Independent breweries may soon be boosting prices.

This all comes after a poor growing season worldwide for both barley and hops.
In past years, the amount of hops grown was much higher than the demand and because of this, farmers have switched over to more profitable crops, such as corn for ethanol gas production. Similarly, barley is becoming harder to find due to the low profit rate and the higher demand for feed barley as opposed to malting barley.

Alan Baker, an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, explained that malting barley and hops are usually grown on a contract. This means buyers under contract are protected from price increases and insure they will receive the barley and hops they need regardless of the supply.

The increase will not affect large beer distributors, but rather smaller independent breweries will feel the effects of the price increase, as they need more hops and malting barley in their beers than commercial breweries.

“From what I understand, barley prices are going to double and hops are going to be seven times as much,” said Ryan Clooney, brewmaster of Emmett’s Alehouse in Oswego, Ill.

Emmett’s Alehouse is riding out the increase for now.

“We can’t shock the customers or anything by raising the price by a dollar,” Clooney said. “It will probably be a 25 cent increase.”

The malting barley and hops increase should be resolved by 2008 as new crops have been planted but can take up to two years to reach their full growth.

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.