Pot’s Bitter Cousin Hops Thrives in Michigan as Craft Beers Boom

Brian Tennis, a former organic cherry farmer in Omena, Michigan, wasn’t decimated by the late spring frosts that wiped out almost 90 percent of the state’s apple and cherry crops last year. The hops on his farm weathered the cold snap well.

Demand for hops from a burgeoning craft beer industry, coupled with greater risks to fruit crops from more extreme Midwest weather, has led Michigan farmers to devote 250 acres (100 hectares) to the processed flower that gives ales and stouts their bitter bite. Five years ago, there was next to none.