Excerpts from the report: Hops were introduced into North America by the Massachusetts Company in 1629 and were grown for domestic use in New Netherlands as early as 1646. The State of Washington is the largest hop producer, and since 1953 it has accounted for more than half of the total U.S. production. The largest single use of hops today is in the manufacture of beer. Approximately 98 percent of the world hop production goes into the manufacture of that food beverage. Hops are used also as filtering agents, as medicinals and pharmaceuticals, and as food.
