Does anyone remember after the last "hop shortage" people saying that hop prices won't come down, there's not enough crops, yada, yada, yada? Hop prices not only dropped, but I'm paying less now then I did before the shortage. Perceived shortages happen with hops, sugar, coffee, oil, you name it. The market is strained a little and prices goes up for a while, but the supply always comes back and the prices go back down. Unlike things such as crude oil, this is a renewable source.