Google Searches in the UK for ‘how to make beer’ have rose by almost 60 percent in a week after a lack of carbon dioxide threatened to hit pubs across the country.
Britain’s biggest pub company Ei Group, which has 4,500 properties, said it is working with publicans to source alternative beers where needed.
But many pub landlords are unable to pick and choose which brands they can sell because of restrictions
Searches on Google for ‘how to make beer’ has risen by 60 per cent compared to last week
The surge in the search term being used comes after beer firms ran out of beer due to a lack of carbon monoxide
Ingenious Brits have responded to the crisis by using Google to search for details on how to make beer themselves.
As a result of the crisis, a number of Wetherspoons don’t have draught John Smith’s and Strongbow cider, which is threatening to more hit more pubs across the country.
A spokesman for Wetherspoons said some establishments would be without John Smith’s and two types of Strongbow but that supplier Heineken were confident of resolving the issue within a matter of days.
He said: ‘Wetherspoon has the advantage that it sources its wide range of drinks from a number of suppliers, so has not been too badly affected.
‘Heineken has been the company with the biggest issues and they have told us that all is getting back to normal.’
Wetherspoons has said that a number of its pubs will be without John Smith’s and Strongbow
The spokesman added he was not able to confirm how many or which pubs have been affected by the lack of CO2, but said he hoped the situation would be resolved by the weekend.
A Heineken spokeswoman said: ‘We’d like to reassure beer drinkers that all our breweries are operating at full capacity, and we’re working 24/7 to get beers to our customers as quickly as possible.’
Wetherspoons is not the only chain to be impacted by the lack of carbon dioxide, as Booker has also implemented measures to help smooth the running of its business.
The food wholesaler said it was limiting sales of some lines to 10 cases per customer per day to prevent ‘sub-wholesaling’.
The Tesco-owned retailer, which is used by bars, restaurants and traders, said the move was to preserve availability and satisfied the ‘vast majority of Booker customers’.
A Booker spokeswoman said: ‘Due to the international shortage of CO2, we are experiencing some supply issues on soft drinks and beer. We are currently working hard with our suppliers to minimise the impact for our customers.’
Tesco said the CO2 shortage had not resulted in any availability issues on any product lines.
As a result of the crisis, a number of Wetherspoons don’t have draught John Smith’s and Strongbow cider. Pictured a stock photo of a Wetherspoons pub
The Tesco-owned retailer, which is used by bars, restaurants and traders, said the move was to preserve availability and satisfied the ‘vast majority of Booker customers’.
A Booker spokeswoman said: ‘Due to the international shortage of CO2, we are experiencing some supply issues on soft drinks and beer. We are currently working hard with our suppliers to minimise the impact for our customers.’
Tesco said the CO2 shortage had not resulted in any availability issues on any product lines.
Trade journal Gas World said the shortage had been described as the ‘worst supply situation to hit the European carbon dioxide (CO2) business in decades’.
There has been a 57.1 rise in the use of the ‘how to make beer’ search term.