from my LHBS. Is there a shortage …at least for the homebrewing community?
Hop Pre-Order Info
We’ve been working hard to get you your pre-order hops. They are still in the pipeline and will be headed your way. If you take note, this year’s hops are not available at any homebrew stores. If they are claiming they are this year’s hops they are passing off last year’s crop as the newest.
L.D. Carlson is the only distributor in the U.S. that handles the Hop Union grown and packaged product, and they have not received any of this year’s crop.
There has been a buyout. Hop Union is now part of Y.C. Hops. In the transition, the inability or lack of desire to fulfill the homebrewing market with timely service and a volume of hops that would satisfy the demand for their product has been obvious. We have now been shuffled back another month. Your hops will be on their way, but we can not get a specific date from anyone, only that they will come. A loose estimate is 4-6 weeks.
If the new timeline is too great of a wait, we completely understand, we are frustrated also, and will refund anyone that requests. Keep in mind, our allocation of hops has been cut by 75% this year, and your pre-orders are the majority of that allocation. We will most likely be sold out of specific pre-order hops all year. Your pre-orders make up that much volume of what we will receive. There is no guarantee you will get your hands on these hops if you do request a refund, and they will surely be at a much higher price point caused by this scarcity.
It is a real shame when the end consumer, the die hard beer lovers and homebrewers are the last to be served.
Nope, no shortage at all. I just got an order from Hop Heaven and he has plenty of stock. BTW, the freshest, best processed hops I’ve ever gotten. Maybe the issue is your LHBS.
I got the same email from Label Peelers. I’ve gotten great deals and service from them in the past. Sucks that they’re getting shafted by this situation.
What sucks even more is that this major player in the hop business is apparently putting homebrewers on the back burner. I’m hoping that it’s mainly because they just haven’t gotten their stuff together because of the new merger. Thankfully their are enough sources of quality hops that I can vote with my dollar and boycott HopUnion until they set this straight.
Thank you for posting this. I did not know about that place, but I just ordered a pound of 2015 EKG, a pound of 2014 Styrian Goldings, and a half pound of 2015 Saaz.
Soon after I pre-ordered from Label Peelers (in October), a poster on reddit claimed that they took until mid-Jan to get hops out last year. Seems he was correct. Their price was still pretty good that I never cancelled my order. I have plenty of stock to ride it out. I’ll probably use another supplier next year.
I’m guessing that this is a label peelers disclaimer. I’m glad I didn’t pre-order with them like I usually do. They are such a great store and top notch customer service. It’s a shame that this unfortunate circumstance that is clearly out of their hands is going to tarnish it.
I ordered from Yakima valley this year because they had nice cyber Monday deals on 8 oz bag combo packs. Still the price was more than label peelers per ounce. When you catch them in their sales, you can not beat their prices anywhere! I didn’t get my hops from them this year, but I did get 260 lb of grain on my last trip.
We’re always the last to get hops because all but the 2-3 largest homebrew shops lack the purchasing power to move up the chain to have orders fulfilled. Wholesalers will always sell to their biggest clients first, which means breweries are getting their orders filled first. We’re getting sold the least impressive lots of hops at unfavorable prices.
I know there is talk among the craft beer industry that there is a shortage (or a perceived shortage) and maybe this year’s harvest wasn’t great. Prices are apparently pretty bad right now if you can’t buy under contract. I don’t know if Hop Union was hit particularly hard in 2015 or if it’s uniformly bad. Apparently even some of the more common varieties are completely sold out from the 2015 harvest.
I’m not sure what model stores like YVH, Farmhouse and Hop Heaven follow (I’m guessing that they have their own contracts rather than buying through a wholesaler like BSG or LD Carlson), but quality is consistently top-notch and the selection has never been an issue for me. It sucks that homebrew shops are getting shafted, but there are quality alternatives for homebrewers who want the best hops they can get their hands on.
Just ordered 2015 crop 1# each of citra, galaxy, columbus, and EKG from YKV…to bad I fell for that label peelers presale, I guess I’ll never order from them again
