
According to Michael Lerch, CEO of the DMB (Deutscher Mälzerbund), supply is running 800,000 to 1,000,000 tonnes short, an amount equal to half of the annual demand.
Inbev, EDIT: a Belgium-based brewery consortium, owner of Beck's, Franziskaner and Löwenbräu among others, confirms that this is the most serious shortage sind 1976. "Then we could compensate by ordering barley from Australia", says Hans-Georg Eils, Technical Director of Inbev. Australia, however, is suffering the worst drought in a century.
The harvest in Germany diminished by one third due to the long rainless period last summer followed by heavy rains. France and Denmark did not suffer as much and could provide some barley but not enough to compensate for the lack of domestic barley. Also, farmers have taken to growing alternative crops, such as rape/colza and corn that are in high demand by the biomass fuel industry, in preference to the high-maintenance summer barley.
The breweries can use other kinds of barley of lesser quality, rendering the brewing process itself more complex but not affecting the quality of the end product.
(If there are any huge howlers in this contribution I'm sure that lupo will correct me.)



