Britain ... Pubs with no Beer

[David48atTD]

Britain faces beer shortage in the middle of the World Cup and as a heatwave bears down


With England's success in the World Cup, it's a bad time to run low on beer. (Damm he must be hot in that)

A shortage of carbon dioxide has hit Britain's biggest brewers and soft drink makers, disrupting production just as
drinkers' thirst peaks due to a heatwave and a World Cup soccer tournament in which England is doing unusually well.

Hot weather and a build-up of beer stocks ahead of the World Cup lifted CO2 demand from brewers just as the gas was in short
supply due to production shutdowns at chemical factories that produce it as a by-product.

The CO2 shortage is also affecting producers of meat and frozen foods, which could put a chill on summer barbecues.
CO2, well-known as a greenhouse gas, is also used to stun animals before slaughter, to increase the shelf-life of foods and to
make dry ice, which keeps frozen food cold in transit — so it's not just the brewers who are feeling the pinch.


So what happened?

While there's plenty of hops and barley going around, it's a shortage of carbon dioxide — a gas that is needed to make beer
bubbly — that is causing the squeeze.

CO2 is produced as a by-product of making ammonia used in fertiliser production, which typically peaks in winter to build
stocks for spring farming — so plant maintenance-related shutdowns are common in summer.

What's different this year, according to the British Poultry Council, is lower-than-average production of ammonia, and also
therefore CO2, due to lower ammonia prices.

A string of problems across the sector in Europe have also caused fertiliser makers to shut down more plants than usual,
and factories in Britain have suffered additional mechanical problems that further reduced supply.

In Britain, the Government prioritises carbon dioxide for use in hospitals and fire-extinguishers, so brewers and drink
makers are getting less.