Why do local breweries rely on French hops?

Cascade, Fuggle, Willamette, Chinook, Styrian golding, Centennial... They are not yet as well known as wine grape varieties, and yet hops, of which there are more than 200 varieties grown around the world, are just as important: it is they, and their alliances between them, which are responsible for a large part of the taste and typicality of the beers. With 33 liters per year per inhabitant, France is a small player compared to the European champions: the Czechs with 184 liters per inhabitant per year. However, it has the largest number of local breweries in Europe. Over the past 10 years, their number has exploded, going from 500 in 2013 to around 2,500 today, alongside around a hundred larger players, medium or industrial breweries (1). Even if the exponential creation dynamic of these establishments came to a sudden halt in 2023, due to the explosion in the price of raw materials and energy, these artisanal or local breweries still constitute a significant part of the brewing ...