Japan Brewers Developing Climate Change-Resistant Beer Ingredients
Tokyo, Aug. 19 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese breweries are rushing to develop rain- and heat-resistant varieties and novel cultivation techniques for barley and hops, the main ingredients of beer.
Such ingredients are no exception to the impact that climate change is seen having on many agricultural products, such as lower quality and reduced yields.
"It is possible that a can (of beer) will cost 800 yen or more in the future," an industry official said regarding worries over possible difficulties procuring ingredients due to abnormal weather. In such a case, "nobody would drink beer, and (the beer market) would continue to shrink."
Sapporo Breweries Ltd. successfully developed this year barley that is both rain-resistant and creates good flavor and durable foam when brewed.
Barley often germinates if exposed to prolonged rain right before being harvested, rendering it unusable for beer, whereas the newly developed variety reduces the risk of germination in such conditions by about six-sevenths, according to Sapporo Breweries.
The brewer aims to use the new barley for products including its flagship Black Label beer in 2035, and to provide it to domestic and foreign industry peers in 2050.
Kirin Holdings Co. and University of Tokyo-linked startup Culta Inc. have established a technology for the indoor cultivation of hops, which give beer its bitter taste and distinctive aroma. The technology enables multiple harvests a year.
The companies plan to promote their research and development activities to accelerate the creation of hop varieties that can withstand higher temperatures and other challenging conditions.
An Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. unit has partnered with companies including U.S. technology giant Microsoft Corp. to manage data on soil and climate conditions in the Czech Republic, a major hops producer, by using the latest technology. It hopes the technology will enable efficient production.
According to an article published in global science journal Nature Plants in 2018, the price of a 500-milliliter can of beer may rise by 3.5 dollars, or about 520 yen at current exchange rates, in Japan in the future as a result of reduced barley yields stemming from droughts and extreme temperature increases caused by global warming.
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