Hop Surplus

American farmers won’t reduce acreage as dramatically as they did in 2023 and 2024, but the industry has yet to find a healthy balance. What’s it mean for brewers, in the near-term?

Tough times are ahead for hop merchants and farmers coping with surplus stocks and stalling demand. After enjoying wider selection and lower prices in the short term, are brewers ready for what comes next?

As hop growers and the brewing industry manage an ongoing hop surplus, farmers this year planted fewer acres. But will that mean fewer hops? Here, we sketch out the past 15 years of hop acreage, as well as hops kept in stock over that time.

Growers have reduced acreage, but that’s only part of a complex story. As the 2023 harvest approaches, balancing the market means reducing surpluses and figuring out how to do a better job of measuring true demand.