Local brewery battles to keep beers bubbly amid carbon dioxide shortage

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Imagine a world with only flat soda or beer.

Done?

Well, that’s a real concern for the food and beverage industry because of a carbon dioxide shortage.

Gravely Brewing Co. in the Highlands is one local craft brewery working to keep their beer bubbly.

To get the foam pouring over its glass, a craft brewery like Gravely is typically a gas guzzler of carbon dioxide. It can’t get the perfect pour without the gas.

“That fizz, that sound, and that foam is an essential part of beer as we know it,” Nick Felton, Gravely’s head brewer, said.

Felton said the company saw the warning signs of a carbon dioxide shortage headed its way.

“We were given a heads up so we were able to pivot before it got too terribly bad,” Felton said.

So, the group prepared. They “tapped” into the beer history books and brought back an old German technique called spunding.

“You re-capture a lot of the carbon dioxide that’s a by-product of the fermentation process and you force that gas back into the beer,” Felton said.

Felton said this method not only saves the beer but the Earth too. Gravely takes pride in its greener way to brew the beverage.

“We’re not buying an outside packaged product but also allows us to decrease our draw on an already limited supply,” Felton said.

Mahendra Sunkara works with U of L’s Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research. He said the shortage has increased over the last few years.

Sunkara said the gas used by the food and beverage industry is one of carbon dioxide’s purest forms. He said the reason it’s difficult to come across right now is because of supply-chain issues with production stateside.

While it’s a problem here, it could be even worse for beer lovers in Europe.

“You cannot really transfer Co2 from one country to another country, it’s not that cost effective to ship pressurized Co2,” Sunkara said.

With no idea how long the shortage will last, Gravely has transitioned almost completely to the spunding process.

Felton believes more breweries will follow suit.

“In the past month I would say it’s something I’ve seen a lot more talk about online and in the brewing communities,” Felton said.