May 6th, 2008
I can take costly energy, rice shortages, pricier platinum, but not my beer!!!!
If this be a harbinger of things to come, life is gonna get bleak here pretty soon. I’m not talking about recession or no recession, health care or not health care, not even worried about food prices going up 50% in a year. I eat too much anyway. No, this is about the threat to my beer supply. And yours.
Reports from Europe indicate warmer summers are reducing hop harvests in Europe and that is raising the price of beer there. And in this global economy it’s just a matter of time until American hops get pricier, too. Right now there’s a hopsmeisters conference in Germany where they take their brewing and beering seriously. Germany has more hops farmers than any other nation. Now they’re looking for irrigation plans to keep the hops happy during hot, dry spells…and hops varieities that can withstand warmer summers. One source could be countries like Turkey that have long had hotter summers and still grow a variety of hops. I am sending all our good hopes for good hops. This is not a shortage civilization could long withstand.
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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