FOREWORD

The Hopsteiner Group is pleased to publish the 2005 edition of Guidelines for Hop Buying, which reflects the latest available data. Our report is based upon
the statistics we have acquired for the international hop and beer markets.

We trust that the information incorporated in the following pages will prove helpful for your hop-buying decisions. We are publishing early this year due to the Drinktec trade fair, so we have limited our commentary as harvest is ongoing and the spot market has not yet developed.

We estimated alpha acid usage in 2005 to be 4.7 grams per hl of beer, and now project a further reduction down to 4.5 grams in 2006.These numbers are based on our analysis of beers from around the world. The continual reduction is still being caused by the growing usage for pre-isomerized hop products which offer substantial hop yield improvements to the brewer as well as consumer preference for milder beers.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions pertaining to the information in this report We will of course stay in touch with you as developments occur.

August 2005
S. S. Steiner, Inc.
Simon H. Steiner, Hopfen, GmbH
Steiner Hops Limited