2008 was the 15th coldest year or the 10th warmest year depending on which group you get your temperature information from (Univ. of Alabama or NOAA).  I’ll totally side-step the issue and just assume global warming will happen for argument’s sake.  If we take this stance, is our beloved beverage in danger?

Warmer means a longer growing season

Warmer temperatures usually means a longer growing season and more places to grow grain.  An example in history would be Greenland where settlers grew grain until an ice age forced them to retreat back to Europe.  You’d think this would mean more barley which translates to more beer not less.  Canada and Russia are the top two producers of barley, and warmer temperatures could be beneficial for barley cultivation in these countries.

Barley is one of the oldest cultivated crops in human history.  Barley has been gathered or cultivated for thousands of years in the Middle East, Far East, North Africa and east-central Africa (where it presumably gets hot).  The reason barley is so successful is because of its ability to adapt to a very wide range of soil and climate conditions.

Higher temperatures might affect winter barley.  This barley is planted in the fall and requires cold temperatures to properly grow grains.  The winter barleys are six-row barleys.  These are used in some beers, but usually two-row is preferred because the grains are much larger and produce more extract.  Six-row barley is usually used as feed for stock.  Despite the colder temperatures, two-row spring barleys predominate in Canada.

Is this the end of beer as we know it?

Beer production affected world-wide?

Through this week many websites ran with the story saying global warming would mean the end of beer in 30 years.  They even run with the quote “”It will mean either there will be pubs without beer or the cost of beer will go up.”  You really had to dig around to find a site to explain “how”.  Luckily several of the stories referenced the person who claimed beer was doomed.

When you go back to see what Jim Salinger, a climate scientist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, really said, it is a slightly different story.  He said “climate change likely will cause a decline in the production of malting barley in parts of New Zealand and Australia”.  That’s a far cry from “world wide” which many websites are claiming.  He theorizes Australia and New Zealand will become drier, providing fewer places to grow grain.

Australia is the fourth largest producer of barley and New Zealand is not even in the top 22 barley producing countries.  If Australia could not grow any grain at all it would hurt the industry, but it does not mean grain could not be grown anywhere else.

The real problem is not temperatures will be higher.  The problem in Australia is the climate change could mean drier conditions, at least this is what the scientist is theorizing.  Drier conditions would mean less crops, especially if they are using a dryland cropping system.

Just scare tactics

The reality is beer is not going to disappear.  We can all breathe a sigh of relief.  If we could not grow barley anywhere, we’d have bigger problems (i.e. – we’d all starve).   If you can’t grow barley, it’s not likely anything will grow.  Climate change is extraordinarily complicated.  A negative change in one location could be offset by a positive change in another location.  If your barley is irrigated, studies suggest increased CO2 could result in an increase in yield.  And unless it gets ridiculously hot, like Venus, it is going to rain somewhere.

The beer extinction is just scare mongering and Greenpeace is hitching on to this idea.  Their “save the ales” campaign is an attempt to show global warming could affect even the smallest parts of our life, even if this argument is silly.  They want to energize the college campuses around America, and what better way than tell college kids their beer could be gone.  I’d think about joining if I thought all beer was at stake, wouldn’t you?

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You often hear about the random story about someone smashing a bottle over someone else’s head in a bar fight.  I guess we can thank John Wayne Westerns for this.  In Australia, there is a significant rise in “glassings”.

There's a gene that makes some drunks angry drunks

I never saw this behavior while drinking with other Australians in the United States, but apparently they are very mean drunks down under.  One of the most popular stories on Fermentarium last year was about a mean drunk Australian girl who didn’t like kiwis.  This time it’s all-out bar fights.  Smashing bottles and glasses into other patrons, by men and women, is so out of control in New South Wales the government is stepping in.

The New South Wales government will no longer allow pubs to apply for 24-hour liquor licenses, last call will be enforced after 2 am, and after midnight drinks will be served in plastic cups.  If you want to face someone with a bottle, you’ll have to do it before 12:00 am.

The violence in New South Wales has risen 7% annually, and recorded 21,000 incidents of alcohol-related violence in the past year.  There are only 4 million people in Sydney (6 million in New South Wales), so 21,000 is a pretty high number.

(Source: reuters.com)

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This wine came to us from a wine club.  There is not much information on the internet about Koongarra Vineyards.  Since there is very little information about the wine and the vineyard, we were intrigued.

The color of the wine was a dark ruby color, with slight hints of tan.  The first aroma from the wine is strong oak.  There are also scents of cherry and alcohol.  The alcohol is not distracting, but it was noticeable.

The wine has lots of flavor.  The cherry flavors jump out at you, with bits of pepper.  There were even hints of cinnamon.  The aftertaste also has bits plum and berries.  The Shiraz was spicy and really needs food to stand up to it.  The wine is a bit oaky and has an alcohol burn going down.  The wine might be better if there was less alcohol.

We give Koongarra’s 8 mysterious outbacks out of 10.

Koongarra Vineyard
SE Australia
Shiraz
ABV 13.9%

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Megan Jane Conroy, a 17 year old Australian school girl returned to her home in Sandstone Point north of Brisbane to find her mom and several of her friends celebrating a birthday party.  She asked one guest if he was a “kiwi”, a word used to describe people from New Zealand.  When the 40 year old man answered yes, she told him to “get f***ed”.  Apparently she doesn’t like “kiwis”.

She then was offended by the “kiwi” when he pronounced her name incorrectly.  He said “Meagan” instead of “Megan”.  She punished him with a knee to the groin and demanded that he say it correctly.  It isn’t clear if the man attempted to correctly pronounce her name or simply whimpered while gasping for air, but she pushed him up against a wall and kneed him again.  The drunk school girl was pulled from the man while she tried to kick him for a third time.

The man was treated for severe bruising and tenderness to his testicles, pride.  The court was told that the girl was drunk at the time, and the behavior was out of character.

She pleaded guilty and was released on a $200, six-month good behavior bond.  No conviction was recorded.

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According to Australia’s hotel industry, beer prices will rise tomorrow.  The rise in prices is due to a higher excise tax.  The Australian Hotels Association criticizes the system which will allow for an automatic tax increase twice a year.  The new taxes will be passed on to consumers in hotels and bars.

Source: Australian Broadcasting Company (http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/31/1992970.htm)

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