Beer consumption dropped an estimated 3 percent in 2015

Brewers and the weather: an old story. Apparently, the weather cannot suit everyone. While warmer temperatures usually serve beer consumption (and brewers’ sales), it is a nuisance for Belgium’s Lambic brewers, who fear for their production volumes.

The Cantillon brewery in Brussels late last year complained that climate change has forced them to temporarily halt production. Because of an unusually warm autumn leading to balmy nights, they could not cool their spontaneously fermenting sour Lambic beers in the open. For this they need really low temperatures.

In the past their brewing season would run from mid-October to early May. These days it’s from November to end in the end of March or early April.

Not to worry: Cantillon still produces around 400,000 bottles a year and receives 50,000 visitors.

Cantillon may feel a victim of climate change, but they certainly know how to spin a good story. Their complaint made the media rounds just ahead of the 2015 UN climate change conference in Paris.

Nonetheless, higher temperatures in Belgium last year did not translate into higher sales figures for beer. Consumption declined an estimated 3 percent over 2014 to 6.2 million hl beer. The off-trade (supermarkets) only lost about 1 percent in volume sales, yet the on-trade witnessed a decline of nearly 5 percent, estimates say.

Sadly, Belgium is becoming more of a regular beer consumption place, with more beer nowadays drunk at home (on-trade sales were 53 percent of total) than in a pub (47 percent).