Fans of craft beer should be on alert. NBC News is reporting that a drought currently ravaging the state of Washington may result in hops shortages that could cause problems for the fast growing craft brewing industry.
NBC cites data from The US drought monitor which reveals that 98 percent of the state is in a 'severe drought.'
Another report published by the USDA reveals that 73 percent of the Country's hops supply comes from the Yakima Valley region of Washington. But the state wide drought and uncharacteristically hot weather have led to strict water restrictions in the area that can severely limit the amount of crops that can be grown.
"We have all 100 percent of the hops production in my district under a severe water restriction," Roza Irrigation District Manager Scott Revell said to NBC. He says rationing is already in effect in his district to try and prolong the supply of water.
Every grower is going to have crop loss. I am not saying it is catastrophic or disastrous, but there will be some crop loss associated with it," said Washington hop farmer, Eric Desmarais in the NBC Report.
Ann George, executive director of the Washington Hop Commission, also echoed Desmarais' comments:
"We will have some fields that will probably see a little lower yield this year because of the combination of water stress and heat, we really won't know until harvest."
The impending hops shortage could affect beer prices come 2016 according to Michael Butler of Cascadia Capital:
"Next year you won't have more land for hops," he said. "You have a shortage of water. You're going to have more demand from the craft breweries, and so you kind of pass the inflection point where the demand is greater for hops than the supply."
