Brewery CO₂ recovery
Cork & Capture is a portable CO₂ recovery system built for craft breweries and commercial brewers. Capture fermentation CO₂, purify it to beverage-grade, and reuse it for carbonation, packaging and tank purging — without the bulk-CO₂ contract, the supply scares, or the bills.
The CO₂ problem
Every batch of beer ferments off roughly 4 kg of CO₂ for every 100 litres in the tank. 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.
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.
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.
Fermentation CO₂ is biogenic and beverage-quality at source. Venting it is a sustainability story your customers will not accept much longer.
4 kg
50%
0 t
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 arrives on a single van-sized vehicle. No civil works, no roof crane, 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 before it goes back into your tanks.
Captured CO₂ goes straight back into carbonation, counter-pressure filling, keg purging and tank purging. 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.
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.
Based in Kent · serving the UK
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.
