Gentle Reader, It Saddens Me...

It seems that the price of beer is going up. In a short article in Newsweek they cite the fact that farmers are planting more corn for biodiesel, and a lot less barley. Less barley, means a higher price for the crop come harvest time. Prices for barley are up 79% in 11 months.

They also mention higher demand for steel for kegs, and glass. The U.S. reports keg shortages as well as the price of the average pint up 3.8%. Scottish and Newcastle, big time brewers in the U.K., raised prices 3.9% in March. In Feb. Hieneken predicted the cost would rise 7-8%. In Germany at Oktoberfest a liter was $10.90, up a dollar from '05. And get this, South African Brewers, yes Miller Beer Inc. has had trouble getting glass as well as having trouble filling orders. To make up for the whole mess, they are going to raise their prices.

Now as I see it, this is a powerful encouragement to start recycling, and if you have an old keg in the basement, you know, left over from your college days, now might be a good time to turn it in.

And if you are like me and get tired of mowing so much grass every summer, now might be a good time to consider having a garden next summer. Just sit down with your loved one and explain how you want to plant the whole backyard in barley so you start brewing your own beer in the fall. Tell them how it can be a project that the two of you can share together and how this will be good quality time. If that doesn't seal the deal, appeal to their logic and thriftyness. Tell them that this will save a lot of money out of the family budget, as well as get the kids "back to nature" and get them out of the house and doing something useful. It that still dosen't quite convince them, then promise to name the beer after them and throw them a party.

If any of this works with your loved one, tell me. I need something good to get Flannery to go for it.

Doc