From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Today’s silly climate scare from the BBC:
Climate change threatens to “call time” on the great British pint.
But scientists are working with the brewing industry to help save it.
Hops give bitter its taste but the plant doesn’t like the hotter, drier conditions we’ve experienced in recent decades and production has plummeted.
Researchers in Kent are isolating hop genes in the hope of producing more climate-change resilient varieties.
They also want to produce more intense flavours that are now becoming popular.
“Without it, the British pint is going to die off,” Danielle Whelan of the Shepherd Neame brewery said of the work.
“We are just going to be importing beer and we won’t have the culture that goes with it anymore.”
Warmer, drier conditions have also affected the trademark bitter flavour hops gives beer. And the worry is that because of climate change, the problem is only going to get worse. Eddie Gadd, the head brewer at Ramsgate Brewery said that it was already having an impact.
“Climate change is very relevant to me,” he said.
“I buy most of my hops from Kent and I’ve seen the harvests over the past 10 or 12 years going up and down. It has been a real rollercoaster.
“The growers have been feeling the impact and the search for drought-resistant genes is going to be exceptionally important.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68636451
As usual, the facts are the opposite of the BBC’s concocted story.
Over the last decade, both hop outputs and yields have proven to be remarkably stable, in comparison to earlier decades.
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#compare
As for the idea that a slightly warmer climate will destroy the hop industry, the south of England marks the northern edge of climate suitable for commercial hop production.
If hops can be successfully grown places like Central Europe, which have much hotter summers, they certainly won’t have any problems in Kent!
Looking at where hops are grown, most places in Europe are hotter during the summer and colder during the winter than the U.K.
There is a variety that originated in New Mexico, which has a climate that is diametrically opposite to the U.K. climate.
It may be that the varieties of hops grown in the U.K. may have to change, which may affect the beer that is brewed (I wouldn’t know as I don’t drink beer).
Also, there are alternatives to hops as used in medieval times.
“which may affect the beer that is brewed “
I’ve heard that basically anything would be an improvement !! 🙂
Hey, they’re happy with the swill they make because they are used to it.
Maybe they will import some Sam Adams and appreciate how the colonialists managed without the UK.
I come from Burton on Trent, which was one of the U.K. leading centres of brewing. Coors has taken over the Bass brewery and Carlsberg have linked up with Marstons, Carlsberg have also taken over Allied Breweries.
Sam Adams brews an IPA, which was developed in Burton and London in the early 19th century.
Coors has taken over the Bass brewery
How long ago? I recall a decline in the quality a while back, that would likely explain it.
Following decades of closures, consolidation, and the effects of the Beer Orders, Bass was left by the end of the 20th century as one of only two large remaining breweries in Burton. The Bass company decided to focus on hospitality rather than brewing[22] and Bass’ brewing business was sold to the Belgian brewer Interbrew(later Anheuser-Busch InBev) in June 2000. The UK government’s Competition Commission again raised concerns about the monopoly implications arising from the deal[24] and instructed Interbrew to dispose of the Bass brewery facility in Burton along with the Carling and Worthington brands, which were all sold to Coors(later Molson Coors).[6] However, Interbrew was to retain the rights to the Bass Pale Ale brand.[25]
From 2000 to 2005, Bass was produced under licence by Molson Coors in Burton, in the original Bass brewery. When Coors’ licence to brew draught Bass came to an end in 2005, a new licence was awarded to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries plc (later Marston’s plc), which transferred production of Bass to its own brewery, also in Burton.[9] The former Bass brewery in Burton, under Molson Coors ownership, underwent renovations in the early 21st century,[31] and as of 2021 brews Carling and other beers for the UK and European market.[32] In 2020, the historic Bass brewery site, adjacent to the contemporary brewery, was put on the market for redevelopment.[33]
From Wikipedia
Are you American, by any chance? If so those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Think Budweiser and Coors, and weep.
Think Budweiser and Coors
You are a cruel, inhuman man…
Aussie. !
I’d weep if the only choices was Budweiser and Coors. I don’t drink beer or ale anymore and pretty much confine my alcohol imbibing to Jack Daniels. I don’t think I have to worry about hops production anymore.
My previous comment was tongue in cheek. It seems it may have hit a few nerves with some people.
Lighten up people.
This article is exposing the ridiculous nature of the climate alarmists so led me to post some unserious comment following the comment made by my Aussie brother from another mother.
May God’s grace be with you all.
Nookie Broon is quite drinkable.
As is Hobgoblin.
Old Speckled Hen and Robinson Old Tom are great as well
I wonder when in history Muslims officially stopped drinking beer. Beer production in the future will not matter much without that demographic.
“diametrically opposite to the U.K. climate.”
