Over One Million Kegs of Beer are Going to Waste

Due to the Coronavirus, events all over the country have been cancelled. But do you ever wonder what happens to all the draft beer that sport venues, concert halls and bars stocked up on?

The average shelf life of keg draft beer is about 2-4 months depending on if it's pasteurized or not. Since the Coronavirus pandemic started, big events like March Madness and St. Patrick's Day celebrations were cancelled resulting in over one million kegs of beer to go to waste. This is roughly 10 MILLION GALLONS of beer, in just March alone according to The Wall Street Journal and MSN. The expiring beer could result in a loss of $1 Billion to the beer industry.

So what can they do with the unsold beer? Just dumping it out as it stands is not an option, because dumping large quantities of beer down the drain or into rivers because it could possibly mess with the pH balance, lower oxygen in the water and produce bacteria. MicroStar, which serves over 1,000 breweries, plans on treating the beer with defoamer to balance the pH levels before dumping it.

The average keg of beer cost anywhere from $100-$120. Bars and restaurants normally stock on a decent amount of kegs, especially popular domestics like Budweiser, Miller, Coors etc. Because of this companies like Diageo PLC, maker of Guinness, Anheuser Busch, and Modelo owner Constellation Brands Inc. are stepping up to help share the cost of the unsold brews to spare restaurants and bars from the hefty tabs.

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