Hops - selling the skin of uncaught bear

In order to start brewing, a large amount of stuff is needed, from which the beer is made. Obtaining hops is the difficulty. The times shown in the picture are long gone. Hops are no longer divided into bitter and aroma hops, as the result of diligent plant breeding, a whole celebration of aromas and flavors are available for master brewer’s subject for thought and beer drinker’s pleasure. Barely a sufficient quantity of Amarillo and Simcoe hops has arisen in the market, when already Citra and Nelson Sauvin are the new star hops. It can be added that hops are grown in quite a few places in the world and a poor season or epidemic could destroy a large part of the harvest. So it was in 2007, when at some point, there simply was no hops, not even for higher price. Brew even with pinecone if you wish. Today, it is a common practice to sign a contract for the hops. At the moment, the older breweries sign contracts for harvest of year 2015; we, as a starting brewery, sign contracts for this year’s harvest in order to end 2014 hops richly. Next to this, selling the skin of uncaught bear seems to be a normal activity.

The picture has been taken from here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/57768042@N00/sets/72157622462793915