This session covers three cost saving benefits nitrogen can bring to your brewery. You’ll learn how onsite generated nitrogen can replace CO2 in processes like tank purging, beer transfers, and packaging line pressure, cutting your CO2 costs directly. We’ll also cover where nitrogen can’t replace CO2, like carbonation, and why that matters. This same shift reduces your carbon footprint and builds more self-sufficiency by reducing dependence on outside gas suppliers.
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What This Session Covers
This session explores how nitrogen can be integrated into brewery operations to reduce costs and improve certain processes traditionally handled with carbon dioxide (CO₂). For taproom operators and brewery owners, understanding the practical differences and applications of nitrogen versus CO₂ is essential for optimizing gas usage, controlling expenses, and potentially improving beer quality and shelf life.
Key Talking Points
- [02:30] Historical Context: Arthur Guinness pioneered the use of nitrogen in brewing in the 1950s to create distinct mouthfeel and cascading bubbles, setting nitrogenated beers apart from traditional CO₂-carbonated ones.
- [03:31] Nitrogen Characteristics: Nitrogen produces smaller bubbles than CO₂, resulting in a smoother texture and unique visual appeal (cascading effect), which enhances the drinking experience beyond traditional carbonation.
- [05:29] Fermentation Byproducts & Carbonation: Alcohol and CO₂ are natural fermentation byproducts. However, in North America, most beers are artificially carbonated post-fermentation to meet consumer expectations of CO₂ levels, which vary by beer style.
- [07:11] Oxygen’s Dual Role: Oxygen is necessary to start fermentation but harmful afterward because it degrades beer quality, shortens shelf life, diminishes carbonation, and causes off-flavors. Removing oxygen from tanks before filling is crucial.
- [08:54] CO₂ Uses Beyond Carbonation: Besides carbonation, CO₂ is widely used for inerting and blanketing tanks to protect beer from oxygen exposure during transfer and storage.
- [11:03] Nitrogen Applications in Brewing: Nitrogen can be used for multiple processes usually done with CO₂, including pushing product through lines, purging tanks, and transferring beer, offering an option to reduce CO₂ dependency.
- [12:11] Benefits of Nitrogen Generation Onsite: Nitrogen can be generated onsite from atmospheric air (78% nitrogen content), making it an economical and sustainable alternative to purchasing CO₂, reducing reliance on deliveries while lowering carbon footprints.
- [13:18] Cost Savings Potential: Breweries that adopt nitrogen generation systems often see at least 50% cost savings compared to CO₂ purchases, with well-sized systems potentially achieving net-zero gas costs.
- [14:45] Augmentation vs. Replacement: Nitrogen isn’t typically used to fully replace CO₂, due to consumer preferences and beer style expectations. Instead, it is an augmentation, reducing CO₂ use in certain steps where nitrogen is adequate.
- [17:00] Infrastructure Considerations: Not all breweries can adopt nitrogen generation immediately; sufficient existing compressed air capacity is required, and each brewery must assess feasibility and cost.
- [18:39] Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Impact: Switching to nitrogen does not negatively affect dissolved oxygen levels because both gases serve to prevent oxygen exposure in the product.
- [19:07] Financing Options: Liberty Systems partners with finance companies to make nitrogen systems accessible without large upfront costs, aiming for brewers to achieve monthly savings equal to financing payments.
- [20:10] Practical Tips on Nitrogen Use: Because nitrogen is less dense than CO₂, breweries should pipe nitrogen in at the tank bottom instead of the top for effective purging and blanketing.
Action Items
- Evaluate your current CO₂ usage to identify processes (such as tank inerting, purging, and product transfer) where nitrogen could be introduced to offset CO₂ consumption. [11:03]
- Assess your existing compressed air system’s capacity to determine if it can support an onsite nitrogen generator, which is essential for cost savings with nitrogen production. [17:00]
- Contact Liberty Systems or a similar provider to request a consultation on nitrogen generation tailored to your brewery size and production needs, including analysis of potential savings. [15:25]
- Explore financing options for nitrogen generator installation to minimize or eliminate upfront capital expenditures, aligning payments to cost savings on CO₂ purchases. [18:39]
- Adjust your tank purging procedures when switching to nitrogen by introducing gas at the tank bottom rather than the top to maximize oxygen displacement efficiency. [20:10]
- Monitor dissolved oxygen (DO) levels after implementing nitrogen to ensure beer quality remains consistent and oxygen exposure is properly controlled. [18:39]
- Stay informed on local grants or sustainability programs that might subsidize nitrogen system costs as part of green initiatives in the brewing industry. [16:54]