The buzz is loud and clear. There are problems looming in the American craft brewing industry. Small brewers nationwide are having to dig deep into their souls to make hard, possibly life and death decisions.

So what’s the problem? It all boils down into the heart of the beer itself. The hops. They are in short supply and getting very expensive to purchase, if they can be found at all.

As most well-seasoned beer geeks know, it is the hops that make a beer drinkable. Without these wonderfully bitter flowers, we would be stuck with an overly sweet elixir better suited as hummingbird food, than the nectar of the gods, as a well-hopped brew is affectionately known. And it is the hops that make an IPA stand out above the rest.

Apparently, an over abundance of hops in past years has driven the wholesale cost to very affordable levels. That, coupled with a very bad harvest this year, has lead to a shortage of an under-priced commodity. As the laws of supply and demand dictate, the price of hops has skyrocketed in recent months, and there aren’t enough to go around.

The question that many brewers are asking themselves is this: Do I continue to create my beers as designed, and increase my prices, or do I tweak my recipes by lowering the amount of hops, to keep my prices the same?

According to me, that question is simply absurd. The quality of the beer should never be compromised by price. Yes, I will happily pay more to get what I truly enjoy - a nice hoppy pint of happiness.

Let the gargantuan, fizzy-yellow, beer makers brew the stuff to keep the mass drinkers content with their $5 six-packs. They say the grocery store price of a good microbrew will soon rise to over$10 a sixer. Well I say, if it’s good beer, it’s worth every penny.

So my short answer to all the craft brewers out there asking themselves this ridiculous question, the answer is clear. Brew you beer the way it was intended to be brewed, and the true beer lovers will reward you with their loyalty.

I for one would fall into a world of depression if my favorite IPA became a lackluster Pale Ale, simply for the sake of saving a buck or two.

I am extremely excited to announce the birth of our new Beer Blog! Finally.

Like just about all hard core beer enthusiasts, we stay a bit more up to date on our pint glass collections, and seasonal beer releases than we do with technology. This is our excuse for being about a decade behind the rest of the blogging world in the release of this blog. But hey, here we are, and we are here to stay.

I am writing this with a minor hangover due to heavy drinking at the blog release party we had last night, and the fact that my dog woke me up about six times - yes the dogs sleep in the bed.

So back to the blog - My brother and I (they call us “The Beer Sniffers”) plan to blog by committee. We travel the globe, visiting breweries for business and pleasure, and we can both smell a good IPA from about a block away. Of course my opinion on whether a specific IPA is good or not, is not always the same as my brother’s. But I guess that’s the beauty of growing up - and him not being able to kick my ass as easily as he used to.

So off we go into the mash tuns of far away breweries to see how much insanity we can fit into a pint glass. Until next time…

Gringo Rick