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The Climate Crisis is Coming for the Barley Crop

Growers, breeders, maltsters, and brewers will need to adapt faster than they have in the past if they’re going to keep up with accelerating change.

Industry All Access
Smoke from the Green Ridge Fire, just outside Washington’s Walla Walla Valley, rises in the background as farmers harvest barley. Photo: Courtesy Mainstem Malt.
Smoke from the Green Ridge Fire, just outside Washington’s Walla Walla Valley, rises in the background as farmers harvest barley. Photo: Courtesy Mainstem Malt.

You might have mistaken the beer for a gimmick, but the 5.2 percent amber ale brewed with dandelions, hop extract, smoked malt, millet, and buckwheat wasn’t meant to get beer geeks excited. It was meant to get them thinking. Released on Earth Day in 2021 and available only online or at the company’s two breweries, Torched Earth Ale from New Belgium brought attention to the current climate crisis in a creative, relatable way for consumers.

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