Beer's come up in a couple topics about the economy & taxes.

Last night on the news I saw that beer prices are rising because of the shortage of hops. Large beer manufacturers are buying up most of what's available. Smaller brewers are having to make arrangements to buy their hops a year in advance, joining together to buy in larger quantities, and look into other options. One of the big things they're looking into is buying from overseas.

I guess we really are in a recession now.