[Artemisia] Attn: Brewers

[Judy Chapman]

Greetings to all the homebrewers in Artemisia from Baroness Judith.  As a 
wine maker, homebrewer and owner of a Home Brew Shop let me give you some 
more information.

> Germany is in the middle of a drought and their hop crops have failed.

This is news but as as most of the hops used in the US are grown in the US 
it is not a big worry.

> One of the major US distributors has had a fire in one of the hops storage 
> facilities with a total loss.
Yes, a major US distributor of US hops did have a fire and lost hops but it 
was not a total loss.  This loss was about 3% of total hop production.  What 
this means is that some varieties may run short before the '07 crop is 
processed.

> Large scale hops shortages and rising prices.

My supplier (a large one in Portland) is not worried.

> It was recommended by my local brewing store that we stock up on all types 
> of hops and freeze for future use.

Freezing is a good way to keep hops at home for future use.  Just remember 
that the new crop will be available later this year when you stock up.  The 
amount of hops sold through homebrew shops is pretty small when compared to 
the amounts used by the comercial breweries.  I personally am not worried, 
if one hop runs out it is a good opertunity to try something new.
One more item of interest, did you know you can grow your own hops?  They 
are easy to grow and very prolific.  By the second or third year they can 
reach 20 feet and produce three to four pounds of fresh hops per plant. 
Right now, here in Montana I am growing Cascade and Willamette.

> Just some FYI

Thanks for bringing up the subject and now for a shamless plug.  May 5th is 
Kingdom A & S and Colugium.  I will be teaching a class on "Making Period 
Ale/Beer"  and would love to get a chance to talk to other brewers and 
introduce everyone else to the joys of homebrewing.  If you let me know 
ahead of time I can have a hop start for you at the event.

Baroness Judith of Sherburn, OP