A 300 HL fermenter is not a scaled-up brewpub tank. At 30,000 liters working volume the vessel behaves like structural steel with a stainless interior, and it has to be engineered that way — shell thickness, support legs, shipping splits and foundation loads all change once you pass roughly 100 HL.

We build these as vertical cylinders with a 60° conical bottom, dished top, and dimple-plate jackets on the cone and lower shell. On a tank this size the cooling area is normally split into two or three independently controlled zones so the glycol loop can hold 8–12 °C through high krausen without freezing the cone. Undersized jackets are the most common specification mistake we see on large-tank inquiries; the peak heat load in the first 72 hours of fermentation drives chiller sizing, not the tank volume.

Shell and cone in AISI 304 is our default. We move to 316L for sour programs, or when the vessel doubles as a bright tank and chlorides from cleaning chemicals become a real corrosion risk. Interior welds are ground flush, pickled and passivated, typically to Ra ≤ 0.8 µm, with a finer finish on the cone where yeast packs. Exterior is #4 brushed stainless, or PU-insulated cladding when the tank sits outdoors.

One note on capacity: listings that quote both 300 HL and 300,000 L describe two different vessels — 300 HL is 30,000 L, while 300,000 L is a 3,000 HL tank. Confirm which scale you are specifying before we quote.

Working pressure is usually 0.2–0.3 bar for a unitank, up to 1.5 bar if you plan to carbonate in the vessel. Whatever the figure, the relief valve, manway rating and CIP connection have to be specified as a set. Tanks ordered with 1.5 bar shells and 0.5 bar manways are a recurring problem we end up correcting on site.

Common questions

Can I carbonate in the fermenter? Yes, if the shell, cone and manway are all rated for that pressure. Adding a relief valve to a 0.2 bar tank does not make it a pressure vessel.

How is CIP handled? A 360° spray ball on the top dish, with the cone drain and racking arm as the return path. Rotating spray devices earn their cost above roughly 200 HL.

Do I need a separate bright tank? Not always, but heavy dry hopping or packaging straight from the fermenter usually makes a dedicated conditioning tank pay for itself in clarity and turn time.

Send us your batch size, beer type, number of fermentation tanks and available floor space. We can size the tank volume, cooling area and connection layout for your brewery.