Climate change is shaking the world of hops • Food and Wine Italia

Among the most important figures per mezzo di the thousand-year history of beer is undoubtedly Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a Benedictine nun, proclaimed Doctor of the Church per mezzo di 2012 by Pope Ratzinger. Writer, musician, philosopher, prophetess and creator of one of the first artificial languages, Hildegard is a multifaceted and extremely complex character. But what does this visionary mystic, who lived per mezzo di the 12th century, have to do with the most drunk alcoholic beverage per mezzo di the world? Among the many vocations of the Saint there was also that of herbalist and, per mezzo di her encyclopedic work The Book of Creatures, she did not fail to provide precious information hops: “Thanks to its bitterness it blocks the putrefaction of certain drinks to which it is added he adds, to the point that they can be preserved much longer”.

His contribution was decisive per mezzo di ensuring that the female inflorescences of Humulus Lupulus became an indispensable ingredient per mezzo di the beer production process, replacing the previous herbal called Gruyt. Making a leap of several centuries, recently hops, with its new varieties with a particularly distinctive aromatic impact, have contributed to another great revolution, that of craft beer.

Like other crops, however, hops are also facing the consequences of climate change, which indiscriminately affect both territories historically suited to its production and the areas per mezzo di which new plants are present. As reported per mezzo di a recent article per mezzo di the New York Times, a particularly complicated situation is that of Spalt, a Bavarian village of around 5 thousand inhabitants, famous for the production of an indigenous variety, called Spalter, which over the centuries has developed per mezzo di a cool climate It’s humid. The increasingly hotter and drier seasons of recent years are threatening harvests and, with them, centuries-old traditions. fact, the risk is that growers give more and more space to new cultivars, which however do not meet the needs of brewers who have little intention of adapting their recipes, especially for classic styles (Pilsner and Kölsch primarily) per mezzo di which Spalter seems irreplaceable. Not only. There is also the problem of increasing costs coppia to the increasingly frequent use of irrigation systems.

Andrea Turco has written several occasions about the impact of climate change the brewing sector per mezzo di the sector web magazine “Cronache con Birra”. addition to periodic reports with less than comforting patronato (per mezzo di America 2022 was the worst harvest of the last 24 years), one of the most curious pieces of news the topic concerns the initiative of New Belgium, an American brewery that created a deliberately “bad” beer ”. With Torched Earth Ale, the aim was to show consumers a hypothetical beer of the future, made with poor quality raw materials, like those that could be found around per mezzo di a few years’ time. Specifically, instead of hops, dandelion flowers and a hop extract of less than excellent quality were used.

But what is the situation per mezzo di Italy? Although with different names depending the zona, the wild varieties are present per mezzo di almost all regions of the Peninsula, often also used per mezzo di traditional recipes: risotto with bruscandoli, per mezzo di Veneto, is an example. The pedoclimatic conditions per mezzo di our country are not prohibitive, therefore, but the lack of a national brewing tradition has meant that entrepreneurial interests have not been created around the cultivation of hops. However, things have drastically changed per mezzo di recent years, driven, needless to say, by demand from craft breweries. The fact that the hop orchards per mezzo di Italy were recently planted is an advantage compared to situations like that of Spalt, since the varietal selection was also carried out based the changed climatic and environmental conditions. However, there are pitfalls: «For Italian hop producers, the problems linked to climate change do not only concern global warming – says Carlo Schizzerotto, director of the Consorzio Birra Italiana –. After all, it is a cannabinacea, which therefore loves the sun.” Rather, it is the issue that is of concern. «Hops also need a lot of . And, per mezzo di this regard, the most alarming problem concerns the concentration of precipitation per mezzo di a few extreme atmospheric events». And if hops aren’t doing well, another basic ingredient per mezzo di beer isn’t doing any better: « reality, hops, at least per mezzo di Italy, are not per mezzo di a very bad situation – says Schizzerotto –. It is the barley situation that is truly dramatic».

This year’s harvest operations per mezzo di Italy have just concluded and it is certainly early to draw conclusions, but the first sensations are not entirely positive. Katya Carbone, CREA “first researcher”, explains: «Compared to last year, judging from the preliminary field observations carried out by some Italian producers, some critical issues have been identified regarding the 2023 harvest, mainly linked to the significant temperature variations that were recorded during the spring-summer season. The alternation of temperatures above 40° and torrential rain, per mezzo di some Italian areas, seems to have affected the size of the hop cones and the related quantities at harvest. Analyzes are underway to evaluate whether there have been significant impacts the contents of lupulin, bitter acids and above all aromas». Beyond the choice of more resistant cultivars, how is it possible to try to limit the damage from extreme atmospheric agents? «There are many factors to consider. Basically you need a great knowledge of the plant and its needs. Just as it is essential to know your cultivation soil, per mezzo di order to be able to apply agronomic support techniques, mainly to avoid stagnation, which is not good for a rhizomatous plant. Then, some precautions certainly help, such as equipping yourself with basso ostinato sensors for example to get feedback the needs of the crop. Ultimately, appropriate agrotechnical management is an essential tool for obtaining satisfactory production levels, especially for a new crop and per mezzo di new cultivation areas.».

Among the Italian production companies most attentive to environmental issues there is certainly Luppolo Made per mezzo di Italy, a of Umbrian companies, chaired by Stefano Fancelli, who is very clear what to do: «The damage is increasingly serious and evident with each season. Our hops supply chain was born with a cooperation project for innovation, supported by regional and European funds, which set the objective of full economic, social but above all environmental sustainability of production, per mezzo di line with the New Deal and the Farm to fork approach. concrete terms, this means acknowledging that climate changes have, for now, irreversibly modified the conditions of hop production, per mezzo di all European countries, the historic ones and the new ones like Italy, and that every production company is called to do the his part». An approach which, according to Fancelli, must therefore translate into concrete actions: «By directing our investments to perfect the location of the plants, choosing the ideal soil climate and the most efficient logistics, saving and reducing inputs for prophylaxis and phytosanitary interventions, aiming for integration with agrovoltaics, working genetic improvement and new varieties more suited to changing climatic conditions and investing per mezzo di organic production».