When you look at a can of Budweiser, what does the can feature? Other than the logo, it has the words, hops, rice, barley, and water. One of those ingredients right now isn't faring too well in the fields due to the drought we have going on in the midwest. Barley's crop progress isn't looking good in the largest barley-producing states, according to the last USDA Crop Report released on Monday. So will this mean higher prices for your favorite beer? Maybe.

Not only will beer brands like Budweiser be paying more for those ingredients like barley, as it looks like a majority of the US crop is in poor condition, but there are also other costs associated with the brewing/manufacturing process that are seeing higher costs leading to what is expected to be higher prices for some of the brands you enjoy.

Some of those additional costs that have risen include labels, cardboard for packaging, and of course aluminum for cans. The Wall Street Journal wrote last month about the possibility of higher costs being passed on to consumers as inflation in costs associated with the pandemic and drought continue to been seen in the market.

Locally here in Minnesota, I haven't noticed a steep increase in price, when I walk into the cooler. I have however noticed that there has been a small increase in price associated with the local beer sold vs the product sold from 'big beer'.

So if you are a fan of beer, and that beer contains barley or another one of the grain crops out there that is mostly grown in the midwest, we might be seeing higher prices, and possibly a...shortage...if brewers can't get their hands on the ingredients that they need.

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