What are some tips for buying a conical fermenter?

The beer fermentation is the most important step of the beer brewing process, choose a suitable fermenter is also a very important step to help you produce beer. So today, let us talk and give you some tips on how to buy a conical and suitable fermenter.

1. The conical fermenter fermentation way

In fact, a long time ago most people usually use square or rectangle fermentation trough(pond) to produce traditional beer. The equipment volume only in 5-30 m3, at that time the beer production scale is small and the production period is long. As time goes by, in the 1950s, the world economy is developing rapidly. The scale of beer production has also increased. The traditional beer production equipment can‘t meet the need of people produced, so the large capacity of equipment get attention. The large capacity of fermenters means the volume compared with the tradition fermentation equipment. At present, the conical fermenter is the most commonly used fermenter type.
The main body of the conical fermenter is cylindrical, and its bottom is conical, the top is an arc. The tank also has cool and insulation fitting, is fully enclosed fermenter. The conical fermenter can be used to top-fermentation or also be suitable for the bottom-fermentation. Its processing is very convenient.

1. The main specifications for the conical fermenter

If you need to buy a conical fermenter for your beer fermentation process, the following points are you need to know, these are the most basic details of the conical fermenter.

(1) The reason of conical bottom
Fermenters’bottom is conical that is benefit to discharge yeast at any time during the production process.
(2) Cooling equipment
The tank itself has cooling equipment, the benefit to control fermentation temperature. The production process is more easy to control, shorten the fermentation period, beer quality is steady.
(3) Insulation equipment
The outside of the tank has insulation equipment, you can put the tank outdoors, can reduce construction investment, saving floor areas, easy to the extension.
(4)Sealed tank
The fermenter is a sealed tank and its processing under a certain pressure. They can be as fermenters, and also can make as a storage tank.
(5)Control
Fermenter can be controlled by instrument or control cabinet, which is convenient for operation and management.
(6)Cleaning
The tank can use CIP cleaning equipment to clean, easy cleaning.
(7)Capacity
The conical fermenter capacity can adjust according to your requirement, also can be customized.

1. Main elements of choice

(1)Surface and material
The tanks’material can use stainless steel or carbon steel, but if you choose carbon steel, the inner wall of the tank must be coated with a non-toxic coating that has no effect on the taste of the beer. The inner wall of the tank must be smooth and flat, and the inner wall of the stainless steel tank should be polished. The inner wall coating of the carbon steel tank should be uniform, without an uneven surface, and no granular protrusion.

(2)Diameter height ratio
The diameter to height ratio of the tank is usually 1:2 to 1:4, and the total height is better not more than 16m. Generally, the larger diameter height ratio, the stronger the natural convection during fermentation, and the faster the yeast fermentation, but the yeast is not easy to settle and the beer is difficult to clarify.

(3)The angle degree of conical
The conical angle of the tank is generally between 60° and 90°, and is usually 60° to 75° (the stainless steel tank has a common conner angle of 60°, and the carbon steel has a cone angle of 75°) to facilitate the sedimentation and separation of the yeast.

(4) Pressure resistance of the tank
The tank will produce carbon dioxide, and forming tank top pressure during the beer fermentation process. So the fermenters should be equipped with vacuum pressure relief valve. When the carbon dioxide is discharged, the speed of the beer out is too fast, and the carbon dioxide is dissolved during the washing of the fermenter, a negative pressure is generated in the tank, so a vacuum valve must be installed.

(5)Temperature
When controlling the fermentation temperature should be relatively stable, avoiding high and low.
Temperature control is more better done with automatic control.

(6)Cooling jacket and area
Depending on the capacity of the tank, the cooling can be two-sections or three-sections. The cooling area depends on the material of the tank, and the cooling area of ​​the cone bottom should not be too large to prevent the beer from freezing during the wine storage period.

1. The conical tank fermentation craft

(1) fermentation period
It is determined by product type, quality requirements, yeast performance, inoculum size, fermentation temperature, season, etc., generally 12 to 24 days. In general, the fermentation cycle of ordinary beer in summer is short, the fermentation cycle of high-quality beer is long, and the fermentation period in the off-season is appropriately extended.

(2) Tank pressure
It is determined by product type, wort concentration, fermentation temperature, and yeast species. The maximum tank pressure is usually controlled at 0.07 to 0.08 MPa. The highest tank pressure is the maximum fermentation temperature divided by 100 (unit MPa). The use of pressure fermentation can inhibit the proliferation of yeast, reduce the excessive metabolic byproducts caused by the temperature rise, prevent the production of excessive amounts of higher alcohols and esters, and at the same time facilitate the reduction of diacetyl and ensure the carbon dioxide in the beer.
(3) Mashing and material
The quality of raw materials and the effect of mashing should be effectively controlled. The composition of each batch of wort should be uniform. If the composition of each batch of the wort is too large, it will affect the reproduction and fermentation of yeast.

The above we introduced the characteristics of the cone fermenter and some suggestions about the purchase. If you see this article here, thank you for your patience and love. Of course, if you still have questions or suggestions, and you want to tell us,
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