Ethanol Production Impact On Craft Beer?

I am far from knowledgeable, but it does seem like a problem that is very far from fatal.

I know the big guys capture the CO2 from their own fermentation tanks, and use it. I know many small guys likely don't have that capability, or it is insufficient to meet all their needs. I know that small guys are in a much better position to bottle condition or keg condition their beers.

I don't know how this affects things on an exact basis, but it does seem unlikely we will be running out of beer, or even have a real beer shortage. Will be good to see the opinions of those with more and better insights.

 

If need be we will open ferment Bermuda Grass Fescue cuvee.

 

There are other industrial sources for packaged CO2.

http://www.uigi.com/carbondioxide.html

 

http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/a...o2zhAXNzJDU58PB7yiN30NLw8eTFmU0ejfIrhZNEa22PM

 

Interesting. It says brewers can expect a 25% increase in the cost of CO2.

I wonder what percentage of a beer's price to consumers is made up of the cost of CO2 to brewers?

Also mentioned the kind of system I have seen at a friend's local brewery. In future it could be that all breweries will need to use these as economies around the world move inexorably toward an electrically powered future.

"It isn’t exactly new technology. Major breweries (the big ones that advertise during the Super Bowl) typically have systems to capture and refine the CO2 produced during fermentation and beer production. Until recently, these were high-capacity, multimillion-dollar systems, beyond the reach of craft breweries. (When it was still open, the large Redhook facility in Woodinville used a CO2 recovery system.) Today a number of manufacturers offer systems suitable for smaller breweries."

 

It had been a couple years since I had loomed at it, but that machine seems compact enough that it would fit in most breweries. It didn't mention the price, but I'll look into that. Icicle isn't that large of a brewery, if they can afford it.......

 

Yeah, I was pretty surprised years ago when I learned most so-called "craft breweries" not only "forced carbed" their beers but also bought CO2, rather than collect it from their own fermentation tanks. Collecting the CO2 was the standard method in the pre-craft era for both "Superbowl Advertising" major breweries as well as the smallest. Seems particularly "non-green" to not "recycle" their own carbon dioxide.

The collection system of a Repeal era brewery: