As a high-demand agricultural commodity, hops are subject to myriad forces that can greatly impact the price and availability of certain varieties. Weather conditions, total acreage, harvesting and processing infrastructure, consumer demand, and shifting tastes all affect the market.
Sometimes the equation temporarily swings out of balance and corrects, as is the case with the drought and unseasonable heat that caused a dramatic reduction in Germany’s alpha hops harvest in 2015.
And other times a groundswell of sustained momentum—such as the red-hot growth of the American craft-beer industry—radically and permanently alters the global hops landscape.