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Hey guys. I'm very green to large scale brewing. I know cot plays a big role in many brewhaus functions and does many different jobs. The question is where dies it all come from? My operation will be small; 5bbl or smaller. Do I need a co2 generator? Should I buy big ol' co2 tanks? And with this much co2 floating around all the time, what are the guidelines on ventilation? Anything would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
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Go Bulk
Unless there is something new and cool on the market, CO2 generator isn't within reach at 5 bbls. If you're going to run Nitrogen beers I would recommend a nitrogen generator. Most breweries have a bulk CO2 tank, which I would highly recommend. We lease so there isn't a huge upfront cost, and they fill it automatically, so we don't really need to worry about it running out. They should be able to help you size it as well, and make sure it can feed at your demand rate. We started with 50lb tanks, and swapping them out is a PITA. Our bulk tank is also outside, whereas our small tanks were inside.
Originally posted by kinsmenbrewer View Post -
We use NUCO2 they should be able to supply you with everything you need and they will install it for "free" but, its like a 5 year contract. They have different sizes of bulk tanks depending on your demandOriginally posted by kinsmenbrewer View PostMike Eme
BrewmasterComment
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For a 5 bbl brewery, 50 lb cans of compressed CO2 should be fine. There are limits on how fast you can draw CO2 from a 50 lb can, too fast and it "snows up", meaning the liquid CO2 has become dry ice. When this happens, it can take hours or a day for the dry ice to convert back to liquid CO2--so have more than one can on hand, just in case.
Bulk tanks--Dewar flasks--combined with a vaporizer don't have this limitation, but for 5 bbl, you should be able to run just fine on the 50 lb cans. Just go a bit slow when blowing down a fermenter.
A bulk set-up takes up space, and, if you're not using CO2 a fair rate, you'll lose more from "blow-off" than you use. Dewar flasks are self-refrigerating, using a small leakage of CO2 to keep them at cryogenic temps inside, and this leakage uses CO2. If the flasks get too warm and the pressure inside exceeds about 300 psi, they'll blow off gas (violently and loudly) until the pressure has dropped below 300 psi. "Too warm" inside a CO2 Dewar is above about -75 C.Timm Turrentine
Brewerywright,
Terminal Gravity Brewing,
Enterprise. Oregon.Comment
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Thanks guys. Big help for sure! Anything on ventilation?Comment
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The biggest worry about CO2 build-up should be in your fermenter hall from the CO2 produced during fermentation. CO2 is considerably denser than air, so the thing to look for is low areas of "dead air" where the CO2 can pool. With adequate ventilation, and maybe some forced ventilation to prevent pooling, you shouldn't have any problems.
The are many "CO2 monitors" to be found on the internet. These may not be accurate enough for technical purposes, but should be able to ease your mind or let you know you should worry. Just be sure it's a CO2 monitor, not CO--places like Amazon don't seem to know the difference.Timm Turrentine
Brewerywright,
Terminal Gravity Brewing,
Enterprise. Oregon.Comment
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Great to know tgtimm. Thank youComment
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