COLORADO SPRINGS — Breweries are feeling the impact of the nation’s carbon dioxide shortage and it’s expected to get worse. This comes after one of the nation's largest gas production hubs at Jackson Dome in Mississippi became contaminated.
I spoke with Steven Fuller, the owner at Wackadoo Brewing and he tells me this is just another cost that could cost them more business down the road…
Fuller tells me his business is a small one that started off as the only brewery in America that was part of a VFW. After much success, they recently moved locations to their own building in the Springs, but they haven’t lost their values of honoring veterans. As of now, they’re only offering to-go growlers and bottles, so they aren’t producing too much beer. But with plans to open their doors for sit-down customers in a few weeks, they’re nervous about the increasing cost of C02 during this shortage.
“If CO2 runs out, there’s nothing we can do. You can’t carbonate your beer; you can’t serve it on the tap. Everything uses CO2,” said Fuller.
Fuller tells me he has enough carbon dioxide to brew for a few more months but he is concerned about what the future for his brewery and other local breweries will look like if this shortage continues.
It’s important to note, that breweries are also feeling the impact of the wheat shortage and the price of producing labels going up. Fuller tells me he doesn’t anticipate making much profit, he just wants to keep the lights on in this building to support other veterans.
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