Say it ain’t so?!
According to Treehugger, German subsidies for biofuel crops are decreasing the supply of crops like barley and hops, which naturally increases the price of the crops used in beer, which in turn increases the price of German beer.
In Germany, recent subsidies for biofuel crops have had an effect of the price of a dietary staple: beer. According to the Associated Press, many German farmers are now growing crops like rapeseed and corn rather than barley, and that shift is being felt at the tap…
From the AP:
In the last two years, the price of barley has doubled to euro200 (US$271) from euro102 per ton as farmers plant more crops such as rapeseed and corn that can be turned into ethanol or bio-diesel, a fuel made from vegetable oil.
As a result, the price for the key ingredient in beer — barley malt, or barley that has been allowed to germinate — has soared by more than 40 percent, to around euro385 (US$522) per ton from around euro270 a ton two years ago, according to the Bavarian Brewers’ Association.
For Germany’s beer drinkers that is scary news: their beloved beverage — often dubbed ‘liquid bread’ because it is a basic ingredient of many Germans’ daily diet — is getting more expensive. While some breweries have already raised prices, many others will follow later this year, brewers say.