Kansas City-area brewers are raising a toast, believing the nation's shortage of hops, used to add bitterness and aroma to beer, may be nearing an end.
The demand for hops is high partly because of America's obsession with India pale ales, which use large amounts of hops. Craft brewers increasingly are infusing more of the soft cone flower from the hops plant into beers in what Bryce Schaffter of Cinder Block Brewery in Missouri's North Kansas City calls a "hops race."
The Kansas City Star reports that shortages of hops should be easing as the Pacific Northwest is expected to produce a record crop. And that should encourage some brewers who have overstocked on hops to sell their leftovers.
Hops are the most expensive element in a beer recipe.