. So, what have brewers done about it? Have they made less beer than they needed? Short answer: NO. It’s not the end of the world. Brewers can live without the handful of varieties causing the frustration just fine. It turns out there are over 100 other interesting varieties out there that can be used in different ways. That’s not to mention Heirloom varieties, which are making a comeback and promise to be a bonanza. Just like on the TV show Bonanza, there will be a happy ending at the end of the episode. The answer … There are some Open Source public and proprietary varieties out there that are accessible to everybody. Brewers don’t have to be held hostage to somebody else’s business strategy.
Shortages of some proprietary varieties the past few years have given proprietary varieties a bad name, but they’re not all the same. The hype has helped to further polarize the industry … not that there was ever a time when the hop industry gathered around a campfire to hold hands and sing kumbayah. You might think somebody with a successful hop variety would do everything possible to help potential customers buy them, that they might enable it to get out to the masses and rise to the top. So, why are there shortages? Why hasn’t the supply of these short proprietary varieties responded to demand? Let’s take a look.
There’s a lot of posturing, politics and inside baseball in the hop industry. Things are very different than they appear from the outside. Despite the appearances of multiple companies selling the varieties and despite the propaganda that dozens of growers are growing these varieties, there are Some Big Growers controlling every last decision related to some of the most sought after proprietary varieties. To put it more bluntly, everything flows through one company you’ve probably never heard of. All the growing decisions, all the buying decisions, all the pricing decisions, all the sales outlets … it all ultimately come back to one company. I like to imagine they’re sitting in a plush room filled with cigar smoke, but that’s probably a bit too stereotypical. To say they’re the Monsanto of the hop world is no exaggeration, but you’d probably never know that because of all the smoke and mirrors … unless you’re an insider. Brilliant strategy for the Gambino, the Giordano and the Trafficante families who control that company and what we’ll call the hop syndicate! Badda Bing! Badda Boom!… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT 47 HOPS
