Through the years there have been tons of studies about the health benefits of ingesting hops, even being surrounded by hope. Having a hops pillow, maybe to even to be taken as far as bathing in a hophead IPA!!! Maybe not, but hops are important.
http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/cimer/display.cfm?id=A3FDD6F6-921F-4DD8-A95BCCFA26DA0F1E&method=displayFull
The problem is that 80 percent of the hops in the world come from one valley, Yakima Valley, Washington, and these hops are controlled by a small group of people. So the prices have gone up as the craft brew industry has ballooned. For us in the US the prices have swelled even further because of the premium that European brewers can now pay for hops because of the week dollar, thanks FED. The worst part is these guys aren’t even doing a good job protecting the stuff. Four percent of the Hops burned.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2006/10/beer_disaster_in_yakima_washington_/
Wow, so smart. So now its not even certain that there will be enough hops for the demand of the ladder half of the year and who knows how this will affect price, definitely not positively. So what do we need, we need farmers to start growing hops, because its not just good for the beer environment in the US but the whole world, and it won’t just lower costs for the brewers but for the consumers. So grow hops for your health!
