Your beer needs carbon dioxide, but the price skyrocketed over the summer

Beer brewers say that a shortage of the gas that puts the suds in your beer could force production cuts and price hikes. (Katsumi Murouchi/Getty Images)

Carbon dioxide has no taste, no odor, and no color — but it's a vital ingredient in the beer business, from putting frothy bubbles in brews to blocking oxidization that makes beer taste stale.

But brewers are now worried that a carbon dioxide shortage could force production cuts and price hikes. It's the latest threat to an industry that's been whipsawed by the COVID-19 pandemic.