Presented by: Team Steelers Matt Strayer, Tim Polack, Jake Schaeffer, & Lyndsey Robison

Shortages  There is a world wide shortage in hops, causing brewers to find new ways to make their drafts.  Reasons for this shortage: Bad crops in Europe Growing demand in Asia People growing more lucrative crops

Shortages  This shortage of hops has caused the price of hops to increase from about $3-$5 to $20-$40 per pound.  This shortage has caused small breweries to: Raise retail prices Alter their recipes Come out with different beers Ration their own beers

Demand  Even though there is a shortage of hops, the demand for hoppy beers has been increasing.  Hoppy beers such as: India Pale Ales Oktoberfest Beers Pumpkin Ales

Breweries  Small breweries are hurt the most from this shortage because they do not get contracts on the hops.  Large companies are having to raise their prices also.  6 packs of beer have been raised about $2.  Stone Brewing Co., a leading company in producing hoppy beers, raised their prices 15-20%. Making that the largest price hike in 12 years of business.

Trouble Brewing  Major shortage of hops: Weather conditions. Growing demand for small craft brews.  Prices are sharply increasing: The price on six packs increased by up to $2 for small brewers. Even larger brewers have been raising their prices due to these rising costs.  According to Greg Koch, the owner of Stone Brewing Co., because of the hiked prices, this year was the “biggest single price increase we had to take” in the company’s 12-year history.

Recipe Changes  Most brewers refuse to cut back on their “hoppier” varieties of beer.  If needed, many of the breweries changed their recipes ○ Brewers use available hops and alter the other ingredients to recreate taste ○ This is especially used with the IPAs (India Pale Ale)

Variety of Hops  Two different kinds of hops used to brew beer ○ Bitter hop- tones down the sweetness of the beer ○ Aroma hop- hop that is added toward the end of the brewing process to give it its distinct flavor. ○ Both kinds of hops are at a shortage

Two kinds of hops Bitter Hops are easier to manipulate than Aroma Hops Aroma Hops are where brewmasters experience the most trouble in taste replication

Recipe changes  Many independent breweries are having to resort to recipe changes such as: ○ Avery Brewery – Boulder, Colorado ○ Captain Lawrence Brewing company – Pleasantville, N.Y.  Many Small breweries in the U.S. cannot compete with the large manufacturers for the hops they need

Not everyone compromises  Some small breweries refuse to change there recipes, even if it comes at a cost.  Stone Brewing Company in Econdido, California didn’t want to modify any recipes.  Instead the beer was made in limited amount, and some other varieties were not made at all

Stone brewing company is producing a chocolate-oatmeal stout instead of its traditional hop-heavy stout for there 100 year anniversary

Growing Pains  Despite rising prices and shortages in hops, beer made by small breweries has grown 6.5% in volume and 11% in sales in the first half of 2008  So far this year 42 of the top 50 brewing companies grew in production to keep up with demand

Continued Growth  The demand for beer has continued to grow despite the economic downturn  Beer is one of the cheaper luxury items people can buy  Bear Republic Brewery, a microbrewery, has seen their business grow by more than 50% in 2006 and 2007  Most small breweries are still doing well despite the shortage of hops

Looking Forward  Between March and May of this year hop growers planted an addition 8,500 acres in the U.S. and 11,000 acres worldwide to help keep up with demand  Brewers and experts agree that in the near future the hops shortage will lead to less diversity in styles of beers  Hop-filled beers will still be prevalent at the beer festivals, but some with altered recipes

Upcoming Beer Festivals  Stoudt’s Octoberfest -- Adamstown, PA  Fest-of-Ale -- Atlanta Botanical Garden  Leavenworth Octoberfest -- Leavenworth, WA  Tulsa Oktoberfest -- Tulsa, OK  Great Eastern Invitational Microbrewery Festival -- Adamstown, PA  KC Beerfest -- Kansas City, KS  Newtown Brewfest -- Newton, PA

Upcoming Beer Festivals  Brewfest -- Green Bay, WI  Return of the Belgian Beer Fest -- Boston, MA  Bretopia Great World Beer Festival -- NYC, NY