Hop growers are more than mystified at reports from the BBC Today programme and national papers claiming that a 10 pence a pint increase in the price of beer had been caused by the high cost of importing hops.
Peter Davies of the National Hop Association of England, representing all 150 English hop growers, comments:
"This has all been badly sexed-up, and I don't know whether the government or the BBC are to blame. Perhaps we need a Public Enquiry? The real truth is that in every £2.04 pint of mainstream lager the government's tax dossier demands a mighty 64.2 pence. In contrast, the hop grower receives only a derisory 0.16 of a penny. This leaves the brewer with 31.5 pence and the retailer with 108.3 pence.
"So, talk of the 10 pence rise in the cost of a pint being attributable to hops is all froth, designed perhaps to hide other costs in the distribution chain or the high levels of tax charged on our beautiful national drink?
"If however brewers really are intending to pay the extra 10p a pint for their hops, we look forward to rapidly raising our acreage from the present 4,000 acres back to whatever is needed to make the importation of hops un-necessary
"The English harvest was only just under its normal level last year and flavours and aromas were good; so there seems little need to bring in hops from abroad anyway.
Fact Sheet:
· The average usage of hops in Britain is estimated at 4 ozs per barrel (36 gallons) of beer, ie 700 grams per 1,000 litres of beer. The cost of using this main flavour attribute of beer works out at a measly 0.16 of a penny per pint. Ale brewers normally use more hops than lager brewers, and smaller ale breweries generally use more than larger ones.
· If the 10p a pint were given to hop growers, this would give them £12,500 per zentner (zentner =50 kilos) rather than the £120-200 pre zentner received over the last 5 years.
· In a £2.04 pint of mainstream lager, the HM Government's taxes are 35.7p for VAT and 28.5p for duty.
· In 1870, 72,000 acres of hops were grown in Britain, spread across 53 counties and growing as far north as Aberdeen."
· The hops used in beer cost less than the cost of the label on the bottle, beer isn't beer without hops.
· England has over 20 hop varieties, ranging from 5% to 15% in strength of flavour, each with their own individual aromas and brewing characteristics. Naming individual hop varieties on pumpclips or on bottle, labels will help beer drinkers to be more discerning in comparing the taste of different beers.
