The cutting edge of microbrewing: Alaskan Brewing is the first microbrewery in the nation to use a carbon dioxide recovery system.

• Author: Rowley, Leanne S.

What do a microbrewery in Juneau and a microbrewery in Antigua have in common besides great beer and a good view? Both regard recycling as a serious economic aspect of doing business.

Since April, Juneau's Alaskan Brewing Co. has been recovering and recycling the carbon dioxide used during brewing. Using the Wittemann C[O.sup.2] Recovery system, Alaskan Brewing is able to eliminate the high cost of the C[O.sup.2] necessary for the brewing process, a cost compounded by Juneau's isolation. An added bonus, and one equal in importance to Alaskan Brewing, is the reduction of C[O.sup.2] emissions into the atmosphere. C[O.sup.2] emissions contribute to ozone depletion, resulting in global warming.

Until recently, C[O.sup.2] recovery technology was only available to large alcohol distribution companies like Bacardi and Budweiser. These companies, and others of their size, manufacture and recover C[O.sup.2] during the fermentation stage, often salvaging enough C[O.sup.2] to sell as a product in itself. Bacardi, who uses C[O.sup.2] during the distilling process, is the largest supplier of C[O.sup.2] in the Caribbean.

Since C[O.sup.2] is such a versatile commodity, it is used in all its forms - gas, liquid, and solid - in a variety of industries, such as frozen food processing and shipping, firefighting, and oil and gas production. Microbreweries have been competing with these mega-industries for their C[O.sup.2] needs. An experimental compact version of the recovery system used by larger breweries has made it possible for companies like Alaskan Brewing to recover, recycle and supply their own C[O.sup.2].

Alaskan Brewing is the first microbrewery in the U.S. to install a C[O.sup.2] recovery system. Until April, Alaskan Brewing...