6000L Jacketed Concrete Fermentation Tank

A 6,000-liter concrete fermenter enters the conversation when a winery outgrows stainless. Red ferments run hot, barrel programs grow, and there is rarely space or budget for a glycol chiller sized to an open-top bin. We pour this tank as one monolith with an embedded cooling jacket, so the thermal mass of the concrete holds ferment temperature instead of fighting it.

Cooling is 316L stainless tube cast into the wall at roughly two-thirds liquid height, manifolded to a single glycol supply and return. Nothing penetrates the inner surface, so there are no seams for Brett or acetic bacteria to colonize. Contact surfaces are food-grade cement, sealed with either epoxy or paraffin — epoxy if your cellar wants fast caustic-and-acid CIP, paraffin if the winemaker wants the micro-oxygenation concrete is chosen for in the first place.

Every stainless item that touches wine is fabricated in our shop: 316L oval manway, racking valve, sample valve, thermowell and a rotating spray ball. Wetted stainless is welded, pickled and passivated to Ra 0.8 µm or better, then hydro-tested before the tank leaves. Concrete is cured wet for 14 days and neutralized before coating, which is the step most suppliers skip and the reason coated tanks blister in year two.

Typical installations are red fermentation with extended maceration, blending tanks in uninsulated cellars, and anywhere diurnal temperature swing is costing you color and aromatics. Small production houses often pair two 6,000L units with one chiller; larger cellars manifold six to ten tanks on a single loop with individual solenoid control.

Questions we get before every order

Do I need a chiller? Roughly 1.5–2 kW of heat removal at 0°C glycol per tank during peak ferment, so size the chiller on total tank count, not one vessel.

Can it be moved later? A poured tank weighs 8–10 tonnes. Decide the cellar layout first.

How do I clean it? Spray ball with alkaline detergent. Acid CIP only where an epoxy lining has been specified.

Is it pressurizable? No. Concrete tanks ferment at atmospheric pressure; CO2 is handled by a water seal or one-way valve, never a relief valve on a sealed vessel.

Send us your batch size, wine type, tank count and available floor space. We will come back with tank volume, cooling area and the manifold configuration that fits your cellar.