The collapse of the UK hop industry

 The UK, or more accurately England, was once one of the world's major hop producers. And not all that long ago. That's no longer the case.

True, after WW I the UK never grew as many hops as it did before. When it averaged around 500,000 zentners a year. (The quantity varied quite a bit from year to year. Bad years being only around 300,000 zentners and good years over 650,000 zentners). In the interwar period, and after WW II, production averaged around 250,000 zentners. Which was about enough to satisfy demand from UK brewers.

After 1980, however, things took a turn for the worse. With output falling to below 100,000 zentners by the end of the decade. By the end of the 1990s, that was down to 50,000 zentners. And the rot didn't stop there. By the end of the next decade, output had fallen to just 30,000 zentners. In thirty years, UK hop production had fallen by around 90%.

Will UK hops ever make a comeback? It doesn't seem likely. Outside of established family firms, UK brewers don't seem very keen on English hops. Neither traditional varieties, nor the new ones developed to fit in better with modern tastes.