Fermentation is the key to opening the door to the deliciousness of beer. From sweet wort to mellow beer, fermentation can cleverly convert sugar into alcohol, giving the beer a unique flavor and soul. Today, let’s talk about the crucial fermentation link in beer brewing, and how modern technology and fermentation equipment can help us brew better beer.
The history of indoor and outdoor fermentation
The quality of fermentation will have a profound impact on the final product. Proper fermentation can produce complex flavors and brew smooth and balanced beer. However, if fermentation is not correct, it may cause odor, poor carbonation, and poor quality beer. If you want to brew good beer, it is crucial to configure the right Fermenter. Since the 1960s, beer producers around the world have begun to widely adopt large-scale open-air cone-bottom Fermenter (conical tank for short) fermentation technology on the basis of traditional technology in order to expand production scale and reduce investment. At present, new and renovated breweries have adopted open-air cone Fermenter, marking an important step towards modernization of the beer industry.
Intelligent design of Fermenter
The design of Tiantai’s Fermenter reflects the perfect combination of science and technology. The cone angle is between 60° and 90°. As a byproduct of the fermentation process, the residue composed of waste yeast, protein, and other solids will settle at the bottom of the Fermenter after fermentation. The design of the conical bottom can minimize the disturbance of the beer when removing the lees and recovering the yeast mud. The smaller the cone angle, the more effective the sedimentation process. When fermenting beer with a conical Fermenter, the loss of bitter substances can be reduced by 10% by the bottom fermentation method, while the top fermentation method can reduce it by 20%. The higher the Fermenter tank, the stronger the natural convection of the beer in the tank, and it is easy to form stirring fermentation. The height design of the tank is also a science. Tiantai’s Fermenter will design the optimal height and diameter-to-height ratio according to the process requirements. During the fermentation process, temperature control should not be underestimated. Indirect cooling is used for cooling. The cooling capacity can meet the process cooling requirements. Ethanol or ethylene glycol is used as the refrigerant. The temperature in the tank is adjusted through the cooling jacket composed of Miller plates to ensure a stable fermentation environment. The column part of the tank is equipped with 2 to 3 cooling jackets. According to the needs of the process, different cooling jackets are opened to cool the liquor to achieve a significant cooling effect. The finish of the inner surface of the Fermenter is very important. It should be as smooth and smooth as possible to prevent microorganisms from surviving on the surface. The size of yeast cells is about 6~10μm. Yeast cells can no longer enter the material treated by the roller. However, the size of bacteria is only 0.7~4μm. In the rough part of the tank wall, bacteria may breed inside, causing pollution. Therefore, polishing the surface inside the tank is extremely important, which also involves the treatment of welds. Tiantai’s Fermenter is made of food-grade stainless steel, pickled and passivated as a whole, and polished to 0.2~0.4μm without dead angles inside, ensuring the quality of the finished beer and reducing the pressure of cleaning and sterilization. The beer fermentation process is a key step in producing high-quality beer. It has a significant impact on the taste, aroma, and overall quality of the finished product. By selecting high-quality fermentation equipment and closely monitoring the fermentation process, high-quality and delicious beer can be produced.
Accessories of conical tanks
In modern breweries, fermentation has been automated based on many advanced instruments and equipment and the popular application of microcomputers. In order to facilitate the management and operation of the fermentation process, conical tanks generally need to be equipped with the following accessories: positive pressure protection valve, negative pressure protection valve, CIP cleaning device, thermometer, pressure gauge or pressure sensor, liquid level display, liquid level probe, sampling device, inspection manhole, pipe connection, and valve.
Most breweries use multi-way pipe connection plates. On the multi-way pipe connection plate, due to the use of movable arched connecting pipes, only a few handles are needed to connect the desired pipes. The connection system can be opened or closed by manual butterfly valves or automatically controlled butterfly valves. Over time, the sealing of the valve will deteriorate, so oxygen must be isolated. Because once oxygen is absorbed, it will inevitably decline in quality. In addition, if the cleaning alkali solution enters the beer, it will cause huge losses. Therefore, all measures must be taken to avoid losses. In order to ensure high sanitation and safety, people are increasingly using double-seat valves. In particular, for pure draft beer with high quality requirements, most companies have adopted this advanced, highly automated double-seat valve to replace butterfly valves and pipe connection plates, ensuring cleaning and achieving clean production. Double-seat valves have the following characteristics: ① With leakage identification function. ② No sanitary dead corners during cleaning. ③ Materials are not easy to mix, and the mixed liquid can be discharged. ④ Automatic control.
With the improvement of beer technology, the requirements for beer equipment automation have also increased, among which valve array control is an important technology to improve equipment automation. The valve array is to connect multiple double-seat valves with pneumatic devices to pipelines to form a system for automatic control. The entire fully automatic system not only controls the flow path of the product and cleaning liquid but also automatically controls and monitors the entire production process. The entire fermentation workshop is completely enclosed and no manual operation is required, but production technicians should always observe and control every link of production in front of the computer. The disadvantage of the valve array is that the one-time investment is large. If you want to reduce the investment, you can use a semi-automatic system, such as a takeover plate plus an automatic control butterfly valve, which also requires less manpower. In order to prevent accidents, the tank top platform can facilitate the maintenance of various components and reduce the impact of Fermenter on the quality of finished beer.
In short, beer fermentation is an extremely complex subject. From the theoretical knowledge of fermentation technology to the ingenious design and automated management of Fermenter, every step reflects the high pursuit of brewing technology and beer quality. At Tiantai, we are committed to improving the most advanced and efficient equipment and technology. Whether it is a tavern or a large brewery, when choosing Fermenter, we must consider a variety of factors. If you have beer equipment needs, please contact Tiantai.
