Having had a renewed interest in American ales I've been checking around the hop prices and something strange seems to be going on at our end of the market with Cascade. Clearly there has been a huge price spike in US hops last year, with Craftbrewer's prices around 50% higher for several US varieties compared to UK or Euro hops, so CB obviously got caught by this "spike" . I note that CB's Cascade prices are still down with the Euro and UK hops as they are 2009 season and would have been bought in before the big rise. However I see that Ellerslie Hop are charging almost $60 a kilo for Cascade, and that's pre-GST, as opposed to only $25 - $40 a kilo for other varieties. So in the case of the Cascade they presumably got caught by the spike in their case.
Hops direct Cascade are currently very "normal" at around $22 a kilo. Seeing as HD are on the ground there in Cascade country, does this mean that the spike has passed and that prices here will ease as new stock works its way through the pipeline? I've still got a fair bit of Cascade in the freezer but will probably eke it out with Centennial until prices come back down.
Hops direct Cascade are currently very "normal" at around $22 a kilo. Seeing as HD are on the ground there in Cascade country, does this mean that the spike has passed and that prices here will ease as new stock works its way through the pipeline? I've still got a fair bit of Cascade in the freezer but will probably eke it out with Centennial until prices come back down.
