Victory Brewing Co. :: Taste Victory

Autumn has brought with it the harvest, as usual. But for brewers, this year the harvest has delivered concern and discomfort rather than the warm glow of abundance.

You see, the raw ingredients of beer, barley and hops, have come up short of global demand. The factors underlying this situation are a few rather than merely one.

Hops are in the most dire of circumstances with certain hop varieties non-existent in the marketplace at this point and those that have been secured by brewers have been at premiums of 30 to 300% over last year’s prices. With shell-shocked craft brewers now prowling online industry forums in search of hops much like those without tickets outside a sold out Grateful Dead concert in need of ‘a miracle,’ the situation needs some clarity and we’ll attempt here to supply it for you.

Hops have been plentiful and cheap for too long now, aiding the beermaker and harming the hop farmer. This inequity has driven farmers in many countries to give up on hops and turn their valuable acres into more fruitful crops. And though total acreage in hops was up an estimated 4,900 acres over 2006 lead by China, America and Germany, the total acreage is 50% percent lower than it was 10 years ago, around the globe. The situation is now ‘better’ from the hop farmer’s perspective with dramatically increased prices. For example, in the heart of US hop growing, the Yakima Valley of Washington state, 60 growers in Yakima and Benton counties harvested 27,000 acres with a value of $95 million in 2000. Last year, 36 growers harvested 23,000 acres with a value of about $92 million, according to sources. Add to this the fact that newly planted hop rhizomes will require three years at least to yield commercial quantities and we can expect this malaise to continue for that duration.

Another factor in the hops market collapse lies in the fact that the alpha acid levels that hops have been producing have been on a general downward trend for 10 years. Realize that even the blandest of beers, brewed in the immense volumes that they are by popular, industrial brewers, eat up a massive amount of alpha acids from hops. Reports we have indicate the global deficit of alpha acids, given the weak 2007 harvest stands at 2.2 million pounds. Do the large brewers hold any reserves from prior years? It is anyone’s guess but don’t expect them to be providing any ‘miracles’ to craft brewers.

So, as you ponder making a multiple case investment in Prima Pils right now to assure you your fix of glorious hops into next year, take some comfort in knowing that we have done our work to continue to deliver great beer for you. That work began in April with our European Pils Tour that brought us on day two to Georg Bentele’s hop farm in Tettnang, Germany. Some frantic phone calls to Georg in July as early harvest reports predicted dire things for hops availability, rewarded us with 10,000 kilos of prime German hops (1/3 of Georg’s entire annual output) and rewarded Georg with a decidedly fat return for assuring us a flow of those great hops for the next 6 years.

Okay, take another sip because that first shipment from Georg arrived just the other day and delivered an overwhelmingly fresh blast of hop aroma when the container’s doors swung open. We are proud to say that we have hops and you’ll have beer.

Malted barley prices are up between 30 and 40% due to a 2007 crop that is insufficient now that ethanol producers are vying with brewers for a limited supply. Yielding viable crops within a single season of planting, barley is likely to stabilize its supply a lot quicker than hops will.

For years now we have been forward contracting our malted barley and hops to assure great quality from prime producers and to deliver a stable cost to you. This year we just had to add a few new supplier relationships to keep great Victory beer flowing.

Also, on the sweeter side of the harvest was our haul of medals from the Great American Beer Festival held each year in Denver, CO. There 2,793 beers were judged and our Festbier and Prima Pils were honored with gold and silver medals, respectively. Two years exhibiting out there and two medals are on our shelf so far. We’ll also have some good news to announce from European competition soon so stay tuned.

But most of all, stay grateful for what the harvest brings you. You may always want more, but having some cool, hoppy comfort is better than having none at all.

The Brewmasters of Victory

Besides our delicious Braumeister Harvest Pils using ‘wet’ hops from our New York state grower that rolled out here at Victory for the third year on October 1 (very little of this draft beer remains!) we have some delightful liquid bathed in precious 2007 hops coming up.
Halloween night will bring the frighteningly drinkable Hop Wallop back from his cold crypt of seasonal ‘retirement.’ Jam packed with whole flower hops just as in year’s past, this year’s version features our hand-selected hop favorites from the Yakima Valley. Sipping this annual homage to the hop harvest is a fitting way to savor both the bitter, and the sweet o the season.
Old Horizontal batches are now in the tanks and on track to peak for their late November release. Believe it or not, this malty monster of an ale packs plenty of whole flower hops to add those deep, candied fruit overtones and aromatic enticement that brings you back to sip and savor again and again.

Featured as one of a select dozen beers of fall, West Coast beer writer Phil Barber, hailed Moonglow as “accentuating the rich flavors of the harvest” in October’s Bon Appétit magazine.

Then MSN City Guides enlisted the wonderful folks at Biercraft in Brooklyn NY to assemble a fall collection for their review. Moonglow once again shined with comments like, “Pennsylvania’s take on this Bavarian fall classic is dead on…” and “balanced with a refreshing citrus crispness common to wheat beers.” Check out all 10 autumn beer featured at:
http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5556258&page=2

Come out and join the fun as we release our 2007 version of VBC fan favorite Hop Wallop. It happens on Halloween so expect lots of shenanigans throughout the night.

Have Questions or would like to get involved - E-mail Anne Shuniak at annes@victorybeer.com

FallFest a success with $4,080 donation made to the Downingtown Fire Department! We enjoy anything we can do to help our community.