BeerScribe

I suppose we all should have seen this coming but for some reason it still surprises me. Not 48 hours after the Boston Beer Company held its hop lottery, in which it selflessly sold off excess hops AT COST to craft brewers who desperately needed them, some joker has put a bunch of the hops up for sale on Ebay. A brewery entering the hop lottery paid $5.42 for a pound of Tettnang Tenttnanger hops. The cost on Ebay? The bids start at $29.95, a 550-percent markup for starters (plus $9.50 shipping). The odd thing is that the website also has Spalt hops for sale at the same price, but the Boston Beer Company didn’t offer this variety in the lottery. Out of respect for Boston Beer, I won’t post the web address but you can surely find it.

You are bidding on a full pound of HOPS PELLETS. aquired from Boston Brewery, maker of samual adams. . THEY ARE VERY GREEN. Sorry about the photo. TOO high tech of a camera.

This one is Garth Pellets Type 90 Spalt Spalter. Alpha 4,5%. Crop 2006. They had them in a Freezer at 20 degrees below. PACKED IN NITROGEN for added shelflife. 5 years shelflife if under zero degrees. We are packaging them in 1 pound packages and selling them to the public.

Item will ship out the same day your payment is received. Shipping is $9.50 for the first pound and only $2.50 for each additional.

Boston Beer appears to have anticipated this problem in a press section of its website:

Q: What will prevent the brewers who buy these hops from reselling them at a much higher price?

A: Nothing other than doing what is right. We believe craft brewers will help one another. We’ve asked brewers to order only what they need and to let their consciences be their guide.

Nice to see how human nature works that whole conscience thing out. I sense someone has reserved themselves a toasty place next to the fire in a beerless hell…

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