This is serious indeed.
The cost of brewing beer is directly associated with the cost of grain.
No good can come of this gentlemen.
If this trend continues, we might be forced to use *gasp* adjuncts!
Can BMC (BudMillerCoors) be far behind?
Will we be forced to add rice?
Is this the end of Western Civilization as we know it?
I think I need to drink a homebrew and think about it.
On or off the Homebrewers Ping List, let me know.
Cheers,
knewshound
Brew Your OwnApparently early Americam brewers went through a similar crisis due to the price of english barley. resourcful American brewers used pumkpin as a substitute. The result was pumpkin beer.
Having recently tasted a pumpkin beer, I have to say...
"we must do what ever it takes to get the barley!"
The article is false. The nation's number one producer of malting barley is North Dakota, which is too far above the corn belt to grow much corn. The main reason North Dakota farmers have stopped growing barley is that prices for it have dropped steadily year to year. Of course you won't hear any brewing CEO crying about paying too little for grain.
Using food to make fuel is stupid and uneconomical in the long run. Look for new ethanol technologies that use non-food grasses soon.