Application Note: The Truth About CO2 In Beverages

With many commercially available CO₂ meters, the first step in dissolved carbon dioxide analysis is snifting, which means briefly opening and closing the container. Snifting will release most of the air in the head space to the ambience. This amount of CO₂ is lost for the subsequent measurement. The CO₂ losses due to snifting can be quite considerable.

The warmer the samples and the larger the headspace, the higher the CO₂ losses. As CarboQC determines the amount of dissolved CO₂ as well as the amount of other dissolved gases, snifting becomes obsolete.

Combination of a CarboQC with a PFD Piercing and Filling Device allows direct sampling from a beverage container, be it a glass bottle, PET bottle or can.

When it comes to dissolved carbon dioxide determination in beverages, many commercially available CO₂ meters measure the sum of all dissolved gases and attribute the result to carbon dioxide solely, thus obtaining erroneously high results.