CO2: RECOVER, RECAPTURE, REUSE (Brewers Edit)

BBF’s goal is to be 100 percent CO2 self-sufficient.  For environmental reasons, for cost saving reasons, for why the bloody hell wouldn’t we?

How do we get there? RECOVER, RECAPTURE, REUSE with our new Earthly Labs CO2 recovery unit.

Having this kit is a dream-come-true; it could never have been installed in our old Victorian brewery on North Street. We promised our community that moving the brewery would help us fulfil our sustainability goals. Now, down the road in Ashton Vale, we’re making good on that promise.

Brewer Eman has taken lead on the project and has done a great job in turning the CO2 gas either produced during fermentation or left in BBTs (bright beer tanks) from packaging, into CO2 liquid to our storage tank.

Fermentation looks to only get us so far. As a high proportion of our beer is now Infinity 4.6% or Gravity 4.1% (lager is a slow and low-pressure fermentation) and Clear Head 0.5% (AF has virtually zero fermentation) it’s tricky to recover from these.

Post packaging, tanks filled with CO2 is an obvious and reliable source. We can recover this CO2 back into liquid.

Also, not everything has to go through our recovery unit. We can REUSE. Let’s use the CO2 in BBTs to either purge and pressurize other tanks and/or CIP (clean in place) under pressure, to REUSE the tanks CO2.

Transferring into BBTs is also a usage. Whilst transferring into a BBT we slowly release the CO2 out of the head space to replace it with beer (and to not blow up our vessels).

This CO2 can be used again, via RECOVERY, RECAPTURE, REUSE.

Have we had our last fill of CO2? Can we make it to January 2026, aka the biggest month for Clear Head 0.5%?

Can the only CO2 leaving our brewery be that in keg, can or cask? And not into the atmosphere?

That’s our goal!

Tristan Hembrow, BBF Head Brewer