USA, WA: Impressive growth in production of craft beer leads to an increase in consumption of hops

These are good times for farmers who grow hops. The beer-flavouring plant is in short supply because of the dramatic increase in the popularity of craft breweries, Newser reported on June 12.

That has growers in the Yakima Valley - which produces 75 percent of the nation's hops - rushing to expand their production.

In Washington, acreage grew more than 6 percent in 2014 from the year before and is projected to rise 10 percent this year. Prices are also climbing.

Craft beers typically use four to five times more hops than blander mass-produced beers.

12 June, 2015