In recent years not only has the price of CO₂ gone up exponentially, with some breweries seeing over a 600% increase in recent months, but lest we forget the shortages from 2018 due to two factories going through routine maintenance at the same time, and CO₂ being in such short supply it became headline news around Europe.

CO₂ has therefore been, for some time now, one of the most volatile components for many craft brewers’ businesses. Without it many brewers are unable to meet the demands of their customers and yet, as we all know, CO₂ is a by product of brewing. Something that all the major brewery’s harness to remove the turmoil created through a precarious supply and demand structure within CO₂ generation.

Earthly Labs from the USA and Dalum from Denmark are two such companies leading the way in this new and exciting technology. With small footprints and a tested purity above 99%, these new CO₂ capture companies are set to pave the way for many Craft Brewers to finally take control of their CO₂ costs and remove their reliance on third party supply.

Kim Dalum, Managing Director of Dalum Equipment highlights;

“Dalum Beverage Equipment have invented and tested technology for craft scale recovery of CO₂, which will help prepare your brewery for the future. By allowing you to secure your CO₂ supply from your own natural source and improve economy while allowing you to reduce your CO₂ emissions by 200% for every Ton recovered. All component parts are stainless steel with no oil or chemicals in contact with the CO₂, meaning that the recovered CO₂ is not only food safe, but also 99.98% pure. The Dalum machine is exceptionally simple to use and in fact once running, is fully automatic. Taking away the stress from brewers and allowing them to save money and the planet through pre-programmed automation.

Eddie Gadd, Owner of Ramsgate Brewery who has a Dalum CO₂ Recapture unit used the phrase “this unit is pretty awesome” when talking about his equipment “the whole system is extremely reliable, very efficient and produces first class quality CO₂” when asked about the cost of running the capture technology. In fact, Eddie has already ordered another unit for one of his other businesses.

However, and there is always a ‘but’ when it comes to new technology, to buy these machines, even at the craft beer level the outlay is significant. For a single 15kg machine with a 2T storage tank and associated collection stations, vaporisers and safety valves, the capital cost is above £100,000, which is where Ninkasi Rentals and Finance have stepped in to support Craft Brewers.

James Lewis, Managing Director of Ninkasi Rentals and Finance explained.

“We have been watching CO₂ capture technology for the last 3 years, for us it seemed irrational that breweries were being forced to expel CO₂ produced during fermentation to then buy it in to complete packaging. We believed that this was not only wasteful but costly, and something that as an industry we should try and alleviate.

We were introduced to this craft brewery technology in early 2022 and have since been working to understand the principles, the benefits and of course the realities of regulations around this technology. After working closely with the manufacturers and learning from brewers who have already brought this technology to the UK, we strongly believe that we are not only be able to offer financial support to our industry, but also add value to our customers, acting as a consulting bridge between Craft Brewers and the manufacturers”.

So, the world of craft brewing is changing, new technologies are allowing craft brewers to stand shoulder to shoulder with the larger multinational brewers, new relationships are being formed and new possibilities are emerging to reduce Craft Brewers reliance on old suppliers.

Is this the start of something momentous, it does honestly appear so.

Ninkasi are currently offering a free installation survey to enable brewers to understand the technology more while also getting a more in depth understanding of what the technology can do to assist their breweries growth.

With Ninkasi able to offer rental or finance options on the CO₂ capture technology, cashflow is protected while savings are generated.

If you would like to understand more, please contact Paul Evans on:

[email protected] or 07741 846650