Hops might seem a little out of place in the halls of congress—but when you consider that beer represents a $409B industry in the U.S., you can see why it’s so important to keep beer and its connected industries at the top of legislators’ minds.

Earlier this month, John I. Haas was invited by the Farm Bureau and the Beer Institute to attend a Farm Bill Event, held in the U.S. Capitol Building on December 5, 2023.

Alfredo Almeida, Director of International Sales, attended the event to represent HAAS and to help educate Congressional Representatives and their staffers about the critical role that hops play in the beer business.

“It was such an honor to be invited. HAAS was the only hop producer asked to attend so I was, in a sense, representing the industry at large,” Alfredo noted. “Our goal was to educate the attendees on what hops are, and the vital role hop products play in the production of beer.”

Alfredo went on, “There are hundreds of hop farmers in the U.S. but it connects to a much, much larger and highly interdependent industry. Wheat farmers, rice, corn, representatives from the malt industry were there—and then there’s breweries, packaging, transportation and more. Collectively we touch countless jobs and families, as well as more than 400 billion dollars in the national economy, which is a significant figure.”

The event was well attended as Representatives and congressional staff got a chance to rub and sniff Citra^®, Zeus and HBC 1019 hops, and even taste some final products. “The Beer Institute supplied Little Sumpin’ Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Company and Space Dust IPA from Elysian Brewing Company,” said Alfredo. “So we had a fair bit of traffic to our table.”

According to the Beer Institute, the event was designed to raise awareness of not just the $409 billion beer industry but also 6,660 brewers and more than nearly 2.4 million American jobs.

“As farming bills are being written and passed, we want to be sure that hop farmers’ needs are properly represented.” Alfredo continued, “Everything we do ultimately comes back to the farms. Maintaining healthy farming communities is vital to our long-term success as an industry and to the health of our nation’s economy. I was very proud to be there.”