Hop growers feel the impact of climate change, next it is the drinkers!

Climate change reaches a new level of
 seriousness when the
 nation's beer supplies are threatened.

As any beer lover knows, hops are a key ingredient in beer. But now, climate change poses a threat to hops production, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The U.S. is the second largest hops-producing country in the world. But almost all of the nation’s commercial hopyards are located in just three states: Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Washington alone produces nearly three-quarters of all the nation’s hops. In 2015, an estimated 71 percent of U.S. hops were grown in Washington, 15 percent in Oregon and 11 percent in Idaho, according to data from Hop Growers of America.

Growers in states across the U.S. are increasingly planting commercial hopyards to meet the craft beer industry’s voracious demand. But all of the other 47 states’ hops acreage make up less than 3 percent of total hops acreage in the U.S.

Read the EcoWatch story - “Climate Change Poses Threat to Key Ingredient in Beer, NOAA Warns.”