Mass CO2 shortage is a big problem facing the beer industry. What's the solution?

The supply chain of beer in the United States has a history of facing hardships. It was just a century ago that the United States enacted the national prohibition of alcohol. Since its repeal in 1933, the industry has seen tremendous growth, with a large influx of success being found in the early 90s. Even with a global pandemic in its way, the beer industry has experienced growth at a steady rate year over year. However, for many distributors, that may be subject to change. Right now, the United States is experiencing a carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage, which presents an issue for many different industries. Specifically in the beer industry, some local breweries are finding it extremely challenging to acquire, given they have the money to pay three times the average price for a single unit. CO2 is crucial to the beer industry, especially breweries, as it is used to keep beer from going flat. Flat beer is bad beer, and the inability to get CO2 in normal volume or for normal prices is causing a major disruption in the way these companies are doing business. Breweries and beer distributors are pressed to find available CO2, are overpaying far above the average price, and are either forced to eat the expenses or pass it down through their offered prices. This leads to a lower volume of beer shipped and a higher cost for consumers. One broken link in the chain will heavily impact the health and function of the entire supply chain, and the lack of carbon dioxide availability and increased pricing are factors that are leading to comprehensive disruption. This is a wide-scale concern, but large distributors and brewers won’t see the brunt of the impact. Smaller and local breweries are the ones to be subject to the most adverse effects of the CO2 shortage, seeing that a large majority of the brewing process relies principally on the use of the gaseous compound. One of the workarounds that smaller breweries have implemented is use of nitrogen as a substitute for CO2 to pump beer, however; this is a short-term and-aid fix that does not seek to resolve the original problem. The solution? Truthfully, going forward with this issue doesn’t seem to present any simple fix, especially in the short term. Although, seeing that your local distributor is more likely to face the inherent consequences, the best way to combat the challenges ahead is to support your local brewery.