A brewery usually outgrows its first fermenter long before it outgrows the brewhouse. That is when sizing gets awkward: too small and you are racking beer mid-fermentation just to free a tank, too large and one batch ties up your glycol loop for days. We build insulated fermenters from 300 L to 3000 L, and the honest answer is rarely the biggest vessel that fits through the door.

What the tank is really doing

Fermentation is a heat problem before it is a flavor problem. A 15 °Plato ale working hard can dump several kilowatts of heat into the cone and lower cylinder, and if that heat is not pulled out, you get diacetyl, fusel notes and a stalled finish. Our dimple jacket covers the cone and the lower third of the cylinder, fed with glycol at roughly -4 °C. Cone angle is 60° as standard; 90° when you want easier yeast cropping or you are running high-gravity worts with heavy trub.

Materials and fabrication

Shell and jacket in 304 covers clean ale and lager work. We move to 316L for sour programs, heavily fruited beers, or sites with aggressive water — chloride stress cracking around welds is not something you want to find in year three. Interior welds are ground, finish is Ra ≤ 1.6 µm as standard and ≤ 0.8 µm on request for yeast recovery. Vessels are pickled and passivated after welding, and the jacket and inner vessel are pressure tested separately before insulation goes on. That order matters: chasing a leak through 80 mm of polyurethane is expensive.

Fittings, CIP and connections

A 360° spray ball sits in the manway, so the tank cleans itself with the lid closed. Racking arm above the cone, sample valve, dry-hop port on the top dish, 1.5 in or 2 in tri-clamp throughout. Keep glycol, CIP and product lines separate — sharing a return line is a common shortcut that shows up later as contamination.

Typical configurations

• 300–600 L: pilot and taproom systems, 2–4 vessels, single glycol loop
• 1000–2000 L: 10–20 bbl weekly output, dedicated CIP skid recommended
• 3000 L: production brewing, usually paired with a bright beer tank

Specifications

Questions we get before orders

Can I carbonate in it? Yes, within the rated pressure. Check that your relief valve is sized for the highest pressure the jacket can see, not just the vessel.

How many tanks do I need? Plan on at least three per strain to keep a rotation going without slowing fermentation.

Do I need a separate CIP tank? Above 1000 L, yes. Manual cleaning rarely reaches the top dish properly.

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.