Ecological benefits through alternative food networks? Prospects of regional barley-malt-beer value chains in Bavaria, Germany

Drawing on insights from the alternative food networks (AFN) literature, we seek to explore the potential for regionally anchored and environmentally sound barley-malt-beer value chains in Bavaria, Germany. We provide an in-depth analysis of five breweries sourcing malting barley from the local or regional area, before the potential ecological benefits of such ‘regional models’ are mapped out. This analysis of potential explicitly focuses on water protection in the Upper Bavarian district of Eichstätt, while taking the four local breweries as the point of departure. The empirical findings derived from guided expert interviews show that regional barley-malt-beer value chains may become viable through effective integration of the malting stage, as this appears as a kind of ‘bottleneck’ in the ‘beer chain’, in combination with a credible focus on ‘soft’ criteria such as authenticity and transparency. However, though the cultivation of malting barley per se, as an extensively grown plant with low fertiliser requirement, has a positive effect on water resources, the practical realisation of ecological benefits regarding water protection is difficult. Regardless of the ecological potentials to be realised, we acknowledge the efforts of the breweries studied, as they tend to show a high degree of reflexivity towards their agricultural basis and the ‘natural embeddedness’ of beer production in general. •Regional barley-malt-beer value chains potentially foster groundwater protection.•Malting barley is a rather extensive crop requiring little nitrogen fertiliser.•Regional malting barley sourcing could be a USP in a competitive beer market.•Authenticity, transparency and intensive collaboration are critical success factors.•The highly concentrated malting stage has a bottleneck function in the ‘beer chain’.