Why Every Craft Brewery Needs An Industrial Carbon Dioxide Gas Detector In 2025

Craft brewery, an independent place that makes limited yet some of the best beers around the world. If you want to know what symbolizes a craft brewery, think of the rich fragrance of malt and hops, the sound of bubbling, and the aroma of fermentation. However, there is a byproduct of these processes that can cause severe damage to your and your staff’s health. 

This byproduct is carbon dioxide, which is used for carbonation and flavor. Why is this a problem? Because it is heavier than air and can replace oxygen. This can create hazardous pockets in the atmosphere of your facility and can be life-threatening. This is just one reason why you should install an industrial carbon dioxide gas detector (or monitor) in your facility. Read on to know more about it. 

Sources, Behavior, and Exposure Limits of CO2 In The Brewery

Brewing is a biological process that is carefully carried out. The main part of brewing is fermentation, in which sugar is turned into alcohol and carbon dioxide. You can’t exclude CO2 from this process because it is an important element of beer. However, the fact that excessive levels of CO2 can be a safety hazard within the brewery environment can’t be ignored. First, let’s talk about the sources. 

Primary CO2​ Generation & Accumulation Points

The fermentation vessels (FVs/Unitanks) are the initial source where CO2 gas is found in high volumes. In the beer brewing process, yeast breaks down sugar, and as this is done, a lot of CO2 is released. This gas is gathered inside these FVs or Unitanks. Ideally, it is supposed to exit through blow-off tubes, but when the tubes are blocked, the tank can burst, and if the tubes leak, the gas will accumulate in the facility. 

After fermentation, beer is in the BBTs for controlled injection of pure CO2​ gas through carbonation stones or diffusion systems. This is in a closed system, but leakage in fittings, valves, pressure gauges, and PRDs can cause CO2​ collection over time. 

In the packaging (bottling, canning, kegging), CO2​ is used to cleanse oxygen out of these containers. During this process, CO2 is released into the ambient air. This area can be a high-volume source of CO2. The Glycol Chiller Rooms & Cold Rooms have cooler temperatures and limited ventilation in the storage. Since CO2 is denser when cold, it is likely to settle in these spaces. 

Besides, you can also find high volumes of carbon dioxide gas in confined spaces like basements, cellars, sumps, pits, trench drains, etc. These are some important places where installing an industrial carbon dioxide gas detector (or monitor) becomes a necessity.

How CO2 Behaves

If CO2 is in liquid form, it has a strong tendency to expand when vaporized, with an enormous expansion ratio. This means 1 volume of liquid CO2​ at −18°C expands to approximately 530 volumes of gas at 0°C and 1 atm. A small liquid form can turn into a large gaseous form of CO2. 

CO2​ is denser than air, so it does not mix with ambient air. Instead, it settles in low-lying areas so that when a person enters this area, they might initially breathe normal air, and later breathe an oxygen-deficient CO2​ layer. This is called stratification. 

CO2​ Exposure Limits & Acute Effects

Based on OSHA’s Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL), the maximum allowable average concentration of exposure over an 8-hour work shift is 5,000 parts per million (ppm). This Time-Weighted Average (TWA) sets the limit for what employees can safely be exposed to during a typical workday.

As per NIOSH’s Recommended Exposure Limit (REL), 5,000 ppm TWA; 30,000 ppm Short-Term Exposure Limit (STEL) over 15 minutes. The STEL addresses acute effects from short, high-level exposures.

According to the IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health), the limitations are 40,000 ppm (4% by volume). This is the concentration that poses an immediate threat to life. 

Therefore, companies like GasDog offer CO2 gas detectors configured with these exposure limits to avoid any health damage in craft breweries. 

Responses

• At 1,000−2,000 ppm, symptoms may include mild drowsiness, headaches, and a slight increase in respiratory rate (air hunger). 
• At 5,000 ppm (OSHA PEL), symptoms include difficulty concentrating, increased breathing rate and heart rate, and impaired judgment.
• At 10,000−20,000 ppm, the symptoms become more severe with dizziness, nausea, vomiting, increases in heart rate (tachycardia) and respiration (tachypnea), and visual distortion. 
• At 30,000−40,000 ppm (NIOSH STEL / approaching IDLH), it gets extremely dangerous. Your workers will experience severe headaches, mental confusion, loss of coordination, rapid and labored breathing, and extreme discomfort. They will eventually get unconscious. 
• At >40,000 ppm (Exceeding IDLH), it can cause rapid loss of consciousness, convulsions, coma, and ultimately, death.