Does climate have an opposite?
In one manner or another … The UK is cold & wet, New Mexico is hot & dry.
The U.K. climate is humid temperate oceanic apparently whilst Albuquerque is a hot summer Mediterranean climate.
I like a lot of the Spanish and Portuguese beers which countries are warmer than UK
proper Spanish San Miguel brewed at 5.4% is lovely as is Portuguese Super Bock .
Tropical lager from Canary Islands is good as well . You cant go too far wrong with Spanish Lager , just spent a week in Gran Canaria drinking Cruzcampo nice and refreshing . The European made under licence versions of these beers aren’t as good and usually weaker for Example San Miguel drops to 5% as oppose to 5.4% for Spanish brewed version and it does make a difference to the taste .
They grow a boat load of hops in the Yakima River valley in central Washington state. Anyone who has driven through there in July or August would be guffawing at this tripe. I slept surrounded by the vines where my pal rented an old farm house outside of the town. Met Bert Grant at his brew pub/restaurant in the old train depot downtown. A Brit (IIRC) who was a pioneer in the craft brew industry in the Northwest US decades ago. Really liked his Scottish Ale. A big brewer bought him out and eventually they quit making it for a reason I don’t recall.
Mike,
The story is on Wikipedia, see: Yakima Brewing
I like a lot of American beers, coming from UK and of course Jack Daniels and Bullit bourbon
The BBC simply doesn’t care about the truth or even reality now. Any old rubbish which shows beneficial global warming in a bad light gets published, no matter how bonkers it is.
Ad clicks.
I’ll drink to that
Really. This kind of utter bolleaux doesn’t even merit a response. But what the hell…
Alpha acids – iso-humulone and iso-lupulone – have been added (PFB) post-fermentation for at least 60 or 70 years, probably more. Once brewed there is a loss in EBU – European Bitterness Units. In the rough stage this is remedied with PFB, caramel for apparent gravity etc etc etc oh – and CO2
How many of these sage scientists know that alpha acids are found predominantly in the ‘head’? Did they bother to check…
The Journal of the Institute of Brewing
https://jib.ibd.org.uk/index.php/jib
Another ludicrous claim from the men in white coats.
NB Alpha acids can be synthesised….
Thanks for bringing up this chemistry. I performed my first acetylation reaction within the past few months of a natural product. Acetylation is used in one synthesis of humulone.
I prefer “natural” over synthetic as a general principle, especially in anything related to “head.”
Let’s just say it isn’t anywhere near as bad as they’d like it to be
True, but the BBC certainly is trying to bring it to a head.
You mean that they should be taken away by men in white coats.
In my experience, the men in white coats are far more mentally compromised than their prospective patients are.
English hop production was virtually wiped out by the European Union. They mostly come from Germany now, where the summers are much hotter.
Considering that beer is credited as being invented by the ancient Egyptians, and that Egypt has a latitude of between 22 deg N and 31 deg N – clearly subtropical, and very dry, obviously – blows the hell out of the assertions by these so-called “researchers” just searching for clicks and grant funds if they can just find another way to blame global warming for some potential future harm that is totally made up.
Another inconvenient fact for these “researchers” – just look up annual hop production. The world’s second largest producer of hops is Ethiopia, which is even closer to the equator than Egypt (between 3 deg N and 14 deg N). That took all of 5 seconds to find on the internet. The largest producer of hops in the world is none other than the US.
And by the way, given that I am familiar with it (used to live there), Idaho is now the #2 hops producer in the US, with most of the production taking place in the southwest part of the state where it is relatively dry and warm, with summer daytime highs routinely hitting the low to mid 90s F and average rainfall is only 10 inches per year. So much for warmer and drier conditions suppressing hops production! The number one hops producer in the US is Washington state, with production centered in the Yakima valley where conditions are similar to SW Idaho.
Besides, the history of agriculture for the last couple of centuries is that if a given commercial crop, or at least potentially commercial crop, is not well adapted to some particular condition or location, then agronomists go to work selectively cross breeding for the characteristics that would adapt the crop to the otherwise sub-optimal environmental conditions. For example, potato production is generally considered to work best in northern temperate climates, and in the US that is Idaho and Maine, but there are varieties like Yukon Gold that actually grow very well in the southern tier of states where it is much warmer and a much longer growing season.
What is more determinative of the success of any particular crop in any particular area is the length of growing season and the qualities of the soil.
Idaho simply developed varieties of hops well adapted to the growing conditions in Idaho. There’s a hint for the Brits.
“Another inconvenient fact for these “researchers” – just look up annual hop production. The world’s second largest producer of hops is Ethiopia, which is even closer to the equator than Egypt (between 3 deg N and 14 deg N). That took all of 5 seconds to find on the internet.”
