Regardless of the size of the operation, the processes of making wine, lagers, stouts, ales, and IPAs requires the careful regulation of your brewing and fermenting environment. The fermentation stage is particularly critical to the outcome of the brew as any adverse temperature levels (too high or too low), can ruin a batch altering the final flavors and aromas, resulting in a poor brew.

To prevent the exposure of a fermentation mix to undesirable temperature levels, brewers typically attempt to actively cool the process. For breweries producing their beverages on a larger scale, the most effective way of ensuring optimal temperature regulation is using fermentation cooling jackets combined with brewery chillers or winery glycol chillers.

Importance of a Temp-controlled Fermenter

Winemaking is an extremely sensitive process that requires strict temperature control within a narrow range of values. The typical wine fermentation temperature is between 40oF to 80oF. Keeping brewing conditions for larger fermentation vats within this narrow range is usually difficult to achieve with simple cooling fans and tubs. In these instances, temp-controlled fermenters are a better choice.

Approaches to Cooling Fermentation Vessels

Cooling a fermentation vessel can be achieved by using a cooling device submerged in the fermenting liquid or externally using a fermenter cooling jacket.

Internally Cooled Fermentation Vessels

In some instances, cooling rods or coils can be introduced directly into the brewing fluid to maintain the desired temperatures. While this technique is relatively cheaper and easy to set up, it has significant drawbacks.

To begin with, introducing an immersion chiller or plate chiller into fermenting wine increased the chances of exposing the brew to microorganisms and rapid oxidation which will alter the flavors. Also, internal cooling significantly diminishes chilling efficiency. Unequal cooling of the fermentation vat will result in the formation of hot and cold spots with uneven fermentation.

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