Industrial Carbon Dioxide Gas Detector (Or Monitor) Is A Necessity in 2025

Industrial safety is important to mitigate unseen hazards. Places like craft breweries have CO2 as both a valuable element and a life-threatening hazard. In these circumstances, you just need modern solutions for detection with real-time sensing technology. This is possible with purpose-built industrial carbon dioxide gas detectors. 

Reason 1 – To Identify and Mitigate The Unseen Hazards

As we know, CO2​ is a hurdle in industrial safety because it can’t be identified by our senses. Yes, the nature of CO2 is that it is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. Humans can’t rely on their nose or eyes to detect a leak or dangerous accumulation. Besides the high density, it gives it an edge to hide itself in low-lying areas of your brewing facility. Therefore, an industrial CO2​ detector is designed and programmed to detect this excessive accumulation before it is too late. 

Reason 2 – To Handle The Usage And Risks Of CO2 In Craft Brewery

In a brewery, CO2​ has a dual nature. On one hand, it is used as a fundamental element for fermentation, carbonation, and packaging. On the other hand, its leakage and accumulation can cause health hazards. Its usage means it is everywhere in your facility (tanks, lines, and cylinders). Therefore, an industrial carbon dioxide gas detector (or monitor) helps you use it safely while keeping your exposure in check. 

Reason 3 – To Use For Real-Time Sensing Before It’s Late

When we are running a craft brewery facility, it is our responsibility as the managing bodies to protect and ensure the safety of our workers. In the past, facilities were using inadequate and reactive ways to detect CO2 exposure. This meant waiting for the symptoms (dizziness or shortness of breath) to appear in the affected working staff. 

This was an utter gamble with human lives. In some cases, they even use intermittent testing equipment that could only give you a brief picture of conditions. But today, such approaches are simply unacceptable by law. A modern, responsible craft brewery should implement advanced solutions as a commitment to proactive safety. This is where a modern industrial carbon dioxide gas detector becomes indispensable. 

Devices like the Industrial Fixed Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Gas Detector are a necessity that offer real-time sensing technology. The management should have continuous and instant monitoring of CO2 levels throughout the facility. Simply installing the sensors strategically under the guidance of a professional will help in detecting unseen leaks or dangerous accumulations. In fact, the moment the threat begins, detectors will trigger immediate alerts that provide your team with enough time to evacuate and respond safely.

Reason 4 – To Ensure Operational Soundness And Compliance

The immediate safety of the workers is the priority of modern brewery management and also a key aspect of operational soundness. In fact, these kinds of threats are undetectable and invisible and impose a direct danger to both our human capital and our bottom line. For example, if the CO2 leak is undetected and any employee is injured, the entire production shuts down. This can further cause disruptions like costly emergency responses and reputational damage.

Therefore, authorities require industries to install modern safety systems like these detectors to offer a healthy and resilient operational environment. Since a craft brewery is a relatively small and independent business structure, you can’t afford to be negligent in safety. This negligence can inflict irreparable damage to your brewery’s hard-earned reputation, eroding customer trust and impacting future business.

In fact, authorities like the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declare it mandatory with clear requirements for air quality and gas exposure in industrial facilities, and breweries are no exception. OSHA’s standards, such as 29 CFR 1910.1000 (Air Contaminants), establish Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) for CO2​, notably 5,000 ppm as an 8-hour Time-Weighted Average (TWA). They also set a Short-Term Exposure Limit (STEL) of 30,000 ppm over 15 minutes. 

Areas with the potential for CO2​ buildup, especially confined spaces like fermentation vessels or walk-in coolers (covered by 29 CFR 1910.146 – Permit-Required Confined Spaces), require strict atmospheric monitoring before and during entry. If you fail to comply with these regulations, you will face substantial fines, legal liabilities, and mandatory operational changes.

Why CO₂ Detectors Are Essential in Today’s Craft Breweries

The craft brewery industries are known for its innovative ways and passion for authentic flavors. However, this passion is not without inherent risks. Today, CO2 gas detectors are mandatory and an important safety system for the safety of brewery facilities. If you want to upgrade your craft brewery’s safety standards, you have to invest in industrial CO2​ detection technology.