Posted on 04/18/2020 11:13:43 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Dwindling supplies of carbon dioxide from ethanol plants is sparking concern about shortages of beer, soda and seltzer water — essentials for many quarantined Americans.
Brewers and soft-drink makers use carbon dioxide, or CO2, for carbonation, which gives beer and soda fizz. Ethanol producers are a key provider of CO2 to the food industry, as they capture that gas as a byproduct of ethanol production and sell it in large quantities.
But ethanol, which is blended into the nation’s gasoline supply, has seen production drop sharply due to the drop in gasoline demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gasoline demand is down by more than 30% in the United States.
The lack of ethanol output is disrupting this highly specialized corner of the food industry, as 34 of the 45 U.S. ethanol plants that sell CO2 have idled or cut production, said Renewable Fuels Association Chief Executive Geoff Cooper. …
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
OK, this is a REAL national emergency! It’s time to mobilize the captains of industry to fix this.
Won’t somebody please think of the children!!!
Don’t use it in my Mead.
“Drink Guiness, they use a nitrogen widget, plus it taste good.”
I HATE those things.
Soda is the only item on sale at our Kroger’s.
I mentioned to my wife a couple weeks ago that I am gonna start home brewing again soon, been supplying hops to small brewers but only when the beer runs out. I grow all the necessary ingredients and used to do it a lot.
Mead is wine, not beer.
OOPS that was 2019. Sorry. We bought several, but we really liked Foggier Window (my son is over now and has a much better memory than the old man).
OK. I was wondering if Monkish had been around that long. Time flies.
No, real beer has its own CO2 fizz.
From the site: https://www.thespruceeats.com/why-is-beer-fizzy-353152
What Is Natural Carbonation?
Natural carbonation results from the fermentation process. Fermentation produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as yeast digests the sugar in the wort. Although most of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape during fermentation, the brewer will seal the beer in a container when it is almost complete. This is how natural carbonation is used to carbonate beer in holding vessels at the brewery and in casks.
Another way to use natural carbonation is in the bottle. In this case, the beer is allowed to ferment completely. It is left unfiltered which leaves active yeast suspended in it. Then a small amount of sugar is added at bottling time. Once the bottles are sealed and the yeast begins to act on the sugar, carbon dioxide is released and absorbed by the beer.
It most certainly does. American beer tends to be overgassed anyway. "So the people have no CO2, do they? Let them drink nitrogen!" Marie Antoinette said that, or she would have if they hadn't cut her head off.
I’m drinking a German Weizenbock I brewed (my first decoction) earlier this year. I keg as well, except for a barley wine I made with a buddy in January. We like to bottle those so we can cellar.
Luckily, I have plenty of CO2 for now.
“Mead is wine, not beer.”
Many people carbonate their Mead. I know that Mead is not Beer.
What a bunch of Bul, er malarkey, just where exactly did these buffoons presume CO2 was gotten from before we subjugated a food crop for ethanol production?
Funny I thought CO2 was a by product of beer brewing, more produced than then left behind.
I have in the past force carbed, worked welL. But In 5 gallon kegs it’s easier.
Will we be seeing charts of upside down hockey sticks?
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