E-Malt.com News article: USA: Brewers worried about quality barley supply this year

Mother Nature is causing headaches for breweries here and nationwide as they scramble to get the quality barley needed for first-class beer, Citizen-Times reported on February 2.

Heavy rains last fall in barley country — Montana and Idaho — pounded the crop, leaving a lot of it unsuitable for brewing. That has limited the supply of top-quality brewing barley nationwide and sent waves of concern through the beer world.

What it means for the beer customer is still uncertain. If costs increase, some breweries may have to pass them along to the customer. Brewers will work to make sure that beers taste the same as always.

The issue is "critical," says the Asheville Brewers Alliance, which is hosting a two-day barley summit for breweries Feb. 6-7 in Asheville. The program will explore barley issues and options. The need for a strong barley supply is magnified by the 19 breweries in Asheville and Buncombe County, and more than a dozen others around the mountains. Nationally, there are about 3,200 craft breweries across the U.S., all of them scrambling for the same ingredients.

More than just entertainment, the area breweries here have become a big economic force. An informal survey by the Asheville Brewers Alliance shows that once the New Belgium and Sierra Nevada breweries are at full force, more than 1,000 people will be working in beer around the mountains.

"The (barley) shortage is very real and something that a majority of smaller breweries will need to be concerned with," said Benton Wharton of Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain.

Pisgah uses 100 percent organic grains and malts and is protected by contracts, he said. But the possibility of "higher prices is very real and will begin to affect the market in some ways this year," he said. But Pisgah isn't planning to raise pint prices.

At Lookout Brewing, also in Black Mountain, owner John Garcia is anxious about the supply. "We use North American barley entirely, so we will be impacted," he said. He's testing recipes with European grain, but it's a lot more expensive. "I am planning on a rise in costs," which eventually could be passed on to customers.

Most of the U.S. barley supply is grown in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and other northern Midwest states, said Scott Heisel of the American Malting Barley Association trade group. There is some grain produced in other places, including North Carolina, but historically the upper Midwest has become a primary barley supplier. Crop failures are not common, but they have happened.

Heavy rains before the harvest in August caused the grain to sprout early, the Associated Press reported last year. In some areas, more than 50 percent of the crop was damaged.

Brewers do have other source options. Barley also is grown in Canada and Europe. But "most of the barley is under contract," Heisel said. "lt has been bought for a set price. There isn't a whole lot that no one owns. There is not a lot of extra supply."

Heisel expects breweries to find the grain they need, "whether that means importing barley or using as much of the (U.S.) crop as possible," he said.

John Lyda, the longtime brewmaster at Asheville's Highland Brewing, isn't worried about supply, but he is concerned about quality. "We have our contracts," he said. But if the barley isn't up to usual standards, brewers "may have to do some tweaks to maintain consistency." Even if the customer doesn't notice, "the brewers will."

In 2007, hops were in short supply because of weather issues and a fire that destroyed a stockpile.

In that crisis, some local beers were temporarily pulled from production for lack of the proper flavoring hop. But the situation was resolved and the brews went back online.

"We're all subject to mother nature," said New Belgium spokesman Bryan Simpson. The company is building an East Coast expansion brewery in West Asheville that looks to open in fall 2015.

"We're not facing a shortage, but the crop was really poor in a lot of areas," he said. "Rain, snow and freezing temperatures doomed a lot of barley up north. We are working closely with our partners to ensure we get the best malt possible to make beer."

New Belgium will continue business as usual, but it is carefully watching the 2015 crop "to see how it comes in," he said.

Sierra Nevada's head brewer Scott Jennings doesn't expect beers to disappear. "It's not a life-or-death situation," he said. "Prices of our raw materials can change at the drop of hat. Maybe breweries will be able to absorb costs, or maybe not. Brewers are not trying to get rich."

Noah Tuttle of Oskar Blues in Brevard said it will use 8-10 million pounds of grain this year, but he's protected for three years by contract.

For Asheville's Hi-Wire Brewing, the supply of quality grain is starting "to play out already with some of our specialty malts," said brewery co-founder Adam Charnack. The brewery uses 40 tons of grain a month and expects to pay more, but it doesn't plan to pass along the higher tab to customers. "Only if the market prices of some of the larger (breweries) change would we even consider adjusting our prices."

Catawba Brewing in Morganton depends on North American barley for its beers, co-owner Billy Pyatt said. "In general, materials that are in short supply tend to go up. It's tough to speculate."



04 February, 2015