气候危机将推高欧洲啤酒价格 并让啤酒口感变差

如果你觉得啤酒没有以前好喝了，那也许不是你的错觉。研究发现，受气候危机的影响，中欧地区的啤酒花减产，啤酒花中赋予啤酒独特风味的α酸含量也在下降。

Climate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of beer, scientists have warned.

科学家警告称，气候恶化已经在改变啤酒的味道和品质。

The quantity and quality of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer may become more expensive and manufacturers will have to adapt their brewing methods.

研究指出，多数啤酒中的重要原料啤酒花的数量和品质正受到全球变暖的影响。啤酒可能会因此变得更贵，啤酒生产商也将不得不调整酿造方法。

Researchers forecast that hop yields in European growing regions will fall by 4-18% by 2050 if farmers do not adapt to hotter and drier weather, while the content of alpha acids in the hops, which gives beers their distinctive taste and smell, will fall by 20-31%.

研究人员预测，如果农民不调整种植策略来适应更加炎热干燥的天气，到2050年底前欧洲的啤酒花种植区将减产4%到18%，而啤酒花中赋予啤酒独特口感和气味的α酸含量也将减少20%到31%。

"Beer drinkers will definitely see the climate change, either in the price tag or the quality,” said Miroslav Trnka, a scientist at the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and co-author of the study, published in the journal Nature Communications. “That seems to be inevitable from our data.”

该研究的合著者、捷克科学院全球变化研究所的科学家米罗斯拉夫·特兰卡称：“喝啤酒的人肯定会从价格标签上或啤酒品质上看到气候变化。从我们的数据来看，这似乎是无可避免的。”该研究发表在《自然-通讯》期刊上。

Beer, the third-most popular drink in the world after water and tea, is made by fermenting malted grains like barley with yeast. It is usually flavoured with aromatic hops grown mostly in the middle latitudes that are sensitive to changes in light, heat and water.

啤酒用大麦等麦芽谷物加入酵母发酵制成，是世界上仅次于水和茶的最受欢迎的饮料。在啤酒中通常会加入啤酒花来增加芳香。啤酒花主要在中纬度地区种植，对光、热和水的变化十分敏感。

In recent years, demand for high-quality hops has been pushed up by a boom in craft beers with stronger flavours. But emissions of planet-heating gases are putting the plant at risk, the study found.

近年来，随着味道浓烈的精酿啤酒变得流行，人们对高品质啤酒花的需求也增加了。然而研究发现，温室气体的排放却对啤酒花构成了威胁。

The researchers compared the average annual yield of aroma hops during the periods 1971-1994 and 1995-2018 and found “a significant production decrease” of 0.13-0.27 tons per hectare. Celje, in Slovenia, had the greatest fall in average annual hop yield, at 19.4%.

研究人员对比1971-1994年间和1995-2018年间的香味啤酒花年均产量后发现，每公顷减产0.13至0.27吨，“产量显著下降”。斯洛文尼亚的采列市啤酒花年均产量降幅最大，达到19.4%。

In Germany, the second-biggest hop producer in the world, average hop yields have fallen 19.1% in Spalt, 13.7% in Hallertau, and 9.5% in Tettnang, the study found.

研究发现，在世界第二大啤酒花产地德国，斯伯特地区的啤酒花年均产量下降了19.1%，哈勒陶地区下降了13.7%，泰特南地区下降了9.5%。

Beer-brewing in central Europe dates back thousands of years and is a cornerstone of the culture. The study found the alpha acid content of hops, which give beer its distinct aroma, had fallen in all regions.

中欧的啤酒酿造有数千年历史，早已深深根植于文化当中。研究发现，中欧各地区啤酒花中赋予啤酒独特风味的α酸含量都下降了。

Andreas Auernhammer, a hop farmer in Spalt in southern Germany, said the total rainfall in his fields had changed little but that now “the rain does not come at the right time”.

德国南部斯伯特地区的一名种植啤酒花的农民安德里亚斯·奥恩汉默表示，他的农田里总降雨量变化不大，但是现在“雨水来的不是时候”。