Asheville-area breweries bracing for CO2 shortage

My first inclination is, hopefully this means more low carbonation stouts and barleywines!

 

Maybe Sierra Nevada can sell some of their reclaimed CO2 to local breweries?

 

Alternate Nitro versions? Or CASK??? I kid on the cask, wishful thinking.

 

Depending on the package mix Sierra Nevada might not have excess CO2. Canning requires much more CO2 than bottling or kegging. And recovery isn't 100% efficient. This gives some insight into the issues:
https://beerandbrewing.com/recapturing-co2-its-a-gas/.

 

Nitro sounds good, but that product needs a mix of nitrogen and CO2. Either buy an expensive special order mix or have mixing equipment in the brewery that also would require in-house work. Cask sounds really good -- selling it might be a problem.

 

I figure it's a way to stretch out the supply. If Southern Tier & Left Hand can do it, anyone with any kind of chops can do it.

Sadly, Cask just only works on a small scale, if people know what they are doing. Faded in the UK since the last time I was back (2003), so just a wish said out loud on my part...

 

From the above linked article (with emphasis in bold by me):

“The biggest surprise, he says, was the qualitative improvements that the recaptured CO2 made to Roadhouse’s beers.

“Without question, the beer is better,” Courtois says. “You have to see it to believe it.”

Initially, the brewers and production staff were skeptical of claims that the system would improve quality. However, extensive sensory panels and analysis of both the recaptured gas and beer carbonated with it have convinced them.

The key is in the purity of the CO2 that the CiCi sequesters. While food-grade bulk CO2 is about 99.9 percent pure, that 0.1 percent of stuff that’s not carbon dioxide can include hydrocarbons, sensory-active molecules, and oxygen. That doesn’t sound like much, but in an article titled, “Understanding and Ensuring CO2 Supply Quality for Brewery Use,” the Brewers Association puts that into context: That 0.1 percent equates to 1,000 parts per million—a concentration that is one to four orders of magnitude higher than many of the flavor-active components in hops.

The biggest worry for brewers might be the trace oxygen possibly present in bulk CO2. Courtois says the recaptured CO2 from the Earthly Labs system shows single-digit O2 levels—a difference that “allows the brewer’s vision to shine with better head retention, better lacing, and a cleaner, more vivid aroma.”

Oxygen is indeed the enemy of beer and achieving “single-digits O2 levels” along with high quality packaging lines which realize a low TPO (Total Packaged Oxygen) level will yield a product with increased beer stability (i.e., extended beer shelf-life).

There was mention above of “hydrocarbons” but no further details. One of the hydrocarbons which can be present in bulk CO2 sold to breweries is benzene which is a carcinogen. There is a real benefit for breweries to not buy CO2 for health reasons as well (i.e., no benzene in the packaged beer).

Cheers!