Want to experience one of the future side-effects of climate change today? A new beer creation, Drought Draught, is designed to let you do just that.
Drought Draught is “acidic, salty and a little bit funky” according to one if its makers, Pat McInerney, from craft brewery Willie The Boatman.
WWF, Earth Hour and advertising agency, GPY&R worked with craft brewers Willie The Boatman and Young Henrys to demonstrate how climate change will affect beer.
The idea was to show how climate change will affect something that matters to a big chunk of the Australian population, given many of us currently rate the issue low down on our list of priorities.
Drought - an increasing scenario as the climate changes - affects all of beer’s main ingredients: barley, hops and water.
Drought Draught was therefore brewed with drought-affected ingredients like poor quality barley and hops, and artificial supplements. The fact that water would be scarce and expensive was also factored into the brewing process.
“Our aim is to turn beer drinkers into a political force to send a message to those who can make change happen,” GPY&R Brisbane creative director Brendan Greaney said.
Drought Draught was launched at a special Save The Ales event in Sydney as part of this year’s Earth Hour activities. It is being supported by a series of tasting events leading up to the UN Paris Climate Conference in November.
