Article by Victor Dalum
On the outskirts of Edinburgh, independent family-run craft brewery Stewart Brewing has built a reputation for brewing award-winning beers while maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability. After installing two DALUM CO₂ Recovery Plants, One in 2022 and another in 2023, the brewery has now reached a remarkable milestone: Recovering 200 tonnes of CO₂ from fermentation.
According to Stewart Brewing, they previously purchased nearly 35 tonnes of CO2 annually for processes such as tank purging, packaging, and dispensing. This reliance brought escalating costs, with prices per tonne increasing from around £250 in 2016 to nearly £1,000 by 2021, a substantial expenditure of over £30,000 annually.
They needed a solution, which had to be cost-effective and align with their business values. This is when they heard about DALUM Beverage Equipment. To Brewers Journal, Stewart Brewing states: “Dalum really understood our needs and worked with us to fully implement the technology,”, also crediting a positive recommendation from Eddie Gadd of Ramsgate Brewery, the UK’s first DALUM CO2 Recovery Plant adopter.
According to Brewers Journal, the Stewart Brewing team are proud to be harvesting and recycling CO2, especially as they were an early adopter of CO2 Recovery in 2022, back when the technology was still quite new. They also see the rewards in having high-quality, sustainable CO2 on tap. The recovered CO2 is 99.9% pure and completely odour- and tasteless.
In July 2026, Stewart Brewing reached a huge milestone, by recovering 200 tons of CO2 with their DALUM CO2 Recovery Plants. DALUM’s proprietary machine software tracks the amount of CO2 recovered, and July 2026, Stewart Brewing joined club 200 along with the likes of Russian River Brewing Company and Svaneke Bryghus. According to a study from University of Winnipeg, recovering 200 tons of CO2 means approximately 400 tonnes of CO₂ emissions have been avoided by capturing and reusing fermentation CO₂ instead of relying on externally supplied gas.
In addition to reducing their environmental impact, the installation of the CO2 Recovery Plants also reduces their dependence on external CO2 suppliers. Where Steward Brewing was previously vulnerable to supply shocks with CO2, seeing price increases of 4x in five years, they now are CO2 independent. This means recovering more than 100% of their CO2 needs with their DALUM CO2 Recovery Plants. Stewart Brewing now recovers more CO₂ than they need for their own production, generating around 17 tonnes of surplus CO₂ each year. This sustainably recovered CO₂ is bottled to cylinder fillers using their DALUM CO2 Cylinder Filling Station, and then sold to local pubs, bars, and restaurants, creating an additional revenue stream while supporting the local hospitality industry.
The investment has also delivered impressive financial results. With annual savings of approximately £26,000 and support from a £50,000 RSA Grant, the brewery achieved a payback period of just three years.
As mentioned above, as Stewart Brewing recovers more than their own production needs, they sell excess CO2, creating a new revenue stream.
Read more on Stewart Brewing Selling Excess CO2 from fermentation.
A huge congratulations to Stewart Brewing for setting the standard in sustainable brewing and demonstrating how innovation and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand. We welcome you to Club 200 and are looking forward to much more CO2 recovered in the future.
