It’s time to get hopped up and explore the 10 biggest hop producing countries in the world. It’s important that you have the information the next time you sit down for a beer. Be the life of the party with fun hops facts.
I love beer. I was at the beer store last night in fact. Purchasing a few new varieties and weighing the cost effectiveness and efficiency of a growler. I’ve tried them before and always ended up with flat beverages–still hope, like beer from a tap, springs eternal.
To explain it in the simplest way, hops are actually flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus. The primary use of hops is for flavoring and as a stability agent in beer. But, despite having a major role in arriving at the best beer taste, hops also do other things. Life outside of beer? However do they manage? Hops have a major impact in herbal medicine and they are also used in other beverages that you cannot wear in a beer can helmet. The hop plant is trained to grow in strings in a field called “a hop garden,” “hopfield” or “hop yard,” which sounds like a club I couldn’t get into.
Hops have a lot of benefits, but they also have side effects. If you came here to see which are the biggest hop producing countries in the world, you will also learn a thing or two about its benefits. And apparently, my endless dilemma with the growler. But seriously, is it ever worth it? Maybe if you planned to drink 32 oz of beer in one sitting it would make sense. I’m just not made for that.
Pretty obvious but hops is not recommended for pregnant women and children, if you exceed its dosage, it can cause upset stomach, diarrhea and vomiting. On the bright side, which is not the vomit side, hops has a lot of positive benefits on your health. It can help you relax and sleep better, it has anti-cancer as well as anti-infection benefits, anti-acne, anti-weight loss and benefits for chronic liver disease.
For those who were wondering if hops are gluten free, the answer is yes. Gluten is protein which can be found in wheat, barley, rye and oats. Now that you know that the hops don’t contain gluten, you should also know that a lot of beers are gluten-free, but there are also a few which contain a low level of gluten, below 20 PPM.
If you want to learn even more about hops and understand our list of the 10 biggest hop producing countries in the world, you should know that there are a few types of hops. Hops can be divided into three categories: aroma hops, bitter hops, and dual-purpose hops. The alpha acid percentage in aroma hops is very low, which makes it good for finishing or conditioning hop. Bitter hops, on the other hand have a higher alpha acid percentage and because of it, they are used for the boiling process to extract bitterness. When we talk about the dual-purpose hops, you should keep in mind that it contains both aroma and bitter hop qualities which makes it both aromatic and bittering.
Every beer fan must have been wondering what are hops in beer, until now. Or maybe you have just beer incuriously enjoying your brews–either way you know we’re gonna tell you. Hops are used for bittering the beer in the early brewing process before adding the aroma at the end. Despite giving bitterness, hops are also preservative and they extend the life of beer. Today, hops have a major role in the taste and flavor of the beer.
Even though there are beers for people who don’t like hops, there are also great hops beer brands. If you enjoy drinking beer–which means you are a human being–then you will enjoy learning about the 10 Largest Beer Brewing Companies in the world. We will leave the attempts to marry them to you.
In order to create the list of 10 biggest hop producing countries in the world, we researched 1994 – 2014. We collected data and statistics for 20 years from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (write “hops” under “Item”), which shows how many hops each continent, as well as country, produced, yield and what products are produced from 1994 to 2014. After we collected the data and statistics, and finished the list, we sorted it by the tons each country produced, starting from the least to the most.
10. Australia
G’Day, is what an Australia person recently said in front of me without irony so I feel okay writing it. Australia is one of the 10 countries which are producing the most hop. From 1994 to 2014, Australia produced 29,366 tonnes of hop. That is a lot for a period range of 20 years. If you wondered how much hops Australia produced in 2014 alone, the answer is 657 tonnes from which they harvested 281 tonnes. The country was ranked fourth internationally in per capita beer consumption, in 20o4. Australians are consuming more than 110 liters of beer per year. Among the most popular Australian beers are XXXX Gold, Carlton Draught, Carlton Mid and Carlton Dry.
9. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea found its way on the list of the 10 biggest hop producing countries in the world because, in the period range from 1994 up until 2014, they produced 43,750 tonnes of hop. If you were wondering how much hops Democratic People’s Republic of Korea produced in 2014, you would find it interesting to know that they produced 2,010 tonnes but, they harvested much more, around 4,631 tonnes of hop. In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, you can enjoy The Pyongyang Taedonggang Beer Festival which will allow you to enjoy a different kind of beer products.
8. United Kingdom
If you wondered when the United Kingdom will pop up on our list of biggest hop producing countries in the world, now you can see that they produced 49,668 tonnes of hop from 1994 to 2014. 20 years in a long period of time, and almost 50,000 tonnes of hop is not a small number. If we take a closer look, we can see that the United Kingdom produced 608 tonnes of hops in 2014 from which they harvested 449 tonnes. Today, there are just over 50 British farmers who are growing hops in the Great Britain where the hops first started growing there.
7. Slovenia
Slovenia is also among the 10 biggest hop producing countries in the world because they have produced 50,994 tonnes of hop in 20 years. Slovenia produced 1,960 tonnes of hops in 2014. They are still among the countries which are producing the most hops. The hop growing in Slovenia has a long history, and even though a long time has passed, Slovenia continued to produce a lot of hops with the finest quality.
6. Poland
Poland produced 58,145 tonnes of hops 1994-2014, which makes it one of the biggest hop producing countries out there. Now if you throw an eye at the statistics only from 2014, you can see that Poland is still producing a lot of high-quality hops. In 2014, they produced 2,713 tonnes from which 1,684 tonnes were harvested.
5. Czech
It was a matter of time when Czech will pop up on the list of biggest hop producing countries in the world with its statistics, right? Czech deserves it’s spot on our list because if you compare it with the previous country, you will realize Czech produced more than double hops in 20 years. From 1994 – 2014, Czech produced 140,057 tonnes hops, which is a lot. And only in 2014, Czechia produced 6,202 tonnes of hops from which 4,460 were harvested. Czechia is also famous for some of the best beers in the world. Among the best beer brands in Czechia are Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Budvar and Staropramen.
4. China
Compared to previously mentioned Czech, China has more than 100,000 tonnes produced. From 1994 to 2014, China produced 240,395 tonnes of hop, which justifies its place on our list. If you want to peek at the statistics and find out how much hop China produced only in 2014, the answer is incredibly 7,656 tonnes produced, and 2,643 tonnes harvested. China’s high-quality hop is not only used for beer production, but also they are famous for using hop in medicine.
3. Ethiopia
Ethiopia wasn’t even on your mind when you wondered which countries found their way on our list of biggest hop producing countries in the world, but you should just look at the statistics for how much hops Ethiopia produced in the period range from 1994 to 2014. In this period of 20 years, Ethiopia produced 506,672 tonnes of hops which places it among the top three countries by production. In 2014, Ethiopia produced insanely 32,271 tonnes of hops from which 28,386 tonnes were harvested. Maybe you didn’t know it, but judging by this, Ethiopia is among the countries which are producing the highest quality hops in the world.
2. United States of America
You already knew the United States of America is on our list of biggest hop producing countries in the world, but did you know how much hops they have produced, and are still producing? 20 years is a long period of time, and from 1994 until 2014, the United States of America produced 638,521 tonnes of the highest quality hops. If you want to take a look from the production of one year, in 2014, the United States of America produced 32,203 tonnes of hops from which 15,380 were harvested. Hops in the United States of America, like in other countries is not only used for beer, but for other products as well like cereals, vegetables, and other products.
1. Germany
On top of our list of biggest hop producing countries in the world stands Germany. Maybe you already guessed which country produced the most hops in the passed 20 years. Germany is soundly the country which produced the most hops in the world, with 686,037 tonnes. This tremendous number justifies the first place and indicates that the Germans know how to grow hops and harvest it. Only in 2014, 38,487 tonnes of hops were produced, and 17,300 tonnes were harvested. Germans also know how to use the produced hops to make one of the finest beer in the world. Among the most famous beers in Germany are Paulaner, Krombacher, Bitburger, Warsteiner and Becks.
We hope we managed to show you which are the 10 biggest hop producing countries in the world with our list, and expand your knowledge even more about the origin of hop, its benefits and its use in different products.
