Carbon Dioxide Shortage Threatens UK And European Beer Supply

Forget giant meteors putting an end to life as we know it…a shortage of food-grade carbon dioxide is potentially threatening the supply of beer in Europe and at World Cup,,, now that’s a crisis!

Here’s the deal…

As reported by Gas World, (yep, there’s now evidently a site for everything nowadays) the supply of food-grade carbon dioxide in Europe came under pressure in April due to “the ‘usual’ turnaround of maintenance procedures in ammonia plants”.

That situation has now become “critical” after other plants were also closed following technical issues and the UK which only has one large-scale CO₂ plant currently operating may be the “hardest hit”.

While this carbon dioxide shortage may also affect soft drinks and packaged meats in Europe we expect that the public can get around that…

But, beer? Beer’s a whole different level of worry altogether…especially in the summer and with the World Cup going on.

As the Drinks Business so astutely explains…

“While CO₂ is a natural byproduct of the fermentation process and can be captured so that beers are ‘naturally carbonated’, it is also used to flush out oxygen in the bottling and canning process as well as to create pressure in kegs so that beer is forced out of the containers.”

Adding to concerns on the Continent is the fact that many pubs and bars often use a mixture of 60% carbon dioxide and 40% nitrogen to dispense beer

Brigid Simmonds the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association isn’t taking this carbon dioxide situation lightly…

“We are aware of a situation affecting the availability of CO₂ across Europe, which has now started to impact beer producers in the UK and have recommended our members to continue to liaise with their providers directly where they have concerns over supply.

We will continue to monitor the situation carefully. However, given the time of year and the World Cup, this situation has arisen at an unfortunate time for the brewing industry”.

Renegade meteors are at least something the world can wrap its’ hands around but when we’re talking a carbon dioxide shortage that threatens the beer supply…we’re talking cataclysm at least for the smaller beer producers…

AB InBev, the maker of Stella Artois, Budweiser and Corona remains smug in the face of this crisis. The world’s largest brewing entity, told the Grocer that it keeps its own stocks of CO₂ which it recovers from the brewing process, meaning that it’s less reliant on outside sources.

But Beavertown’s Brand and Communications Manager is very concerned about the shortage, telling i News: “It’s going to affect everyone. We’re all very heavily reliant on CO₂ not just as part of the brewing process but also as part of the packaging process.’