Beer Could Lose Its Bitter Tastes Due to Climate Change, Study Finds

Lager, ale or bitter? Many beer drinkers have a preference, but the taste profile of beer in general is known to be hoppy and at least somewhat bitter compared to other beverages. But that may be changing due to the climate crisis.

According to a new study, climate change threatens European cultivation of the aromatic hops that give all beers their bitter taste.

“Beer drinkers will definitely see the climate change, either in the price tag or the quality,” said co-author of the study Miroslav Trnka, a scientist at the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, as The Guardian reported. “That seems to be inevitable from our data.”

The most-consumed beverage in the world after water and tea, beer has been around for thousands of years.

Hops varieties in Europe are known for their quality, but lack of rain and hotter temperatures mean reduced yields, as well as a lower concentration of the special compounds that give beer that bitter taste.

“Since the cultivation of high-quality aroma hops is restricted to relatively small regions with suitable environmental conditions, there is a serious risk that much of the production will be affected by individual heat waves or drought extremes that are likely to increase under global climate change,” the authors of the study wrote.

The research team looked at climate models and weather data in their analysis of how climate change has affected and will affect European hops from 1970 to 2050, assuming temperatures continue to rise and rainfall keeps decreasing.

The study, “Climate-induced decline in the quality and quantity of European hops calls for immediate adaptation measures,” by a team of international researchers, mostly from the Czech Republic, was published in the journal Nature Communications.

The researchers looked at data collected from five sites in the biggest hops growing countries in Europe: Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. According to the study, these countries have nearly 90 percent of all of Europe’s aromatic hop fields. All the study sites were in regions that have a “mild continental climate.”

The researchers compared data from 1995 to 2018 with data from 1971 to 1994. At four of the sites, the team found that yields had fallen from 9.5 to 19.4 percent. A fifth site had remained stable.

At the same time, the concentration of bitter compounds called alpha acids had decreased.

“In addition to water, malting barley and yeast, a much more expensive hop is needed to give beer its incomparable taste. The specific hop aroma emerges from its bitter acid content and many other compounds, including essential oils and polyphenols,” the study said. “Changes in alpha bitter acids affect the quality of hops, and there has been a recent change in consumer preference towards beer aromas and flavors that heavily depend on high-quality hops. Amplified by the ongoing craft beer popularity, this trend contrasts with previous demands for lower alpha content.”

After analyzing the data, the prediction of the research team was for a reduction in yield of four to 18 percent, compared to 1989 to 2019, with a possible drop in alpha acid concentration from 20 to 31 percent due to more rainfall and rising temperatures.

“Hop farmers can and have responded to climate change by relocating hop gardens to higher elevations and valley locations with higher water tables, building irrigation systems, changing the orientation and spacing of crop rows, and even breeding more resistant varieties,” the study said.

Additionally, with the increase of central and southern European droughts, “it will be necessary to expand the area of aroma hops by 20 percent compared to the current production area to compensate for a future decline in” yields and potency.

The authors emphasized that “urgent adaptation measures” were necessary for the stability of international market chains.

“One of the side motives of this study was to illustrate how climate change might be important for even those who think it doesn’t matter,” Trnka told CNN. “We are really seeing changes that are affecting things that we value, like the taste of beer. Climate change really can have an effect on it, or at least have an effect on commodities that are critical for production.”