# Not the Beer!



## RJSakowski (Apr 19, 2020)

We've seen the toilet paper shortage, the Purell shortage and even rationing of bread and pasta.

The next shortage is beer. Apparently , modern brewing practices include adding carbonation to beer to create the fizz. The CO2 they are adding comes from the ethanol producers. as a byproduct. Due to the reduced demand for gasoline caused by the corona virus social distancing, ethanol producers are scaling back or shutting down their operations which means less CO2.

Lest you think, "so what, it's only beer; get over it", this also affects the soft drink industry and sparkling water producers.









						Coronavirus To Burst Another Bubble? Carbonation Shortage Threatens Seltzer, Beer And Soda
					

Soft drink and beer makers are scrambling for access to CO2, a key ingredient in the carbonization used to make their products after coronavirus shutdowns have closed off their access to the chemical.




					www.forbes.com


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## Dhal22 (Apr 19, 2020)

I'm stocking up dang it.


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## matthewsx (Apr 19, 2020)

DIY


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## Reddinr (Apr 19, 2020)

The 151's gone too but whiskey is still safe...


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## graham-xrf (Apr 22, 2020)

Neat whiskey works as a "hand sanitizer", but it comes with quite the aroma, and succeeds in sending the wrong message.


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## graham-xrf (Apr 22, 2020)

Reddinr said:


> The 151's gone too but whiskey is still safe...


The famous Bacardi is 75%, so quite up to the job.


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## higgite (Apr 22, 2020)

Oh, no! You mean I need to panic buy something else already? Darn, I've already spent my life savings on toilet paper. And now I can't even cry in my beer? Oh, the humanity!

Tom


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## stupoty (Apr 22, 2020)

You need to contact the UK aparently we have tooo much ! 

https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-20/uk-lockdown-could-see-beer-flowing-down-drain


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## Reddinr (Apr 22, 2020)

What I heard was that mills, lathes and other machines are going to be in short supply too.  Better get out there and hoard hoard hoard!  (JOKE!)


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## Buffalo21 (Apr 22, 2020)

I was just working in a plant that makes between 8 to 12 million aluminum beer cans a day, it’s seemed to be running fine, no panic, just a relentless stream of cans.


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## Dhal22 (Apr 22, 2020)

Beer in cans, bad............  Beer in bottles, good..............  I'm enjoying a nice IPA as I type


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## matthewsx (Apr 22, 2020)

That's what Lagunitas thought.






						12th of Never - Lagunitas
					






					lagunitas.com
				




Cans preserve beer better I'm  told....

John


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## matthewsx (Apr 22, 2020)

Buffalo21 said:


> I was just working in a plant that makes between 8 to 12 million aluminum beer cans a day, it’s seemed to be running fine, no panic, just a relentless stream of cans.



I have a friend who measures the thickness of the coatings they use. He used to own a machine shop....


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## higgite (Apr 22, 2020)

matthewsx said:


> Cans preserve beer better I'm  told....
> 
> John


They seem to do an equally good job in my fridge. 

Tom


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## matthewsx (Apr 22, 2020)

higgite said:


> They seem to do an equally good job in my fridge.
> 
> Tom



Never stays in mine long enough to tell 

John


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## Janderso (Apr 23, 2020)

You will be glad to hear my local supplier is fully stocked, so far.


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## matthewsx (Apr 23, 2020)

Janderso said:


> You will be glad to hear my local supplier is fully stocked, so far.



You would think so in Chico


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## eugene13 (Apr 28, 2020)

Some cannabis growers use CO2 like a fertilizer, probably going to cause a shortage.


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## Dhal22 (Apr 28, 2020)

eugene13 said:


> Some cannabis growers use CO2 like a fertilizer, probably going to cause a shortage.




Basterds..................


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## higgite (Apr 28, 2020)

eugene13 said:


> Some cannabis growers use CO2 like a fertilizer, probably going to cause a shortage.


Wouldn't you know it? Just when we need more beer, the CO2 supply goes to pot.

Tom


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## devils4ever (Apr 29, 2020)

I'm a homebrewer and need the CO2 to carb my brew and push it out of the kegs.

Luckily I have a backup, but I'm making sure there are no leaks.


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## pontiac428 (Apr 29, 2020)

Can't yesterday's beer bubbles be frozen out of the air with a phase change cascade arrangement of pumps and coils?  Like how the liquid gas industry does it?


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## graham-xrf (Apr 29, 2020)

devils4ever said:


> I'm a homebrewer and need the CO2 to carb my brew and push it out of the kegs.
> Luckily I have a backup, but I'm making sure there are no leaks.


Why? Do you kill the beer entirely and the carbonate it with pressure CO2 over it afterwards?

