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[paxamicus AT earthlink.net]

Hops shortages"

http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2008/05/07/global-warming-hitting-hops-hard

"In a Nature news article this week, Nature staff writer Rex Dalton  
reports on how the warming climate in Northern Europe is adversely  
affecting the hop crop. According to Peter Darby, a hop grower in the  
UK, the warm springs and mild winters have caused the hop vines to  
sprout early, stagnate, and produce little."


And in response the Sam Adams people did this :

http://www.samueladams.com/promotions/HopSharing/Default.aspx

"For a couple of months now, we’ve all been facing the unprecedented  
hops shortage and it’s affected all craft brewers in various ways.   
The impact is even worse on the small craft brewers--openings delayed,  
recipes changed, astronomical hops prices being paid and brewers who  
couldn’t make beer. <snipping of numbers> The purpose of doing this is  
to get some hops to the brewers who really need them.  So if you don’t  
really need them, please don’t order them.  And don’t order them just  
because we’re making them available at a price way below market.   
Order them because you need these hops to make your beer.  We’re not  
asking questions, so let your conscience be your guide. A few  
mechanics--until we know how much need there is, we’ve put a maximum  
out there of 6 boxes per brewer, which is 528 pounds.  You can order  
less in 88 pound increments.  You pay shipping.  If we get more orders  
than the 20,000 pounds, we’ll have a lottery. We hope this makes  
brewing a little easier for those hardest hit by the hop shortage."

Just goes to show you beer guzzlers aren't all bad. ; )  xoxox.