Great news for beer lovers globally: the hop picking season has kicked off in the Czech Republic, the third largest grower and exporters of hops in the world. The season of hop picking in the country started on 17 August, and is expected to last two weeks. About 70 per cent of the harvest is destined for export, mostly to China and Japan. While there has been a reduction in beer production since COVID-19, there has been a rise in demand for premium beers with higher hop content. The current area of hop farms in the Czech Republic is 4,852 hectares, which is six hectares less than last year. Th…