Portsmouth pubs stocked up on beer ahead of England game despite CO2 shortage

The Three Lions take on the Red Devils in Kaliningrad at 7pm tonight in a match which will decide who will top the group and who both sides will face in the knockout stages of the World Cup.

However a national CO2 shortage held the potential to put a damper on proceedings with warnings of pubs across the country running out of beer.

CO2 is widely used in the drinks industry, with the gas putting the fizz into beer, cider and soft drinks.

The gas is a by-product created during the production of ammonia, and at the moment a number of fertiliser plants in Europe and the UK are closed for routine maintenance.

The News contacted pubs across Portsmouth to check if they had been affected by the current C02 shortage and if they had run out of beer ahead of the big match.

The Portsbridge, on Portsmouth Road in Cosham, said they were fine and had not been affected by the current C02 shortage.

While The Churchillian, on Portsdown Hill Road, said they had been forced to change a few products, they ‘haven’t run out of beer’.

Green Posts pub on London Road, also confirmed that their beer stocks are ‘fine’.

The most high profile pub chain affected by the CO2 shortage has been Wetherspoons, which has multiple pubs across the city, with John Smith, Strongbow and Strongbow Dark Fruit currently unavailable.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: ‘We can assure our customers that all of our pubs will continue to have a great choice of drink available.

‘Although a few drinks are likely to be unavailable due to the C02 issue, our pubs will still offer up to 17 draft lagers, ciders and real ale as well as all other drinks, including wine, spirits and soft drinks.

‘We would expect that the drinks currently unavailable, John Smiths, Strongbow and Strongbow Dark Fruits (all on draft) will be available by the weekend.’