Beer Prices are expected to rise in the coming months as supplies of barley and hops dwindle. Barley is the second most important ingredient in beer, after water, which is fermented to make beer alcoholic, sweeter and give it color. Hops are not only used for flavor but also for preserving beer. Brewers say that without hops there would no longer be a “’born by’ date” instead it would be “’use by tomorrow’”.

There are several reasons believed to be behind the shortage of supplies. One reason is linked to corn production. Corn doesn’t even appear in most beers, however many farmers that used to devote land to barley and hops are now growing mass amounts of corn. The US government has told them to start growing large amounts of corn for ethanol production, and prices have risen on the product, so that is what they are doing. Domestic hops acreage has decreased by 50 percent in the last ten years. Over production is also linked to rising prices for milk, and wheat products. Furthermore, in Europe heavy rainfall has been drowning out crops while in Australia droughts have been starving the crops. These two places are major producers of both barley and hops. German spring barley prices also rose about 20 percent last summer to a price of 50 euros a ton more than last year.