- Faced with millions of gallons of expired
beer , companies are looking to creative solutions to get rid of it. - Some companies are looking to turn the beer into natural gas, while others are using it to make hand sanitizer.
- A lot of beer will likely end up being dumped, however.
Across the country, restaurants, bars, and other merrymaking venues have gone months without hosting patrons.
And without a place to imbibe and the people to drink it, the beer industry is being forced to figure out what to do with all of its expired beer.
Bloomberg reported that in March, before the US went under more extensive stay-at-home orders, there were already about 10 million gallons of expired beer being held by retailers, according to National Beer Wholesalers Association estimates. Now, beer distributors are having thousands of kegs returned to them on a daily basis.
"This is a tsunami of kegs," John Hanselman, chief executive officer of Vanguard Renewables, told Bloomberg.
Vanguard is one of several companies that is looking to turn expired beer into natural gas for electricity.
Other companies — including some breweries themselves — are turning it into hand sanitizer.
Many producers and distributors will end up having to dump their beer. Industry organizations like the Brewers Association have issued guidelines about how to do so responsibly. Depending on the way it was made, beer typically has a shelf life of between 90 and 180 days.
Molson Coors has also begun a temporary "keg relief" program, which reimburses vendors for kegs that went untapped during shutdowns, as long as they meet certain requirements.