(TDB) - Hop acreage in the US has nearly doubled in the last five years driven by consumer tastes for higher hopped beers, despite beer production declining, but its continued rise is not without concern.

According to figures released by Hop Growers of America, US acreage of hops in 2012 stood at 29,683. In 2016 this figure stood at 52,963, having increased by 17% from 45,238 in 2015, with an additional 5,185 acres expected to take the total to 58,148 acres in 2017.

“To put it into perspective, the US acres added in the last five years is larger than the total acreage of any other hop-growing country in the world, outside of our own and Germany, the two largest hop-producing countries,” said Ann George, the executive Director of Hop Growers of America (HGA). “Further, our estimated 2017 acreage increase (5,185 acres – a 9.8 % growth) by itself is larger than other individual countries’ total acreage outside of the U.S., Germany, and the Czech Republic.”

The US has been the largest hop producer since 2015, when it over took Germany’s total hop acreage for the first time. The third largest producer is the Czech Republic with 11,800 acres, followed by China with 4,942 acres.