Why a square tank instead of a round one

Cylindrical fermenters are the default, but they waste floor space in a crowded cellar. An IBC-shaped vessel with flat side walls can be pushed against a wall or lined up in tight rows, which is often the difference between fitting four tanks in a room or only three. We build these in 1000L, 1500L and 2000L working volumes, with dimple cooling jackets on the side panels and, when the must level allows it, on the bottom.

Materials, welds and finish

Shells are 304 stainless as standard, 3mm on the larger bodies so the panels do not oil-can under load. For high-acid must or long maceration, 316L is the better call and we quote it without argument. Interior welds are ground, pickled and passivated; the exterior gets either a No.4 brushed finish or a matte pickled surface depending on whether the tank sits in a showroom or a working cellar. Dimple jacket plates are resistance-welded to the shell, and the dimple pattern matters more than raw jacket area — a denser pattern gives better heat transfer per square meter of wall.

Pressure, cooling and cleaning

These are low-pressure vessels. Working pressure is typically 0.2–0.5 bar with a sized relief valve or airlock on the top; the jacket circuit is rated higher, usually around 3 bar. Never dead-head a jacket and never blank off the relief. A 400mm or 500mm top manway with a food-grade EPDM or silicone gasket gives access for punch-down and manual cleaning, and we can add a rotating spray ball with a 1.5in tri-clamp inlet if you want CIP. Coolant connections are 1in or 1.5in tri-clamp, with the inlet low and the outlet high so the jacket fills completely.

Typical configurations

Questions we get before an order

Can I ferment reds and whites in the same tank? Yes, but tell us the must temperature range. White fermentations run colder, so the jacket area needs to be larger for the same volume.

Do I need a cone bottom? For reds on skins, a flat or slightly sloped bottom with a side drain works fine. A cone helps if you plan to dump lees or run the tank as a settling vessel.

How do I connect cooling, CIP and racking? Give us a line drawing or a photo of the existing loop. Matching tri-clamp sizes and valve positions up front avoids adapters later.

Small winery versus commercial cellar? Small operations usually want 1000L units they can move with a pallet jack. Commercial cellars should size the jacket for the coldest coolant they can actually supply, not the coldest the chiller claims.

Tell us your batch size, grape or must type, number of tanks and available floor space. We can recommend the tank volume, jacket area and port layout that fits your cellar.