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A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

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Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#51

Post by nimbius »

pugworthy wrote: post #37
nimbius wrote: post #29

simple solution: convert it to malt vinegar. this is a natural process caused by introducing a vinegar culture into the beer. then, sell it to the food industry or divert it to your food holdings (hot sauces or snacks.) this can also be distilled into acetic acid which is used in everything from solvents to cervical cancer screens and the production of precursors for polyvinyl acetate.

I appreciate your second paragraph. That said I couldn’t help think, “A New Problem Sours the Malt Vinegar Industry: One Million Kegs Are Sitting Idle“

It is also trivially easy to turn your old beer into gourmet vinegar :)

https://preserveandpickle.com/how-to-make-a-vinegar-mother/

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#52

Post by z3t4 »

vaxman wrote: post #31
wyxuan wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My liver is indestructible!

Covid-19 is linked to AKF (search). As an older hacker (not a Boomer), I can tell you that the kids who setup microbreweries back in the day first tried to escape into project management and then wound up...not-in-tech.

Searching an acronym is like reversing a weak hash... they should be spelled out. When searching AKF I got mostly results about church organisations.

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#53

Post by onion2k »

nimbius wrote: post #29

simple solution: convert it to malt vinegar. this is a natural process caused by introducing a vinegar culture into the beer. then, sell it to the food industry or divert it to your food holdings (hot sauces or snacks.) this can also be distilled into acetic acid which is used in everything from solvents to cervical cancer screens and the production of precursors for polyvinyl acetate.

That would ruin all the beer barrels though, which would be an expensive mistake.

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#54

Post by jbigelow76 »

welder wrote: post #46
gumby wrote: post #38

My son in college (well in his apt with his gf, taking classes online) could easily take care of one before it expired. Hell, we could too. In Germany we had the “beer man” who would drop off beer weekly and collect the empties. This should be adopted in the USA.

Germany is mostly pils, heff, and radler. The USA has more beer variety, maybe it's more difficult logistically? Companies in the USA do have a beer man, never heard of individual houses hiring one.

The USA has more beer variety, maybe it's more difficult logistically?

No, it's just that for as much that has changed in America since its founding, being a bunch of Puritanical tight asses is still kind of encoded into our societal DNA.

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#55

Post by boomboomsubban »

gumby wrote: post #38

My son in college (well in his apt with his gf, taking classes online) could easily take care of one before it expired. Hell, we could too. In Germany we had the “beer man” who would drop off beer weekly and collect the empties. This should be adopted in the USA.

>In Germany we had the “beer man” who would drop off beer weekly and collect the empties. This should be adopted in the USA.

This is standard practice in the US, empty kegs end up back at a brewery where they are sanitized and refilled. Part of the problem reported here is that kegs aren't being used, leading to a lack of kegs available to be refilled.

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#56

Post by gumby »

welder wrote: post #46
gumby wrote: post #38

My son in college (well in his apt with his gf, taking classes online) could easily take care of one before it expired. Hell, we could too. In Germany we had the “beer man” who would drop off beer weekly and collect the empties. This should be adopted in the USA.

Germany is mostly pils, heff, and radler. The USA has more beer variety, maybe it's more difficult logistically? Companies in the USA do have a beer man, never heard of individual houses hiring one.

We had beer, dairy and bread delivery subscriptions, plus the organic veg delivery -— all pretty nice! In Palo Alto I have subscriptions for dairy, butcher and organic veg. So not that different.

As for beer selection, as in the US the major brands are of a limited nature but there are many small breweries. All subject to the Reinheitsgebot but I doubt it really cramps their style.

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#57

Post by boomboomsubban »

seibelj wrote: post #6

People in my office (well, formerly) have been buying kegs straight from the breweries. They were intended for commercial and now are sold to consumer and delivered by the same trucks.

Unless it's a local beer, they were buying straight from the local distributor. The major breweries do not ship their product to bars.

Re: A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Million Kegs Are Going Stale

#60

Post by ac29 »

onion2k wrote: post #53
nimbius wrote: post #29

simple solution: convert it to malt vinegar. this is a natural process caused by introducing a vinegar culture into the beer. then, sell it to the food industry or divert it to your food holdings (hot sauces or snacks.) this can also be distilled into acetic acid which is used in everything from solvents to cervical cancer screens and the production of precursors for polyvinyl acetate.

That would ruin all the beer barrels though, which would be an expensive mistake.

Kegs of beer are stainless steel, is vinegar strong enough to ruin that?
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