What does torched earth taste like? According to New Belgium Brewing Company’s CEO Steve Fechheimer, it “tastes like eating a Band-Aid."In 2021, New Belgium wanted to raise awareness of the impact of climate change on America’s favorite alcoholic beverage. The result: Torched Earth, a beer brewed with smoke-tainted water, buckwheat, and dandelion root. A bitter warning to consumers of what beer could taste like in the not-so-distant future.
Beer production relies on water, barley and hops. But climate change is leading to scarcity of these key ingredients. This raises the price brewers must pay for production and increases beer prices for consumers. Climate change can also affect the quality of ingredients, meaning brewers may have no choice but to resort to inferior products.
With beer potentially costing more while tasting worse, this is not good news for hopheads.
