如果你覺得啤酒沒有以前好喝了，那也許不是你的錯覺。研究發現，受氣候危機的影響，中歐地區的啤酒花減產，啤酒花中賦予啤酒獨特風味的α酸含量也在下降。

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

科學家警告稱，氣候惡化已經在改變啤酒的味道和品質。

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，多數啤酒中的重要原料啤酒花的數量和品質正受到全球變暖的影響。啤酒可能會因此變得更貴，啤酒生產商也將不得不調整釀造方法。

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%.

研究人員預測，如果農民不調整種植策略來適應更加炎熱干燥的天氣，到2050年底前歐洲的啤酒花種植區將減產4%到18%，而啤酒花中賦予啤酒獨特口感和氣味的α酸含量也將減少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.”

該研究的合著者、捷克科學院全球變化研究所的科學家米羅斯拉夫·特蘭卡稱：“喝啤酒的人肯定會從價格標簽上或啤酒品質上看到氣候變化。從我們的數據來看，這似乎是無可避免的。”該研究發表在《自然-通訊》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.

啤酒用大麥等麥芽谷物加入酵母發酵制成，是世界上僅次于水和茶的最受歡迎的飲料。在啤酒中通常會加入啤酒花來增加芳香。啤酒花主要在中緯度地區種植，對光、熱和水的變化十分敏感。

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.

近年來，隨著味道濃烈的精釀啤酒變得流行，人們對高品質啤酒花的需求也增加了。然而研究發現，溫室氣體的排放卻對啤酒花構成了威脅。

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%.

研究人員對比1971-1994年間和1995-2018年間的香味啤酒花年均產量后發現，每公頃減產0.13至0.27噸，“產量顯著下降”。斯洛文尼亞的采列市啤酒花年均產量降幅最大，達到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.

研究發現，在世界第二大啤酒花產地德國，斯伯特地區的啤酒花年均產量下降了19.1%，哈勒陶地區下降了13.7%，泰特南地區下降了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.

中歐的啤酒釀造有數千年歷史，早已深深根植于文化當中。研究發現，中歐各地區啤酒花中賦予啤酒獨特風味的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”.

德國南部斯伯特地區的一名種植啤酒花的農民安德里亞斯·奧恩漢默表示，他的農田里總降雨量變化不大，但是現在“雨水來的不是時候”。

英文來源：衛報

翻譯&編輯：丹妮