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Quotes - Engineering - SalesJACKETED TANK COOLING
Holding Yeast
Inside Its Profile
Fermentation is an exothermic reaction - the tank generates its own heat, and the Advantage glycol chiller's job is to pull it back out fast enough.
As yeast converts sugar to alcohol and CO2, the fermenter generates heat on its own, and left alone, tank temperature will climb well past the range a given yeast strain tolerates. A glycol solution circulated through the fermenter's cooling jacket pulls that heat out and holds the batch inside its fermentation profile - often a tighter window during active fermentation than during the rest of the process.
Because fermentation heat load rises and falls as the batch progresses, the Advantage chiller and glycol loop need to be sized for the heaviest moment in the cellar schedule - every working tank at peak fermentation plus any crash cooling running at the same time - not an average across the whole cycle, and most breweries and wineries run several jacketed vessels off one shared glycol loop rather than a chiller per tank.
- Jacketed tank cooling holds yeast temperature through an exothermic fermentation
- Overlapping fermentation peaks and crashes, not the average load, size the loop
- Shared glycol loops commonly serve multiple fermenters from one chiller
A glycol solution is standard here even though ale and lager setpoints sit well above freezing: the loop runs at 25-30°F so it can crash a tank toward 32°F and hold bright tanks and serving lines cold, and plain water pumped that cold would freeze inside the chiller. See Glycol Chillers for indoor and outdoor packages sized to fermentation-scale heat loads.
Request a QuoteSizing Fermentation Cooling
Fermentation heat is metabolic, not mechanical - it's generated by the culture itself, and it varies through the fermentation cycle rather than holding flat. Most fermentation cooling calls for jacket or coil cooling on the vessel, sized to the peak heat output near the middle of the cycle rather than the average across the whole run. In a brewery, the crash at the end of the cycle usually asks for more than that peak, so the crash schedule belongs in the sizing too.
Where a plant runs multiple fermentation vessels on staggered schedules, the chiller sees a rolling load rather than one flat peak - worth flagging when you send us the vessel count and schedule, since it can change whether one central chiller or several smaller Advantage units makes more sense.
Send Us
- Vessel volume and jacket/coil area
- Required fermentation temperature and peak metabolic heat output
- Crash and bright tank temperatures, and how many hours a crash may take
- Number of vessels and whether schedules overlap
- Indoor or outdoor installation
TYPICAL RANGES BY FERMENTATION TYPE
| Process Type | Leaving Fluid Temp | Load Profile | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm/ambient fermentation | 45-55°F | Batch, moderate peak | Water at 48°F and up, or low-% glycol |
| Cold fermentation | 25-30°F | Batch, high mid-cycle peak, then crash | 30-35% inhibited propylene glycol |
| Multi-vessel staggered schedule | Varies by vessel | Rolling, overlapping peaks | Central system common above 3-4 vessels |
Your culture, vessel size and target cycle time will land the leaving fluid temperature somewhere inside these bands, rarely at the midpoint.
Call and talk it through with an engineer: 1-805-484-2992.
Cellar load questions from brewers and winemakers
Call and talk it through with an engineer: 1-805-484-2992
