Many microbreweries and home brewers use Cascade as finishing/aroma hops, which are added to the hot water at the end of the boiling process. A moment of silence please.

These are Cascade hops, I'm guessing. The kind that make the lighter, lager beers. For the microbrew crowd, like here in Portland, Ore., well not worry, our heavier browner ales are safe. =)

Some American brewers do use imported hops, so that would add to the total of American hops consumption, above the 25,000 tons. In addition, the amount of hops, in terms of weight, needed to brew beer is relatively low, in comparison to the other ingredients, at least. The ratio of malt to hops, for instance, would likely be measured in pounds to ounces. That said, given the primacy of the subdued-hops flavor of the American pilsner in this country (e.g. Budweiser), I imagine that the majority of domestic beer requires fewer tons of hops than one would think. This may help explain why that mere 25,000 tons seems so puny.

Finally, was there any word on what types of hops were destroyed? This fact would mean that the fire would affect different companies differently, depending on the type of hops they used.

So if a 40,000 square-foot warehouse holds 4 percent of our beer potential, then that means that all the hops we consume here in the U.S. can be stored in a one million square foot warehouse? Doesn't seem to be enough somehow.

The AP story states that 1,000 tons of hops were destroyed. So once more, we only produce 25,000 tons of hops a year here in the U.S.? We must drink a lot of imported beer...

Oh yes indeed! The terrorist have it. And now we go down low, in dust and ashes.

If I do my share and give up 4 percent of my beer consumption, does that mean that I can drink 4 percent more wine?