As every beerdrinker knows, beer prices are rising to infinity and beyond. There are many reasons, but one of them is that there's a serious shortage of hops in the United States. Serious enough that some brewers have not been able to buy what they need.

Jim Koch to the rescue. Jim is the brains behind the Boston Beer Company, which makes the Sam Adams line of beers. He's also a good guy (I interviewed him for the book) whose head is screwed on straight.

A fact he demonstrated this week when he announced that he would sell his extra hops to any brewer that needed them. You can read the announcement here at Stan's blog. Entries for February 15th and 18th. (I can't seem to open the relevant page at the Sam Adams site, otherwise I'd send you there. But the announcement is on the company's front page.)