Brewery CO₂ recovery
Cork & Capture is a portable CO₂ recovery system built for craft and full scale brewers. Capture fermentation CO₂, purify it to beverage-grade, and reuse it for carbonation, packaging and CIP (Cleaning In Place) — without the bulk-CO₂ contract, the supply scares, or the delivery and VAT bills.
The CO₂ problem
Every batch of average strength beer releases 4 kg of CO₂ for every 100 litres. Most breweries vent it — and then buy bulk CO₂ back from a supplier at retail prices. The 2021–2024 UK CO₂ shortage exposed how exposed brewers are to a single supply chain, and pushed CO₂ shortage alternatives for breweries to the top of the procurement agenda. Plus, captured CO2 can be used to drastically reduce water costs and improve effluent quality.
UK breweries faced bulk CO₂ shortages in 2018, 2021 and again in 2026. Most brewers don't realise their bulk supplier's CO₂ comes from ammonia plants whose economics have nothing to do with brewing — when fertiliser demand drops, your CO₂ supply tightens overnight. On-site capture replaces that exposure with CO₂ supply security: gas produced on your site, from your own fermentation, with no external dependency and no CO₂ supply disruption risk.
Breweries use on average a volume of water which is 6x the volume of beer they produce, and most of this has to be returned to the water system as effluent, at a further cost. In the UK, trade waste water is charged using the Mogden formula, which penalises breweries heavily for both the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Suspended Solids (SS) in typical fermentation waste water. Trade water waste management often increases overall water costs by 3x. Our solution means CO2 captured and pressurised onsite can be pumped into water used for cleaning, reducing the need for cleaning caustic, and the overall water volume used, by up to 40%. This reduces effluent charges and inlet water charges by a total of 25-45%.
Bulk CO₂ for breweries has tripled in the worst years and remains unstable. Procurement teams want a hedge against the next shortage, and a way to replace purchased CO₂ at the brewery with gas they already produce.
Fermentation CO₂ is biogenic and beverage-quality at source. Venting it is a sustainability story your customers will not accept much longer.
When ammonia plants go offline, brewery CO₂ supply tightens overnight. On-site capture is the CO₂ shortage alternative for breweries that removes the dependency entirely — your fermentation already produces all the CO₂ you need.
A typical 10,000-hectolitre brewery vents around 50 tonnes of biogenic CO₂ a year — the same gas it's paying a supplier to ship in for carbonation, sparging and packaging. On-site CO₂ generation at the brewery gives a producer CO₂ independence: capture the biogenic CO₂ you already make, then use it where you'd otherwise buy fossil CO₂. The brewery CO₂ recovery system pays back from year one by replacing the bulk CO₂ supplier contract entirely.
4 kg
25-45%
100%
0 t
£150/ton
£1000
The solution
Modular CO₂ capture for breweries that does not require ripping out your brewhouse, signing a 10-year capex deal, or hiring a gas engineer. We install a CO₂ circularity system on your brewing fermentation vessels — capturing, purifying, testing and storing the gas on site so you can reuse it in carbonation, packaging and tank purging.
The whole system can fit on a single parking space outside your brewery. No civil works and no production downtime. Ideal for craft breweries with tight footprints.
Multi-stage purification removes ethanol, sulphur compounds and water vapour. Every batch is verified to ISBT beverage-grade standards, plus optional taste test (by us!) before it goes into your tanks.
Captured CO₂ goes straight back into carbonation, counter-pressure filling, keg purging and tank purging or cleaning via carbonation of your existing water supply, reducing water use and effluent costs. The same gas you used to vent now does paid work.
Anything you do not use is collected by us. We resell it locally through our facilitated network (10% fee) or permanently sequester it for Verra-certified biogenic carbon credits.
A flexible monthly fee replaces a six-figure capital purchase. You keep cash on the balance sheet and we keep the system running, serviced and certified.
Unlike wineries, breweries ferment 52 weeks a year. The system is sized for continuous operation and scales with your output as you add tanks.
The captured biogenic CO₂ is fed first to your highest-priority use — carbonation CO₂ supply for kegs, cans and tanks. Once carbonation needs are met, the same gas covers sparging during cellaring and packaging. Surplus is stored or routed to resale or sequestration. This is CCUS for breweries in practice: capture and utilise on-site, with the surplus handled by us. No bulk CO₂ contract, no supply chain exposure.
Sustainability
Sustainability managers and procurement leads at supermarkets, pub groups and on-trade buyers are asking about Scope 1 emissions and credible decarbonisation plans. CO₂ recovery is one of the few interventions that delivers both cost savings and a measurable carbon reduction.
Captured biogenic CO₂ is no longer vented and no longer needs to be replaced by fossil-derived bulk CO₂. That moves real tonnes off your Scope 1 inventory.
Surplus captured CO₂ that we permanently sequester generates biogenic carbon credits, certified under Verra. That is genuine removal, not offsetting.
We provide capture volumes, purity data and credit certificates that drop directly into your sustainability report and your supermarket buyer pack.
In addition to emissions avoidance, our model avoids the Scope 2 emissions of CO2 import, trucking and logistics, including the significant burdens of small tank delivery and hire.
Based in Kent · serving the UK
We work with breweries across Kent, Sussex and the wider South East to install portable on-site CO₂ recovery. Cork & Capture is based in Wye, Kent and operates across the South East and wider UK. The portable unit is designed for craft and regional breweries — we deploy directly to your site, install on your existing fermentation vessels, and handle servicing and gas certification end to end.
FAQ
We install a capture kit on your fermentation vessels. As yeast produces CO₂, the gas is collected, scrubbed of ethanol and impurities, dried, compressed and stored on site at beverage-grade purity. You draw it back out for carbonation, purging and packaging exactly like bulk CO₂.
Most breweries see year-one savings of around 50% on their CO₂ spend, with full payback typically inside 18–36 months once carbon credit revenue from sequestered surplus is included. Larger breweries with year-round fermentation pay back fastest.
Yes. Our system is sized specifically for small and craft breweries — the entire unit is portable and modular, so we scale capacity to your fermentation volume rather than forcing you into a fixed plant. There is no minimum brewhouse size.
Cork & Capture is offered on a monthly subscription that replaces your bulk CO₂ contract. The subscription is sized to your fermentation volume and is designed to be lower than your existing CO₂ spend from month one — see our commercial terms page for the full breakdown.
Captured CO₂ is purified and tested to ISBT beverage-grade standards on every batch. Quality control is built into the process — nothing leaves the system without a verified purity certificate.
Biogenic CO₂ is CO₂ produced by living organisms — in this case, the yeast fermenting your beer. Unlike fossil-derived CO₂ from ammonia plants, biogenic CO₂ has not added any new carbon to the atmosphere. Capturing it for reuse or sequestration is one of the few genuinely additional decarbonisation moves available to a brewery.
Cork & Capture is a UK-based, portable CO₂ recovery service designed for the same craft brewery segment. We operate as a subscription rather than a capital purchase, are based in Kent, and serve breweries across the UK — including those who have looked at US-built systems and ruled them out on capex, lead time or service support.
Yes. Surplus CO₂ that you cannot reuse on site is collected by us and either resold locally or permanently sequestered. Sequestered tonnes are registered as Verra-certified biogenic carbon credits, with revenue shared back to you.
We work with breweries across the UK on portable, on-site CO₂ recovery. Tell us about your fermentation profile and we’ll size a system that pays back from year one.
