Vancouver craft brewers say that navigating the hops market for their brews is a tricky business, requiring purchase commitments years in advance of need and a keen sense of keeping up with changing tastes among beer drinkers.
While local brewers say that common varieties of hops are not generally in short supply from growers in Washington and Oregon, the small-quantity brewers say they are competing with major players in the beer market in purchasing the most highly coveted varieties of the flavorful flowers. Industry veterans say those starting in the booming craft brewing industry sometimes fail to consider the importance of lining up a supply of hops that adequately meet demand if a brew hits a high note with beer lovers.
Brewers use hops to add bitter flavor and aroma to beer. While major brewers use a blend of commonly available hops, craft brewers look for strong and distinct flavors, and typically use far more hops than are found in major beer brands. Many of the most desired hops are patented, giving growers a captive market if brewers use those hops for a popular beer variety.
Craft beers are a booming business in the Portland-Vancouver area, with sales as a percentage of beer sales far exceeding the national average. With 256 craft brewers, Washington ranks fifth in the nation per capita, according to the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association. Oregon, with 216 craft brewers, is second per capita in the nation. After years of scant brewpub offerings in Vancouver, the local craft brewing industry has taken hold in the city's downtown with several new and popular pubs. On June 26, Heathen Brewing Feral Public House will add to the mix with its new pub at 1109 Washington St. in downtown Vancouver.
Steve Bader, whose Bader Beer & Wine Supply in Vancouver sells to home and small craft brewers, said crossbreeding hops varieties produces new flavors that can move in and out of popularity very quickly. Because hops require three years from planting to harvest, the challenge for growers and brewers is to catch the wave of popularity at the right moment.
The hops industry, which once met predictable demand for limited varieties from major brewers, has had to adapt to demand for richer varieties from a large number of craft brewers, Bader said.
"What's happened in the past 15 years is that brewers went from using the same 30 hops in every beer to using crossbred varieties that are becoming highly popular," he said.
Hops with citrus and grapefruit flavors have come on strong, and tropical flavors are now appealing to beer drinkers. But, Bader said, tastes can be fickle.
"There are varieties people get excited about, and the next thing you know, they are in low demand."
Growers, unwilling to invest three years in a crop that might end up out of favor with brewers and their customers, generally demand contracts three years in advance of purchase. Sunny Parsons, owner of Vancouver's Heathen Brewery, said it's tough to know in 2015 what hops to buy, and how much, in 2018.
"That's the really hard part for the small guys," he said.
A miscalculation means that those small craft brewers are buying "the leftovers from the big boys" to meet their needs.
"It's quite the racket," he said.
Tom Poffenroth, co-owner and brewer at Vancouver's Loowit Brewing Co., said he buys most of his hops from growers in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Poffenroth said its easy for inexperienced brewers to underestimate the need for lining up an adequate supply of the precious flower.
"When people are thinking of starting a brewery that's one of the last things they think about ," he said.
-- Gordon Oliver