Hop yields are declining in the major producing regions of central Europe, according to a recent study. This will also be reflected in beer prices in Finland, says a Luke researcher.
Researchers have bad news for beer lovers: the price of the drink will rise and the quality will fall, they predict. In fact, the quality of a key raw material has already deteriorated.
The reason is climate change.
The characteristic bitter taste of beer comes from hops, the most expensive ingredient in the drink. The flavour comes, among other things, from the alpha acids in the hops. The more alpha acids, the more bitter the drink.
Especially the IPA-type beers that have become popular in recent years are heavily hopped, i.e. contain a lot of alpha acids.
The amount of alpha acids has clearly decreased in hops produced in Central Europe, according to a recent study. It was published in the journal Nature Communications. The amount of alpha acids decreased at the same rate as the temperature rose.
Hop yields also decreased. Especially the extreme weather that is becoming more common with climate change, such as heavy rains and drought, inoculated crops.
The studies compared data from 1971 to 2018 in five regions in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
The researchers also predicted the future until 2050. Based on the modeling, the amount of alpha acids will continue to decrease and yields will decrease.
Most drunkenness from Germany to Finland
– My bet is that beer prices will rise when hop yields decrease. The rise in prices is also influenced by the price increases of other raw materials, such as malted barley, he says.
The studied areas cover almost 90 percent of European hop growing areas. More than half of the hops in Finnish beers also come from Germany.
Cultivation in Finland is very little. Last year, hops grew in a field of five hectares in the entire country.
On the other hand, according to Tuohimetsä, the lower quality of the hop harvest does not directly mean a lower quality beer.
– A lower amount of alpha acids means a milder taste. Mild lagers are the big thing both here and in the world.
The researcher also points out that the decreasing amounts of alpha acids can be compensated for by using even more hops.
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