Reduced hops harvests in Germany and other European countries mean that it's bad news for beer drinkers in more ways than one: brews are like to get more expensive and taste worse thanks to rising global temperatures.
It may make sure our taste buds get the beer they deserve, but even the holy Reinheitsgebot isn’t exempt from the consequences of the climate crisis. A study led by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and published in the journal Nature Communications has found that global heating caused by climate change is already changing the taste and quality of beer in Europe.
Researchers who conducted the study predict that hop yields in Europe will decline by between 4 and 15 percent by 2050 unless farmers adapt their practices to long spells of hot and dry weather.
In Germany, the world’s largest producer of hops, average yields have already fallen by 19,1 percent in Spalt, Bavaria, by 13,7 percent in Hallertau, also in Bavaria, and by 9,5 percent in Tettnang, Baden-Württemberg.
This is alongside the estimations that the alpha acid content of hops, which gives beer its special flavour, will also decrease by 20 to 31 percent by 2050.
Since farmers in Germany and Europe will have to invest more time and money to create the right environment for a productive hops yield, the price of beer will also likely increase.
However, speaking to The Guardian, Bavarian hops farmer Andreas Auerhammer pointed out that changing production methods is not the most important factor when it comes to how climate change will increase the cost of beer, but the increasing cost of energy which uses fossil fuels. “The hops inside a beer do not cost as much as the cap on top of the bottle,” Auerhammer said.
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