We have a small hop field that is close by that is in the beginning of harvesting. I got a call a few days ago from my sales rep asking if we wanted to purchase some fresh hops off the vine and they will just drive them over.
I've made plenty of wet hop pale ales and IPA's when I homebrewed and used what was growing in my garden, so I have had some experience in using them. Being that we are a new brewpub, this is our first harvest to use fresh hops to make beer.
I was astonished to find out that this supplier charges the exact same price for fresh hops as they do for dry hops or pellets. This seems like an astronomical price to pay for hops to add to beer. They are making 4 times the profit on these, and don't have to dry them or pulverize them?
I realize that there is a limited time to purchase wet hops, and that could potentially effect the price. But driving my hop cost in a batch around 4 times seems a bit extream.
Since this is my first experience with this, I was just curious if this is normal in the industry? Maybe only with smaller growers? Anyone else have different/similar experiences?
I've made plenty of wet hop pale ales and IPA's when I homebrewed and used what was growing in my garden, so I have had some experience in using them. Being that we are a new brewpub, this is our first harvest to use fresh hops to make beer.
I was astonished to find out that this supplier charges the exact same price for fresh hops as they do for dry hops or pellets. This seems like an astronomical price to pay for hops to add to beer. They are making 4 times the profit on these, and don't have to dry them or pulverize them?
I realize that there is a limited time to purchase wet hops, and that could potentially effect the price. But driving my hop cost in a batch around 4 times seems a bit extream.
Since this is my first experience with this, I was just curious if this is normal in the industry? Maybe only with smaller growers? Anyone else have different/similar experiences?
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