A firkin (72 pints), fitted with spiles from any one of the local breweries here is delivered cold, and still live.
It  is provided with two wooden spiles. One is porous, and will let in enough air to keep the pressure right for the tap. The other is hardwood, which you put in when you leave it overnight. It needs the wet canvas cooler as well.

Stand the barrel for 12 hours on the slightly tilted cradle (supplied), then tap in the spile, and wait a minute.
Then hit the main tap in.

The CO2 bubbles are the small type with fine head, and will keep delivering clear (real) beer with a fine white head for about 4 days (if it lasts that long). I never had to pump in CO2 into a good brew yet. The post-brew CO2 by pressurization yields larger, oily-looking bubbles and a head that dies quickly. And yes - my pals would have words with me if I resorted to "head foam" additives.

Oh Man - see what you have done? You got me gone all sentimentally recalling the times I would bring the beer to the summer camp. That's not gonna happen again anytime soon!


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## Mini Cooper S (Apr 29, 2020)

I'm not an expert on beer as it did get the better of me......once!
 Being raised in Milwaukee, we went on brewery tours fairly often as any time we had out of town guests, we went on a brewery tour. Every brewery tour that I have been on told us that they capture the CO2 from the fermentation process and use the to carbonate the final product.


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## devils4ever (Apr 29, 2020)

graham-xrf said:


> Why? Do you kill the beer entirely and the carbonate it with pressure CO2 over it afterwards?



Homebrewers ferment the beer without any containment. When the yeast does it thing, it releases CO2 and alcohol. The CO2 is released and the alcohol stays. After fermentation is over, the beer is transferred into kegs and place under CO2 pressure to carbonate. There are those homebrewers that use sugar to ferment the beer. This is done for bottles and can be done for kegs although I don't know of any homebrewers that do this. After the beer is carbed, CO2 pressure is used to push out the beer from the keg.


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## RJSakowski (Apr 29, 2020)

As I recall, in the UK, beer is dispensed with a pump.  In the US, AFAIK, the barroom tap is a valve and beer is dispensed by virtue of the CO2 pressure. 
Frat parties and the like often have an auxiliary pump to pressurize the keg in lieu of a tank of CO2.  Canned and bottled beer is still pressurized with CO2 to give those tiny bubbles that I know and love.  

I recall one sunny afternoon sitting at the kitchen table and giving my wife a lesson in Stokes Law by watching the streams of bubbles rise in the beer. (The bubbles started out small and closely spaced but as the rose, the pressure was reduced and the bubbles and the spacing grew larger.  An elegant way of demonstrating Stokes Law working against the bubble buoyancy.) 

There was an interesting program on NPR last fall concerning bubbles in brew.








						Raise A Toast To Building Better Beer Bubbles Through Chemistry
					

Spanish scientists have identified the specific gene in yeast that's responsible for the foamy head on your glass beer. And that discovery could lead to what we've all been wishing for — more long-lasting foam on top of our ales of the future.




					www.npr.org


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## graham-xrf (Apr 29, 2020)

@RJSakowski : Excellent!
I have also, at a time now far past,  been enjoyng a life on a deck chair, watching a twin trail of bubbles spiraling upwards, getting bigger until they contribute to the head on the top.

Forgive that this is a bit parochial, but this is what the swamp cooler firkin looked like.
It had a little tent of it's own. They put plastic boxes with sides 9" high underneath, with water in. There was an arrangement of plastic pipes with push-together junctions, and leak holes all over the canvas, fed with a small aquarium fish-tank pump that kept it dripping.

Well - you get the idea..


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## matthewsx (Apr 29, 2020)

I'm sorely missing my local which produces English style ales and has at least 7 beer engines






						EAST CLIFF BREWING – HOME MADE BREW
					






					eastcliffbrewing.com
				




John


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## brino (Apr 29, 2020)

Dhal22 said:


> Beer in cans, bad............ Beer in bottles, good.



Right now the stores don't have a method of taking returned cans or bottles and keeping their employees safe.
Previously I could count on the trade-in value to help fund the next supply.
I may end up just throwing them into the blue recycle bin.....
-brino


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## Dhal22 (Apr 29, 2020)

I recycle both but can't drink beer in a can.  I pour it into a glass.


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## RJSakowski (Apr 29, 2020)

Dhal22 said:


> I recycle both but can't drink beer in a can.  I pour it into a glass.


I buy cans because they're easier to deal with than glass but I drink my beer from a glass as well.  The wife won't permit cans or bottles on the dinner table, at home or at a restaurant.

However sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do


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## Dhal22 (Apr 29, 2020)

Love a good ipa.........


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