Climate change a threat to beer

Eco Watch - 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.

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.

2015 shattered global temperature records, and Washington, in particular, experienced record hot and dry conditions. In May, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency after state officials recorded the lowest snowpack ever for the state. Washington also had a brutal wildfire season in 2015 with the massive Okanogan Complex surpassing last year’s record-setting Carlton Complex to become the largest fire in the state’s history.