PORTLAND, Ore. -- The soaring cost of gas at the pump is making driving more expensive, but another commodity price increase is being felt in Portland too: the cost of beer at the tap.

A worldwide shortage of hops is being felt by brewers everywhere and the price increases that have resulted are being passed on to consumers.

"It raises the price and we have to pay it. 'Cause the beer’s that much better," beer drinker Jim Laughery said.

Laughery’s been imbibing craft brews since the 1980s. Willamette Valley farmers have been growing hops for generations.

"The majority of our hops go to all the craft brewers, mostly in the Northwest," hop grower John Annen said.

Annen said he sells some hops to Anheuser-Busch too, but growers in Oregon and Washington depend on craft brewers, and vice versa. Whether the worldwide shortage comes from poor harvests elsewhere, warehouse fires or increasing demands, most craft beers cost $4 to $4.50 a pint at the pub.

Perhaps no city on this continent feels the impact more than Portland. Some call the rose city "Beervana" because more draft beer is sold here.

Multi-colored beer varieties require hops and barley malts widely different from the industrial beer that most Americans drink. And the shortage of hops caused the price to shoot up two to five times what it was in 2006.

"We basically have to limit our distribution, to keep enough beer in house to handle our current accounts," brewpub owner Christian Ettinger said.

Ettinger’s been building the brewpub for the past year and a half, just when hops went from an average of $5 a pound to $15 or $25.

Now, growers and brewers are working together.

"This is the first year in history that we are seeking some direct relationships with local farmers, using the farmers' market model," Ettinger said.