Posted on Sep 22, 2022
Your beer needs carbon dioxide, but the price skyrocketed over the summer
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https://www.npr.org/2022/09/22/ [login to see] /beer-carbon-dioxide-shortage
Carbon dioxide has no taste, no odor, and no color — but it's a vital ingredient in the beer business, from putting frothy bubbles in brews to blocking oxidization that makes beer taste stale.
But brewers are now worried that a carbon dioxide shortage could force production cuts and price hikes. It's the latest threat to an industry that's been whipsawed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've talked to our supplier, and our supplier basically told us they were not taking on any new clients to make sure that their long-term clients have a steady supply of CO2," Bryan Van Den Oever of Red Bear Brewing in Washington, D.C., told NPR's Morning Edition.
Beer makers have dealt with carbon dioxide shortages and price hikes for much of the pandemic, similar to higher costs for aluminum cans and cardboard. But as of August, brewers' carbon dioxide costs had spiked more sharply than any other "input" cost in recent months, according to a graph shared by Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association.
Carbon dioxide has no taste, no odor, and no color — but it's a vital ingredient in the beer business, from putting frothy bubbles in brews to blocking oxidization that makes beer taste stale.
But brewers are now worried that a carbon dioxide shortage could force production cuts and price hikes. It's the latest threat to an industry that's been whipsawed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've talked to our supplier, and our supplier basically told us they were not taking on any new clients to make sure that their long-term clients have a steady supply of CO2," Bryan Van Den Oever of Red Bear Brewing in Washington, D.C., told NPR's Morning Edition.
Beer makers have dealt with carbon dioxide shortages and price hikes for much of the pandemic, similar to higher costs for aluminum cans and cardboard. But as of August, brewers' carbon dioxide costs had spiked more sharply than any other "input" cost in recent months, according to a graph shared by Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association.
Your beer needs carbon dioxide, but the price skyrocketed over the summer
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
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Beer
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The carbon dioxide shortage hits at a particularly bad time
Even before the pandemic, carbon dioxide was prone to supply snags. When disruptions ripple through those industries, they can have a direct effect on carbon dioxide, sending tremors through the beer sector.
Carbon dioxide is also collected at sites like Jackson Dome, part of an extinct volcano that lies nearly 3,000 feet beneath Mississippi's capital city. But a contamination problem emerged there this year, putting another kink in the supply chain.
Carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of brewing, from heating mash and boiling wort to the fermentation process. Some brewers use specialty equipment to capture the gas and reuse it, but small brewers might lack the resources and scale to make that feasible. And most of those efforts have focused on cutting emissions and reducing costs, rather than serving as a sole source of carbon dioxide."
..."The carbon dioxide shortage hits at a particularly bad time
Even before the pandemic, carbon dioxide was prone to supply snags. When disruptions ripple through those industries, they can have a direct effect on carbon dioxide, sending tremors through the beer sector.
Carbon dioxide is also collected at sites like Jackson Dome, part of an extinct volcano that lies nearly 3,000 feet beneath Mississippi's capital city. But a contamination problem emerged there this year, putting another kink in the supply chain.
Carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of brewing, from heating mash and boiling wort to the fermentation process. Some brewers use specialty equipment to capture the gas and reuse it, but small brewers might lack the resources and scale to make that feasible. And most of those efforts have focused on cutting emissions and reducing costs, rather than serving as a sole source of carbon dioxide."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SGT (Join to see) I Know the World is Looking ways to "Impound" Carbon Dioxide. I wonder if there would be a Good way to Extract it out of the Air, Purify it and Put it in Beer? I'm All for That!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SGT (Join to see) - I'm Sure the Math is Against Me but One can Hope, One Can Dream! LOL!
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Air Products had an plant in my home town in Ohio that compressed air to a liquid and boiled off the various gasses including CO2. Their main customer was liquid nitrogen for fertilizers, and liquid oxygen to a large BOF Steel Mill a couple miles away.
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