It’s sad but true: Beer prices are likely to increase. Worse even is that brewers may have to make small changes to their recipes. Why?

There is a worldwide shortage of hops. Hops is key ingredient in beer. In addition, various other aspects of producing beer have become more costly. Fuel, aluminum, glass, barley, and wheat have all become more expensive over the past several years. Some experts expect the average consumer to be hit with a 10 percent increase in beer prices.

Large brewers like Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors, and SABMiller will likely be able to work out deals for what little hops there are. Craft and micro brewers are unlikely to get much more than the leftovers. This is during a time when the craft brewing industry has experienced a 12 percent increase by volume in 2006. Microbrewery beer sales jumped 16 percent in 2006. In the midst of this boom in popularity, the craft and micro breweries may just be forced to tweak their recipes.

Via msnbc