A shortage of carbon dioxide has forced some smaller breweries into a tight spot.
Carbon dioxide is a key ingredient for beer, adding fizz to the beverage. Brewers also use carbon dioxide for other processes in the beer-making process, so the gas is a crucial input for companies.
The natural source of carbon dioxide near Jackson Dome in Mississippi has faced contamination, meaning that production from the facility has had to be reduced, adding to factors that were already limiting carbon dioxide supply.
The shortage began in 2020 after the pandemic took hold and people spent weeks sheltering indoors and not traveling. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of ethanol, a key ingredient in gasoline. Because fewer people were using gasoline and, by extension, ethanol, production slowed, and with it, carbon dioxide output.
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The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine doses also added demand pressure to carbon dioxide production.
Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine requires large amounts of carbon dioxide to ship because it needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures. To keep doses of the vaccines sufficiently chilled, dry ice, the solid form of carbon dioxide, is used in shipment and storage.
Because of the shortage of the crucial gas, some breweries are facing tough decisions. Night Shift Brewing in Massachusetts said it had to suspend operations at one of its facilities because of the shortage.
Alewerks Brewing Company shut down production for a week last year because of a shortage of carbon dioxide. Michael Claar, operations director at the Virginia brewery, told the Washington Post that while his company has been able to get a hold of carbon dioxide this year, there has been a 20% surcharge on gas deliveries.
Bob Pease, the president and CEO of the Brewers Association, pointed out that larger breweries are weathering the shortage better than smaller craft operations because they typically invest in costly technology that can capture the gas. Even if smaller breweries decide to take the plunge and invest in the system, it could take months for it to be up and operational, meaning that they still suffer from the shortage in the near term.
“Most raw material disruptions have a disproportionate impact on a segment’s smallest players, so, yes, the CO2 shortage is disproportionately affecting small/craft brewers,” said Pease. “Large brewers also may have a technology called carbon capture at their breweries that helps insulate them from supply disruption.”
The carbon dioxide supply is being hampered not only by vaccines, supply chain snarls, and problems at the Mississippi facility but also by the war in Ukraine.
Ammonia production factories are also major sources of carbon dioxide, according to beer blogger Kendall Jones. A large amount of Europe’s ammonia supply comes from Russia, and Western sanctions have caused the supply to dwindle further for both ammonia and carbon dioxide.
Additionally, the carbon dioxide shortage isn’t just affecting breweries. Other food and beverage products make use of the gas, which is mixed with drinks like soda to make them fizzy. The gas is also used in the meatpacking industry to stun animals before they are slaughtered for their meat.
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Rich Gottwald, chief executive of the Compressed Gas Association, told the Wall Street Journal that some 70% of domestically produced carbon dioxide is used for food and beverage manufacturing.
In some good news for those industries reliant on the gas, Gottwald said that his trade group expects that carbon dioxide suppliers will see a return to normalcy by the end of October.
