Kegs of Beer Going Stale

The beer industry’s troubles ramped up in March when roughly 10 million gallons of suds were abandoned in venues that month alone, according to an NBWA estimate. That is the equivalent of almost one million kegs. Even more beer is stuck at distributors’ warehouses, in transit from other countries and in breweries. Unsold and expiring beer could cost the beer industry as much as $1 billion, according to the NBWA.

Dumping the unused ale en masse isn’t an option. Environmental regulations say large volumes of beer shouldn’t be poured down drains or into rivers because it can disturb the pH balance, reduce oxygen in the water and produce undesirable bacteria. Before deciding where the stale beer goes, brewers or distributors must first access tens of thousands of locked-down venues, lift the heavy kegs out of cellars and safely balance trucks that may be carrying a mix of full and empty barrels.

“This is a hot potato because none of our businesses are set up to return massive amounts of beer,” says Dan Vorlage, marketing head for Denver-based MicroStar Logistics LLC, the U.S.’s largest keg-logistics company. “It takes three times as many trucks to transport full kegs
than empty ones.”