PHOTO COURTESY OF ODA
Well before the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots take to the field in this year’s Super Bowl in Houston, the beer will be flowing around the country as part of what is arguably the number one party event of the year.
The great flavor of beer can be traced back to Pacific Northwest agriculture. Washington and Oregon rank first and second respectively in US production of hops– the key ingredient in beer. The two states are responsible for about 90 percent of the nation’s hop production, which jumped 11 percent last year. The continued explosion in the number of craft beers, many of them brewed in Oregon, has helped boost that production.
There’s a good chance on Super Bowl Sunday that beer drinkers will be tasting a bit of Oregon.
“Super Bowl is traditionally a time when people enjoy a good beer with friends and watch a good football game,” says Theresa Yoshioka, trade manager with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. “Here in Oregon, those parties will probably have an Oregon twist in that there will be more craft beverages consumed during the event.”
Football fans can appreciate the statistics that help support the team they are rooting for this Sunday. But there are also some telling numbers about the 2016 hop season in Oregon. Last year, more than a thousand additional acres of hops were harvested, and the 7,765 acres is a 43 percent increase over what was harvested in 2014. Production also jumped 16 percent in 2016 to nearly 12.4 million pounds. With a better price per pound, value of production last year stood at $65 million– nearly doubling 2015’s production value. All in all, it was a great year for Oregon’s 30 or so multi-generational family farms growing hops.
It takes two growing seasons for newly-planted Oregon hops to produce a crop. So last year’s increase in hops is a result of plantings in 2014 and 2015.
“The production peak of 2016 was the response to market demand that began more than two years ago when Oregon growers planted hop acreage to meet the increasing demand for aroma-type hop varieties,” says Michelle Palacios, administrator of the Oregon Hop Commission. “While overall acreage has increased, it is important to note that the acreage increase was primarily of varieties that contribute to the aroma and flavor of beer. Aroma-type hops are lower yielding in general, so bring a higher average price per pound.”
The growers themselves are happy to see the expanding world of craft beers.
“It’s all great news for Oregon agriculture and our brewing industry,” says Willamette Valley hop grower Gayle Goschie (left). “We have worked our way out of about six years of hop acreage decline to now and a fairly balanced supply between grower and brewer. The growth of the hops industry is directly connected to the growth of craft brewers in Oregon and throughout the world. You can’t make great craft beer without high quality flavorful hops.”
While Oregon can expect to see some additional new acreage come into production in 2017, the increase will be smaller than what was recorded last year. Most changes in production in the near future are expected to be in response to new and different hop varieties rather than increases in overall production.
For years, Oregon hops were primarily sold to large national breweries such as Anheuser Busch and its popular Budweiser brand. More hops now head to Oregon craft breweries who are proud to source a local crop.
“We are the number one state for craft brewing and the number one state for consuming craft beer per capita,” says ODA’s Yoshioka. “The craft beer demand and trend continues to grow across the nation and worldwide. With this growing demand for craft beer, there will be more demand for hops.”
New statistics from the Oregon Brewers Guild underscore the meteoric growth of craft brewing:
· There are 230 brewing companies operating 261 facilities located in Oregon, up from 73 brewing companies in 2009. Among locations, 70 breweries are in Portland, 26 in Bend, and 14 in Eugene.
· Oregon breweries craft about 1.7 million barrels of beer– twice as much as the amount produced in 2009. That’s roughly 3.4 million kegs or 470 million bottles of beer.
· Oregonians consume about 650,500 barrels of Oregon-produced beer– nearly half of what is produced in the state and more than 22 percent of all beer consumed in Oregon.
· Oregon leads the nation in the percentage of dollars spent on craft beer.
· Oregon breweries employ 8,500 full and part-time employees.
