Could a beer shortage be looming? Changing weather could hit hops needed in brews

The climate change issue is getting critical: Warmer, drier weather could threaten the beer supply.

That's because harvests of hops, a crucial ingredient in beer making, could decline by as much as 18% in Europe by 2050 – and those hops that are harvested may have less of the substances needed to give some beers their distinct character, according to research published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

This predicted decline in hop yield and alpha (acids) content "calls for immediate adaptation measures to stabilize an ever-growing global sector," wrote the researchers from Europe and the U.K.

The researchers studied hop production in the periods of 1971–1994 and 1995–2018 in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. They found that rising temperatures had shifted the beginning of the hop growing season by 13 days from 1970 to 2018, wrote the study's lead author Martin Mozny of the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Since 1995, the average annual hop yields across most of Europe have declined as much as 19%, but had remained stable in the Czech Republic. The earlier ripening also led to a decline in the average content in the hops of the acids that give beers their bitterness – down between 10.5% in Zatce in the Czech Republic and 34.8% in Celje, Slovenia, researchers said.

"The increasingly frequent droughts and heat waves are negatively affecting yields and alpha content in all hop-growing regions of the EU. The only exception is Zatec/Saaz in the Czech Republic, where yields are slightly increasing thanks to the adaptation measures already taken," Mozny told USA TODAY in an email exchange. "Unfortunately, simulations of future developments point to a further decline in both yield and alpha."

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The researchers simulated future crops and climate conditions and estimate hop harvests that are 4% to 18% smaller by 2050 and a continued 20% to 31% decline in the acids in the hops needed for bitterness. "Aromatic hops from traditional European regions are the 'spice' that gives the right taste and aroma to the best premium and craft beers around the world," Mozny said. "It is exported to all countries that produce better beers."

Could a decline in hop production lead to a beer shortage?

Hop production in the U.S. faces similar situations, Mozny said, But beer lovers in the U.S. don't need to start hoarding their favorite quaffs just yet.

U.S. hop producers have been developing hop varieties that are resilient and have continued to increase hop production, said Chuck Skypeck, technical brewing projects director at the Brewers Association, a trade group that represents nearly 6,000 U.S. breweries, most of which get most of their hops from U.S. producers.

And similar work is being done in Europe including at the Hop Research Center in Hüll in Germany, he said. "There's a whole lot of progress being made in this regard," Skypeck said. "I'm not downplaying the challenges, because they are there."

Still, the report's conclusion "feels a little alarmist to me," Skypeck shared. "There's some alarming things in there and I'm not saying I don't believe them. But I think people are already working on these things."

Craft breweries also rely more on aroma hops – used for India pale ales and hazy IPAs – than the styles studied in this report. This year's U.S. hop crop is expected to approach recent record yields, even though hop producers set aside some fields because of a massive back inventory, Skypeck said.

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But climate change truly is on brewers' minds across the globe. Last month, Atsushi Katsuki, president and CEO of Japanese beer conglomerate Asahi Group Holdings, told the Financial Times, that global warming could reduce barley crops and hop quality over the next three decades, which could cause a beer shortage. In addition to making Asahi, the company also makes Grolsch, Fuller's and Peroni beers, as well as Pilsner Urquell beers.

“Although with hotter weather the consumption of beer may grow and become an opportunity for us, climate change will have a serious impact,” he said. “There is a risk that we may not be able to produce enough beer.”

Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, and Danish beer maker Carlsberg have invested in drought-resistant barley strains grown in Africa as a hedge against climate change's effects, Fortune reported.

"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,” study co-author Miroslav 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.”

Brewers also face other issues involving water quality and quantity, Skypeck said. "Yes, we're facing a lot of challenges," he said, "but there's really smart people working on those problems."

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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