Nine years ago, the total hop acreage in the USA exceeded that in Germany for the first time, and now the USA is moving back into second place.
The trend is towards bitter hops
It is also interesting to take a look at the hop varieties and variety segments. There is a shift away from aroma hops towards bitter hop varieties in the growing regions. The bitter hop variety »Herkules« has the largest acreage, even though the hops are grown exclusively in Germany - on 39 percent of German hop acreage, and the trend is rising.
Ranking of the hop-growing countries
The largest hop-growing regions in the world are therefore in Germany and the USA. 83 percent of German hop acreage is in the Hallertau region, between Ingolstadt and Landshut. Hops are also grown on a large scale in the Elbe-Saale region, in Tettnang and Spalt. The total hop-growing area in Germany is 20,083 hectares.
In the USA, hops are grown almost exclusively in the so-called PWN states (Pacific Northwest) of Washington, Idaho and Oregon. According to the German Hop Growers' Association, the green gold is now only planted on around 17,850 hectares (compared to 22,500 in the previous year). Around 70 percent of this is in Washington.
Hops are also grown in Asia and Oceania
With much less acreage, China is in 3rd place in our small ranking of hop-growing regions (6,000 hectares). Considering that China is the country with the highest beer production in the world, hop growing (still) plays a relatively minor role there.
In 4th place is the Czech Republic with 4,940 hectares, followed by Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) with 2,300 hectares and Poland with 1,730 hectares. So we are back in Europe again. 7th place for Slovenia (1,630 hectares).
The gap is now significant again: France grows hops on 670 hectares; Great Britain on 650, Spain on 600 (10th place).
So let's leave the list alone and state the following: No matter where in the world beer is brewed, it is quite possible that the hops come from Germany and the USA.
Sources: Verband Deutscher Hopfenpflanzer, BarthHaas Report 2022/2023
Photo: © BarthHaas
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