2500L Conical Beer Fermenter with Cooling Jacket

A 2500L fermenter is a size that suits breweries moving out of pilot-scale production but not yet ready for 5000L+ unitanks. At 25HL or roughly 25BBL working capacity, it is often the volume where a brewery starts planning proper fermentation temperature control instead of relying on ambient conditions.

We build these tanks as cone-bottom cylindrically shaped vessels, typically with a 60-degree cone. The cone matters more than most buyers expect. A shallow cone will slow yeast dumping and leave trub sitting on the bottom. Sixty degrees is standard for a reason: it lets yeast slide down during cropping and gives you a clean wort path when you rack or transfer.

Material, Welding and Surface Finish

The inner shell is usually SUS304 on these tanks. We move to SUS316L when the customer is fermenting sours, fruit beers with high acidity, or anything where chloride exposure is possible. The outer shell is typically 304, insulated with polyurethane and clad in stainless.

Welds are full-penetration and ground flush on the product side. After fabrication we pickle and passivate the interior, then polish to around 0.4–0.6 micron Ra on the wetted surface. This is not cosmetic. A rough interior finish holds beer stone and gives bacteria a place to sit. CIP works far better when the surface is smooth and free of weld scale.

Jacket and Temperature Control

These fermenters ship with dimple or channel cooling jackets on the cone and cylinder. The jacket area is sized to the tank volume and the glycol temperature you plan to run. If you are fermenting ales at 18–20°C with a cold room around the tank, the cooling load is modest. If you are crashing a 25HL batch from 20°C to 2°C within 24 hours, the jacket area and glycol flow rate become the limiting factor.

We usually provide a separate jacket zone on the cone and one or two on the cylinder. This lets you pull the cone colder during cropping or hold the cylinder steady while knocking out warm wort.

Pressure, Safety and Fittings

Working pressure is commonly 1.5–2.0 bar. The tank is tested higher, and the safety valve and pressure relief are matched to the design pressure, not the working pressure. This is a point buyers overlook. A 2 bar working tank with a 2 bar relief valve has no margin. We set relief valves above working pressure but below test pressure so the tank can vent before anything yields.

Standard fittings include a racking arm, sample valve, dry hop port, CIP spray ball, pressure gauge, and butterfly valves on the cone outlet. Tri-clamp connections keep the tank modular and easy to strip for cleaning.

Technical Specifications

FAQ

Can one tank handle both ale and lager fermentation?
Yes, provided the jacket area and glycol supply can handle the lager temperature range. Lager fermentation at 10–12°C needs more cooling capacity than ale at 20°C.

Do I need 304 or 316L?
For standard beer production, 304 is fine. For sour programs, high-acid fruit additions, or coastal environments, 316L is the safer choice.

How do I clean the tank?
CIP with a spray ball, caustic then acid, followed by a sanitizer cycle. A smooth interior and full drainage at the cone make this faster and more reliable.

If you are comparing a 25HL fermenter against two smaller tanks, consider your brewhouse batch size and how many turns per day you run. Sizing the fermenter to the brewhouse avoids partial batches and unnecessary transfers. Tell us your batch size, beer type, number of fermentation tanks and available space. We can recommend the tank volume, cooling area and configuration for your brewery.