[Carlsberg Research Laboratory]
[Statue of J. C. Jacobsen, founder of Carlsberg]
[Greenhouse inside Carlsberg Research Laboratory, experimental barley crops growing]
[Barman pouring glass of beer at Home of Carlsberg bar]
[Birgitte Skadhauge, vice president, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, inspecting experimental barley crops]
[Barley]
Birgitte Skadhauge (interview): “Actually, it’s impacting a lot because these extreme weather conditions… And you can say it’s not only one type of climate. Some areas, it’s a lot of drought, it can be heat, extreme heat, but it can also be far too much rain that’s affecting the plants and also the quality of the crops.”
[Aerial shots of barley fields]
[Worker inspecting experimental barley crops growing]
[Crops in pots with labels]
[Experimental barley crops]
[Worker “crossing” barley plants]
Birgitte Skadhauge (interview): “This is something that’s having a huge impact, not only in Europe, but also in the rest of the world. And that’s also one of the reasons why we here in the laboratory are actually working with other alternative brewing raw materials. It could be sorghum, it could be rice, where we, in a similar way, are trying to find new, more flexible solutions for the future where we can have alternatives that potentially can be used for beer brewing.”
[Worker in the lab]
[Skadhauge showing frozen yeast samples in freezer]
Birgitte Skadhauge (interview): “So, what I’m having here is actually a part of our yeast collection. In the Carlsberg Laboratory, we have got more than 50,000 brewer’s yeast strains. And this is, of course, a gold mine for making new yeast strains in the future when we use it for crossing.”
[Skadhauge showing frozen yeast samples]
[Workers in the lab, using FIND-IT digital screening tool]
Birgitte Skadhauge (interview): “We are sequencing the whole genetic sequence, the whole genetic code of the barley. So, we have been sequencing that in barley and yeast and also in hops now, so we understand the absolute fundamental part of the genes and also the function of the genes. And in order also to make climate-tolerant crops, then we know some of the genes that might give plants the possibility to be more drought-tolerant. If you know what that gene is, then you can maybe improve that even more.”
[Skadhauge inspecting sorghum plants]
Birgitte Skadhauge (interview): “So, sorghum is a crop that’s very drought tolerant, naturally. But now we are building even further on that to make it, hopefully, more domesticated and also that it’s better or easier for brewers around the world to utilize that for food but also for beverage production.”
[Carlsberg brewery production]
[Workers in Carlsberg brewery, bottling beer]
Birgitte Skadhauge (interview): “It is exactly finding the needle in the haystack. And it is finding that specific genetic variant, a drought tolerant, for instance, or a new quality, amongst thousands and thousands, maybe millions of plants or micro-organisms, within a very short time.”
[Cans in bar fridge]
[Barman pouring pint of beer]
[Barman placing pint on bar]
[Beer in pint glass]
[Tavs Nyord, senior consultant, CONCITO, reading book]
[Poster]
Tavs Nyord (interview): “Of course, our research is modelling the changing of production conditions for different crops. And for Europe, I’ve seen rather well-developed models saying that it will be difficult to grow the normal crops in southern Europe in the future, even in the 2050s, so you will see the changes already at that time.”
[Building seen through a tunnel in Carlsberg City District]
[Building exterior, reading (Danish): “New Carlsberg”]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.