On Thursday evening, Athens residents, local brewers and Ohio University professors convened to discuss how climate change would hurt the growth of essential ingredients in the production of beer.
Student organization Defend Our Future hosted the event at Jackie O’s Taproom and Production Brewery. Defend Our Future is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that focuses on getting millennials involved in politics about climate change, Dominic Detwiler, Ohio organizer at Defend Our Future, said.
The event was moderated by Defend Our Future intern Maddie Kramer, a freshman at OU studying wildlife conservation.
Art Oestrike, owner of Jackie O’s, began the night by detailing what his company is doing to decrease its effect on the environment.
“We’re very involved in trying to get better and use less resources for what we do,” Oestrike said. “We want to work on not destroying this planet.”
Along with Oestrike, Sean White, co-owner of Little Fish Brewing Co. in Athens, discussed lowering his company’s footprint as well. Both owners of the breweries stressed the importance of buying locally grown ingredients to save both energy and water.
“What we want to do is produce a pretty small amount of beer, and do so with a focus of very local ingredients,” White said.
By buying from local farmers, local breweries do not use as much fuel because the ingredients do not have to be shipped, Oestrike said.
Alongside those local brewers, OU professors spoke on climate issues associated with beer and its ingredients. David Rosenthal, OU assistant professor of Environmental and Plant Biology, and Jared DeForest, OU associate professor of Environmental and Plant Biology, discussed how a drought associated with climate change would affect the growth of essential ingredients in beer.
“So in this changing climate, if we think about the projections we have for the future, things are going to get drier, things are going to get warmer,” DeForest said.
Rebecca Snell, OU assistant professor of Environmental and Plant Biology, predicts that the average temperature in Athens will increase anywhere from 3 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit in the future.
Because the plants are blooming sooner due to the increase in temperature, the alpha acid content in hops has decreased over the years, Rosenthal said. That acid is responsible for the bitterness in hops.
There is an indirect effect with non-essential ingredients such as honey or maple sap that can be used in beer as well. Viorel Popescu, OU assistant professor of Biological Sciences, said that as the temperature gets warmer, new insects will move and more pesticides are included in the honey.
Although the night was centered on the effects on beer, speakers stressed the importance of taking action against climate change on every aspect of life.
“(If we do nothing), we will have bigger problems than beer,” White said.