So England isn’t really too hot to grow good hops then.
Climate change alarmist propagadists are *so* funny!
What would I do without WUWT!? I get good laughs here every day! 🙂
With April 1 approaching, we can look forward to more nonsense like this. Here’s my April Fool: the UK government has abolished the TV licence fee with immediate effect. (One can live in hope).
Have they been sipping climate koolaid instead of their own product?
The real issue with beer isn’t hops, it’s the foam on the top of the pint, the “head”, inside of which the bubbles being composed of the deadly gas CO2.
Here’s a thought — a belch collector for beer drinkers. The CO2 gets recycled by the breweries. It’s carbon capture. Can I get an interest-free loan for that? I’m printing a prototype right now.
Here are some random thoughts:
Perhaps hops farming will shift to higher latitudes if the climate keeps warming?
Or perhaps farmers will start breeding drought- and heat-tolerant hops? They did it with turf-type fescues.
Or perhaps brewers will create new recipes that require less hops.
The biggest threat to hop production in the UK is not from the climate changing, but from hop fields being replaced by fields of solar panels and windmills due to irrational fear of climate change and cronies of government profiting from subsidies.
“ the great British pint.”
Huh? dirty water with pond life. Britain should appeal to Czechia for technological aid. Learn how to brew a proper Pilsner that can be served cold, then they will have no problem with global warming.
I should add they need to learn how to make ice and serve it everywhere without special requests.
I love my American friends dearly but I cannot understand why they like getting less beverage and more cold water.
But to each their own. Diversity. In a good way.
Wait! We have to eliminate CO2!!! That means all carbonated beverages, including beer, have to be outlawed. Net Zero, remember?
That would be funny if UK became the beer mecca…
we have a variety that’s happy to grow under shade trees in florida now, the creator is slowly getting it able to tolerate much higher insolation and it could become MUCH more flavorful meaning twice the beer per plant
I absolutely fuggin hate hops tho, makes stuff taste like you cleaned your weed eater in a bucket and tried to drink it
Washington State, where I live, produced 74 percent of the USA hops in 2023. Both acres and yield vary over time. Area was down and yield was up. Net weight was up 2%. Housing developments, not climate change, caused a reduction in acres planted.
Those not familiar with the growing of hops can search-up images using:
“hop fields moxee”
Moxee is a small town 38 miles south of me; irrigation is used.
That’s home of the Cascade hop, right John?
Personal favorite there…
Cascade was the most widely planted hop by growers in the US for many years, before being surpassed by Citra in 2018. Cascade was developed in the USDA breeding program at Oregon State University.
The John I. Hass company was involved in breeding Citra. Their folks in Yakima were helpful to my wife when she was researching WA agriculture about 15 years ago.
Very hot Sacramento Valley was a prime hop growing region until the 1960s, when it was discovered higher latitudes with longer summer sunlight hours had better production, and the industry moved north.
Wait…wait, oh!, I thought this was another dumb article from Pottsdam Institute. Do any of these “researchers” actually go out and look at what they are pontificating on?
The Damn Potty Institute !
ps , so as to not have wrong definition
POTTY | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary
Although.. you could also use this definition, if you think it is more appropriate
Potty Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster
More mindless scaremongering.
Odd. Both beer and wine probably saved many, many people before the advent of modern water treatment.
Beer and wine both contain alcohol, a disinfectant. It would have killed some water bourn pathogens.
(If I remember correctly, it was in in the ’40 (maybe ’30) that it was realized that the Chlorine added to the water for taste and odor control was as an addition, was actually reducing water bourn pathogens! (Remember, this was was before antibiotics were discovered.)
A PS Even before Chorine was added, 30 or so years before, Lime-Soda softening was tried for softening. (During the process the pH is raised and then dropped before entering the system.)
A drop in diseases was noticed. Then chlorine was added solely for taste/odor. A huge drop followed.
Now chlorine is a standard disinfectant.
Good riddance to beer.
And cannabis.
😉
Hops are grown in eastern WA, which tends to hot and dry. And IIRC in Abbotsford BC which is relatively warm in summer.
With catastrophist temperatures farmers to the north will be pleased. :-o)
Farming is not easy – takes smarts, hard work, and much detail knowledge.
Thereas also selective breeding and genetic manipulation to provide varieties for different conditions – now making corn a viable animal feed crop in southern Alberta (it needs a minimum number of hot days).
Don’t usually drink, but reading this article yesterday caused me to go for a pint…
The Hop scare cycle is back. The last one was 2019 if I remember right.
Poof all the hops are gone! Shimmer me timbers!
Useless comments:
Bitter can come from anywhere