Shortage of CO2 Leads Local Brewery to Alternative Carbonation Methods

[Elderberry]

4 Washington By Aimee Cho August 14, 2022

Several breweries in D.C., Maryland and Virginia say they haven’t been impacted yet, but they are concerned by the shortage.

While you might have cracked open a cold one to enjoy Saturday’s preseason football game, the U.S. is experiencing a shortage of carbon dioxide, which produces all that fizz and bubbly in the beer.

Issues with contamination and a train line strike have impacted the carbon dioxide supply around the country. Many local breweries said they're monitoring the situation, thankful that their supplies haven’t fizzled out just yet.

While some breweries are worried about production, others are turning to greener methods to help.

Lone Oak Farm Brewing Company in Olney, Maryland, is one business using alternative methods to prevent products from going flat.

Charlie and Chris Miller, co-owners of the brewery, explained that as the fermentation process happens, carbon dioxide is produced naturally, and a splitting valve captures that natural carbon dioxide. 

More: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/shortage-of-co2-leads-local-brewery-to-alternative-carbonation-methods/3132760/

[rustynail]

'as the fermentation process happens, carbon dioxide is produced naturally'......bad enough that Alcohol destroys lives now it is killing the Climate.  It is past time to Ban Breweries.

[GtHawk]

Just wait till a C02 shortage hits the sugar addicts and they can't have their fizzy water at fast food or other restaurants.

[Bigun]

Shortage of CO2???  Hell! I thought the stuff was destroying the planet! /s

[Wingnut]

What ever will all those snowflake  White Claw soy boy drinkers do now?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I thought Al Gore farts this stuff?

[mountaineer]

If a beer is kräusened, does it need additional ("non natural") CO2? Anyone know?

[Elderberry]

If a beer is kräusened, does it need additional ("non natural") CO2? Anyone know?

When kräusening, no additional CO2 is required.  That's the way I brewed all my beer.

[mountaineer]

Thanks, Elderberry.

[GtHawk]

  I thought that C02 for beverages was one of the byproducts of ethanol production and Brandon decreed that more ethanol be added to gasoline hence increased ethanol production....so how exactly have we achieved a shortage in C02?

[Elderberry]

I thought that C02 for beverages was one of the byproducts of ethanol production and Brandon decreed that more ethanol be added to gasoline hence increased ethanol production....so how exactly have we achieved a shortage in C02?

Carbon capture and storage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration[2] is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia.

[Bigun]

I thought that C02 for beverages was one of the byproducts of ethanol production and Brandon decreed that more ethanol be added to gasoline hence increased ethanol production....so how exactly have we achieved a shortage in C02?

When I lived in the Middle East, I was the beermaker. Never had to add CO2 to mine.

[GtHawk]

When I lived in the Middle East, I was the beermaker. Never had to add CO2 to mine.

That's the part of the story that didn't make sense because while I never made beer I understood that it's carbonation came from the fermentation process.

[Bigun]

That's the part of the story that didn't make sense because while I never made beer I understood that it's carbonation came from the fermentation process.

  If you get impatient and bottle your beer too soon you may soon hear explosions in the pantry.  Don't ask me how I know this.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Doesn't consuming carbonated beverages convert carbon-dioxide into methane?

[verga]

I thought that C02 for beverages was one of the byproducts of ethanol production and Brandon decreed that more ethanol be added to gasoline hence increased ethanol production....so how exactly have we achieved a shortage in C02?

When my Father and I made wine CO2 was one of the by products of the fermentation process. How can there be a shortage when it occurs directly from the fermentation?

[DefiantMassRINO]

Beers are supposed to carbonated via fermentation.

How are they creating the uncarbonated beer?

Are they making beer from frozen concentrate, like we used to make fruit juices in the late 1970s, at the height of the last malaise?

[Elderberry]

Beers are supposed to carbonated via fermentation.

How are they creating the uncarbonated beer?

Are they making beer from frozen concentrate, like we used to make fruit juices in the late 1970s, at the height of the last malaise?

They are not making uncarbonated beer.

They run the fermentation to the end. Then they add an exact amount of CO2 to each bottle.

When you bottle before the fermentation is complete to use the final fermentation to carbonate the beer, one ends up with dead yeast in the bottom of each bottle.

[Bigun]

They are not making uncarbonated beer.

They run the fermentation to the end. Then they add an exact amount of CO2 to each bottle.

When you bottle before the fermentation is complete to use the final fermentation to carbonate the beer, one ends up with dead yeast in the bottom of each bottle.

What you say is true @Elderberry but if you control the amount of sugar in the wort and all it to fully work off before you bottle then add a small (controlled) amount of sugar to each bottle before filling and capping you gain control and the amount of dead yeast in each bottle is negligible.

[Elderberry]

I haven't brewed any beer in too many years now.

[Bigun]

I haven't brewed any beer in too many years now.

Same here! But I could if I wanted to!