Interesting article about how Carlsberg tries to adapt barley to climate change (from 26 January).
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/carlsberg-s-new-lager-is-made-for-a-warming-world
“A warmer climate is particularly troublesome for beermakers because each of the three main ingredients - water, barley and hops - is affected. When subjected to even a few extra degrees of warmth, barley can make too much protein, too little alcohol and funky flavours.”
“Carlsberg, which makes about 14 billion litres of beer through its 140 brands each year, is certainly feeling the heat. Of the company’s 84 majority-owned global breweries, 16 are in areas of high water stress, and several are “at high risk of barley sourcing,” says Mr Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, senior director of sustainability and ESG. The company gets most of its barley from western Europe and France in particular, an area that’s been hit by drought in recent years.”
In 2017, Carlsberg published the barley genome, which is twice the size of a human’s. In August, it published a technique called Find-IT that rapidly identifies genetic traits that make a crop tolerant to high heat or drought. And Carlsberg says it will soon disclose the entire hops genome, which is five times as large as a human’s.
“We already know some of the most important barley mutations linked to drought tolerance,” says Dr Birgitte Skadhauge, head of Carlsberg Research Laboratory, which employs about 100 scientists. “It gives us in-built insurance against climate change.”
Carlsberg says that of the 15,000 barley lines it produces each year, fewer than five make it to market. Most are rejected because they don’t lead to robust plants or because they yield poor-tasting beers. And while the company has filed for multiple patents on its recent lab work, critics question whether the research is simply low-tech plant breeding presented as cutting-edge genetics --basically, old beer in new bottles.
“It’s simply not a technical innovation as we understand patent law,” says Mr Christoph Then of No Patents on Seeds!, a German non-profit opposing Carlsberg’s patent drive. “It’s conventional breeding.” Then also worries that while Carlsberg has a history of sharing its scientific research, that approach is “voluntary and can be revised by the company anytime they want.”
In response, Carlsberg says: “We have decided to make the technology of certain variants accessible to any breeder, seed producer, maltster and brewer under licence and have no intention to revoke any licence given.”
Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT
Project Coordination
Tel. +43 680 21 26 343
johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org
NO PATENTS ON SEEDS!
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