Current:Home > InvestHow climate change is expected to affect beer in the near future -NextFrontier Finance
How climate change is expected to affect beer in the near future
View
Date:2025-04-23 05:41:51
Beer lovers beware: Climate change could soon make the world's most popular alcoholic drink much more bitter.
Climate change could soon be altering the quality of hops used to make beer which will then alter the flavor, according to a new study published Tuesday in Nature.
MORE: 2023 on track to become warmest year on record: Copernicus report
European beer-producing regions are projected to experience up to an 18% reduction in their yield of traditional aroma hops by 2050 and up to a 31% reduction in hop acids that are key for bitter flavoring, researchers found.
Beer is the world's third most widely consumed beverage, after water and tea, and is the world's most popular alcoholic drink, according to the paper.
Beer is typically made with water, malting barley and yeast for flavor, as well as hops, which contain compounds called alpha acids that give beer its unique bitter aroma and affect its quality.
The cultivation of high-quality aroma hops is restricted to a relatively select number of regions with suitable climate and environmental conditions -- posing a risk that production could be affected by rising global temperatures.
Hops are considered a model crop in these regions, and it is "fairly difficult" to grow them elsewhere, Mirek Trnka, a bio climatologist at the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and one of the authors of the paper, told ABC News.
MORE: Why households could experience short-term food insecurity when the weather is hot
The researchers collected data on beer hop yields and alpha content between 1971 and 2018 from 90% of European beer hop growing regions in Germany, Czechia and Slovenia, according to the study.
The association in variation in the quality of hops from year to year with rising temperatures was "quite significant," with a downward trend in the data that coincided with warmer years, Trnka said.
The findings show that, compared to before 1994, the ripening of hops starts 20 days earlier, and hop production has declined by almost 0.2 tonnes, or about 200 kilograms, per hectare per year. In addition, hops' alpha bitter content has decreased by about 0.6%, the research found.
After combining the past data with climate models, the researchers estimate that beer hops yields and alpha fold content will be reduced between 4% to 18% and 20% to 31%, respectively, by 2050.
The largest declines caused by rising temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts are expected to occur in the southern hop growing regions, such as Tettnang in southern Germany and Celje, Slovenia, according to the paper.
MORE: How rising temperatures are altering Napa's wine-growing season
The quality of spring barley is also declining in many of the same regions, but farmers can easily compensate for rising temperatures by moving spring barley crops to higher elevations, Trnka said. By contrast, winter hops need to mature in the period of shortening day after the summer solstice, and they cannot avoid the increasing intensity of the summer heat, Trnka said.
Every year, beer makers are faced with different qualities of harvest for barley and malt and have to deal with the variation in the quality of hops -- often mixing hops from different regions, Trnka said.
"They are quite clever in ways of avoiding consumers noting any major differences," Trnka said. "Unlike wine, beer drinkers would like their Pilsner or Aryan beers to taste the same every year."
However, if the quality of the ingredients is decreasing everywhere, adjusting the recipe year by year depending on how the harvest yields could become much more difficult. Farmers may be able to adapt, but it will take a tremendous amount of capital and investment, Trnka said.
The results of this study show that climate change has the ability to affect people on a wide scale of issues, Trnka said.
MORE: Beer shortage due to climate change? Yes, it could happen
Europe is among the regions of the world facing unprecedented increases in average temperatures in recent years, Trnka said. Copernicus, Europe's climate change service, announced last week that 2023 is on track to become the warmest year on record, with Europe being one of the continents affected the most, according to the report.
Traditional beer hops farming practices will need to adapt in order to combat the negative effects of climate change and continue producing good quality beer, the researchers said.
veryGood! (8594)
Related
- From bitter rivals to Olympic teammates, how Lebron and Steph Curry became friends
- Former Timberwolves employee arrested, accused of stealing hard drive with critical info
- Kate Middleton's Cancer Diagnosis: What to Know
- Almost 60, Lenny Kravitz talks workouts, new music and why he's 'never felt more vibrant'
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Metal detectorist looking for World War II relics instead finds medieval papal artifact
- It's Final Four or bust for Purdue. Can the Boilermakers finally overcome their March Madness woes?
- This week on Sunday Morning (March 24)
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Kevin Bacon to attend prom at high school where 'Footloose' was filmed for 40th anniversary
Ranking
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- Pair of massive great white sharks surface off Florida coast within a minute of each other
- Ariana Grande, Josh Peck and the problem with punishing child stars
- California’s Climate Leaders Vow to Hold Fossil Fuel Companies to Account
- Connie Chiume, South African 'Black Panther' actress, dies at 72
- No. 13 seed Yale stuns SEC tournament champion Auburn in another March Madness upset
- It's another March Madness surprise as James Madison takes down No. 5 seed Wisconsin
- Chrysler to recall over 280,000 vehicles, including some Dodge models, over airbag issue
Recommendation
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Chicago voters reject ‘mansion tax’ to fund homeless services during Illinois primary
How Kate Middleton Told Her and Prince William's Kids About Her Cancer Diagnosis
5 bodies found piled in bulletproof SUV in Mexico, 7 others discovered near U.S. border
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Target doubles bonuses for salaried employees after profits jump in 2023
Shop 39 Kyle Richards-Approved Must-Haves Up to 50% Off During the Amazon Big Spring Sale
Vanessa Hudgens’ Clay Mask Works in Just 4 Minutes: Get it for 35% Off During the Amazon Big Spring Sale