Maybe It's Not So Bad....

After the initial scares / concerns etc, the hop situation for the next 12 months is starting to become clearer. Yes, some varieties are in very short supply, some are effectively non-existent. And sure, the cost of what is available has doubled or even tripled. But you know what? I think maybe we'll manage. We might go a bit greyer, and maybe the truck will get one less a wash each year, and perhaps we'll have to sell off our collection of Royal Mail rubber bands to help fund hop purchases. But yes, we'll probably manage.

Britannia of course will remain a casualty until the 2008 hop harvest is in, but that just means we will be offering a different beer instead. And who knows, that too may receive the odd gong & a bit of praise. Ironically, Britannia has yet another moment of glory coming it's way in 2008, but we have a plan, as cunning as a sack full spin doctors, that means there will be a special batch of Britannia on sale to mark the occasion (just within the life of the last of the Bramling Cross, with our storage facilities). But more on this in a few months.

"Ahh", I hear you cry (I think). "You said that malt was a problem as well". Well, it probably is. Maybe. Our nice malting chaps at Warminster are reservedly confident that we (as a customer of some years) will be OK. But they aren't sure. But then neither are any other maltsters. Again, prices have risen considerably, and will quite likely do so again before Spring, but I guess we'll probably manage. Of course with malt, there are all sorts of cheap alternative options, such as using sugars (we currently get all our sugar from the malt) to replace some of the malt. We could use extracts instead, or even bulk the malt out with unmalted grains such as maize or rice (yes, fans of a certain American 'beer', rice is used to cut costs, not improve the product....). But we won't, so don't worry about us cheapening the product and so reduce the quality in order to save money. We'll leave that to others, and believe me many will resort to cost cutting.

Even CAMRA have taken notice of the situation, and in the latest edition of their members newspaper 'What's Brewing', they discuss the subject, and even ask that brewers don't turn to cheaper, inferior ingredients. This request is made on the very sound basis that if we don't support the farmers growing the the hops / grain, they won't offer the same quality ingredients next year. This is very true - half the problem now is that acreages of malting barley & hops are falling because the big brewing groups (who take by far the greatest majority of the relevant crop harvest) are demanding lower & lower prices. The result is that many growers have turned to more profitable crops (such a oilseed for bio-fuels). So well done CAMRA, for supporting the farmers, and encouraging us to encourage them by accepting we have to pay for quality. No, really. Any decent micro brewer / businessman will agree that a fair price ensures continued supply. Trouble is, someone has to pay the higher price, and just as farmer shouldn't be expected to work hard for a poor return, neither should the brewer. So does the CAMRA article implore CAMRA members to happily pay more for their beer, and avoid cheap beer sources? Does it implore landlords to just accept they will have to pay more for the beer they stock?

Does it heck. Someone has to pay for the increases, because they won't go away. Unlike the small, decent breweries and the small, decent village pubs that look like having to swallow it or die. And I've not even touched on the massive increases in fuel & energy costs. So, no. Maybe we won't all probably manage....?

Here's to 2008. And to saying the same for 2009.