Global warming could significantly increase the price of a pint of beer and even change the taste, according to Australian scientists who are working to drought proof the drink.
University of Queensland researcher Peter Gous said that the incorporation of the so-called 'stay-green' traits in barley, a key ingredient in beer, could mean a more stable supply of carbohydrates for the brewing process.
Barley genotype expressing 'stay-green'-like characteristics maintains starch quality of the grain during water stress condition, researchers found.
The 'stay-green' characteristics were first spotted in another grain called sorghum, which grows in hot places.
In a pilot study, researchers found that the amount of starch in non-stay-green samples put under water stress fluctuated more than those with the stay-green genetic traits.
If normal starch in the grain is pushed to the point that it becomes resistant starch, it would push the cost of a serving of beer up from around USD 5 to as much as USD 20, Gous said.
"I'm not saying they're the actual values, but the amount of energy and water and things that have to go into the brewing process will increase," he told 'The Brisbane Times'.
The study, published in the Journal of Cereal Science, examined how the presence of the stay-green group of genes could assist grains deal with water stresses, such as drought and how their expression affects starch structure.
"We've looked at this and gone, 'OK, we can drought-proof our crops and the plants stay green, but do we still have the same quality grain?'," Gous said.
"It is a trait that naturally occurs, more in wild types of barley like regrowth and things like that.
"So basically breeders have gone back to ancient sources of sorghum and reintroduced them, because with conventional breeding eventually you lose traits that are beneficial, and drought-proof the plant," he said.
Gous said he could not definitively say beer supplies could be drought-proofed but added that "with certain drought-tolerant traits, you can have a more stable supply of specific quality grain".
