Craft beer drinkers may soon need to pay more for their favourite beverage as the price of hops has soared by 50%.
The warm and dry weather across Europe enjoyed in the summer of 2015 depressed the volume of hops harvested. The increasing demand for craft beers, the brewing of which uses quantities of hops six times greater than mass-market lagers, is driving up the price of hops. The price of some varieties has risen five-fold and some varieties are not available at all. Germany produces about one-third of the world’s hops but in 2015 production was down by 27%. In 2016 European production needs to be at least average or there could be a serious shortage of supply.
Photo Copyright : Birgit Korber
