Hop Notes 21: Three Trends to watch in 2025
Expert analysis to help you make better hop decisions.
In Hop Notes 21 you’ll get my trends to watch for 2025 and a look-back on my predicted trends for 2024.
If you want to taste a vertical of Hop Notes “Trends” articles, I published my first trends article in January 2023 as Hop Notes 02. And Hop Notes 10 had trends for 2024 as well as a check-in on the predicted 2023 trends.
2025 Trends to Watch
Take One: Concentration is not sustainable.
The current trajectory of the US hop market is towards greater concentration. Fewer farmers, fewer merchants, fewer varieties. Economically and environmentally, this direction is not sustainable.
Fewer farms means less resiliency to market disruptions. Fewer merchants means less competition for your hop dollar. Fewer varieties means fewer flavors and choices for your hop bills. It is important that we as an industry start to raise red flags on this situation. None of us want the highly concentrated hop market that the trends are pointing towards.
Brewers you can take action to diversify your hop varieties and suppliers to make a difference in this. The market will provide what you demand.
For more on this topic, check out Hop Notes 20.
Take Two: US Hop Acreage Won’t Fall (much).
If the reports I’m getting are correct, at the 2025 USA Hops Conference a mood of cautious optimism came out of the annual Hop Merchant Panel. This is the panel that serves as the official notice of cuts. After announcing cuts in 2023 and 2024 the panel suggested maybe that more or less no changes to acres are expected.
I was surprised to hear that more cuts were not planned because I expect that demand for the US hops has fallen as craft beer has shifted down. 2024 total hop production was not that far below past US hop demand estimates. Furthermore, Yakima had a below average year yield-wise, and since Yakima accounts for 75% of US production, any fluctuation there has big impacts on total yield. A good year in Yakima at current acreage would add to hop stocks, not deplete them.
Right now, the official industry plan/hope is that the market normalizes over the next two years and come the 2027 growing season, perhaps more hops will go in the ground. Time will tell.
Take Three: More hops will be used in not-beer.
Between a slightly shrinking craft beer market and many folks looking to limit their alcohol intake hops are looking to break out of their traditional beer-only use into other products. I don’t think any of these not-beer applications will suddenly become a major user of hops but, much like the forever foretold ‘year of the craft lager’, someday some number of these uses might add up to a meaningful percentage of global supply.
The most obvious not-beer use is in not-beer beverages, most notably hop water. It’s hard to find a brewery who isn’t at least playing with hop water recipes. I’ve heard a plethora of processes and practices from brewers across the country. Hop water is in. I wonder about what beverages hop flavoring might find a home in next.
Steiner and Haas have long been researching the potential health benefits of various compounds that hops produce to be used in medicinal, therapeutic, or even as skincare products. Maybe someday those efforts pay off and hops enter more use in those fields.
2024 Trends Check-In
Take One: More Cuts Are Coming.
Correct!
2024 saw further acreage cuts. Overall US acreage declined 16% to 44,793 acres in 2024. This was preceded by a 10% acreage decline in 2023. I covered the impacts and implications of this in great detail in Hop Notes 20.
Take Two: New Variety (And New Branded Hop Product) Releases Will Continue Until Morale Improves.
Correct!
The pace of new stuff may be slowing down, and I don’t expect to see as many in 2025. But in 2024 I noted the following as new products, which is plenty to try and keep up with;
HyperBoost®, DynaBoost®, Euphorics®, HopPlus®, Erebus™, Krush®, CGX™ Fresh Hops, and Quantum Brite.
Take Three: Sustainability Messaging Will Get Louder.
Correct!
I’m literally in Ontario while writing this because the Brewers of the MBAA Ontario chapter wanted someone to speak about sustainability and hops. Hop Queries 8.09 covered sustainability. The New Brewer Magazine from January was all about sustainability, including in hops. Crosby Hops’ latest blog on the 2024 USDA Hop Report (linked below) goes into it too. I’m excited to see brewers asking more about this. I’m hopeful brewers will dig deep here, past some of the marketing glitter, to help us all build a more sustainable hop market.
Three for three is pretty good whether we’re talking baseball, basketball, or blogging. I’ll take it.
My Top 3 Hops of 2024.
Crystal from Oregon.
I smelled a lot of incredible hops when I was in Oregon for harvest. Oregon is known for growing some of the best aroma hops in the game. But one of those great Oregon aroma hops you probably don’t think about is Crystal. Yes Crystal, the old public hop released in 1993 that comes in around 5% AA with generally lower oil that you haven’t used since you were a home brewer in 2002. An example lot of Oregon Crystal that I rubbed at harvest was bright, semi-dry, and clean, 3.5/5 intensity with lemon and orange aromas.
Easy Rider from Four Star Farms.
Liz L’etoile and her family grow about 10 acres of hops in Massachusetts. Last year their “Masscade” was on this list. This year Liz sent me a little exclusive sample of their new mysterious Easy Rider hop. In my rub Easy Rider was bright, clean, and sweet with strong 4/5 intensity and stone fruit and citrus notes. This is a remarkable sensory profile for a new hop from outside the PNW.
WCHB-102 from West Coast Hop Breeding.
I first rubbed this hop as ‘2B’ and was immediately blown away. It was the 2nd hop (first was Nectaron®) I ever gave a 5/5 rating on aroma intensity. WCHB-102 has the modern aroma hop characteristics trifecta: bright, sweet, and clean. Then I met the farmers behind West Coast Hop Breeding and now I help them out on the side and have had a lot more beer experience with it. Folks describe it’s aroma as lime zest, pomme, and citrus. WCHB-102 has done great in single hops, with NZ hops, with the usual American hop suspects, and with classic C hops. WCHB-102 won a GABF Silver in IPA for Aliens by Masthead Brewing. Brewers tell me it reminds them of Mosaic®, it’s familiar but distinct.
Disclaimer: yes, I am paid to work with WCHB-102, but I assure you I am here as your humble Hop Notes writer, writing about a hop that I genuinely believe is special, regardless of my work arrangements. I am not being paid to include it on this list. I’m no shill. WCHB-102 is a special hop.
More hop content:
Crosby Hops released their blog on the 2024 USDA Hop Report and state of the hop market. Some of the points they make are similar to the ones I made in Hop Notes 20, a heartening reality for your favorite imposter-syndrome-feeling Hop Notes writer.
Hop Quality Group’s 2025 Cascade Cup went to Coleman-GreenLeaf of St.Paul, Oregon. Returning the trophy to the PNW for the first time in two years.
Thanks for reading Hop Notes 21. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider subscribing or forwarding it to a friend.
That’s all for now. If you have topics you’d like to read about in Hop Notes my inbox is open 24/7: ericsannerud@gmail.com.