Category: Brewery

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Brewery

6 Calculations to Determine the Right-Sized Brewery Chiller

Female craft brewer standing between vats and examining beer sample in glass.

As we covered in a previous article on factors to consider in your brewery chiller selection, it’s critical to choose the right-sized system for your brewery’s unique needs. Too-small chillers can’t achieve desired glycol temperatures, and too-large ones can’t meet desired refrigerant requirements. Taking a just-right approach is the secret to keeping your brewing processes cool – and your brew flowing smoothly.

So, what’s the best-sized brewery chiller for you? Much of it comes down to these six calculations:

  1. Beer volume (BBL)
  2. Pull-down/crashing loads
  3. Active fermentation heat load
  4. Wort heat exchanger secondary heat load
  5. Brite tank holding load
  6. Heat loss compensation

Read more on these six calculations to determine the right-sized brewery chiller for your operation below.

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Brewery

The Importance of Scalability When Buying a Brewery Chiller

closeup of hop flowers on a hop vine

According to the Brewers Association (BA), US small and independent brewers rebounded from pandemic lows with 8% growth last year, and the number of craft breweries reached an all-time high. If you’re one of the many new or growth-oriented breweries hunting for a chiller to keep your brewing processes cool, this article is for you. We’ll explain the importance of scalability in your purchasing decision and highlight a few brewery chiller features that can accommodate your future expansion plans.

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Brewery

Brewery Chiller System Design and Operation Tips from Our Pros

close-up of condensation, head of freshly poured beer in a glass

When designing a brewery chiller system capable of helping you produce batch after batch of noteworthy brews, it takes a strategic approach to ensure it will meet the unique needs of your operation. An intelligent chiller system design will also ensure your unit operates effectively and reliably to keep your brewing processes cool. Whether you need industrial-grade chilling for wort cooling, brite tank temperature control, fermentation, crash cooling, product storage, or another brewing process, it’s essential to design your system so that it works for you.

In this article, we’ll share our top brewery chiller system design and operation tips to keep your fans coming back pour after pour, starting with hints for integrating a chiller into your brewery.

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Brewery

6 Factors to Consider in Your Brewery Chiller Selection

Gloved brewery employee pouring beer into pint glass from chilled tank

If you’re looking for a brewery chiller, there are several factors to consider, each one critical for choosing the best option for your budget, operation, and goals. You may have caught a few of them in our previous blog post on what to look for in a chiller. That article outlined the importance of features, such as industrial-grade performance, consistent temperature control, year-round operation, capacity modulation, customizable controls, and energy efficiency options.

If you’re looking to explore more about brewery chiller selection beyond these essentials, this post is for you. In it, we’ll explore six additional considerations to factor into your chiller selection decision, including:

  1. Chiller size
  2. Expansion plans
  3. Redundancy
  4. Temperature sensitivity
  5. Unit location
  6. Building requirements

Keep reading to dive deeper into what you need to know about brewery chiller selection.

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Brewery Cannabis Chiller Systems Food processing Industrial Chillers Medical

8 Industrial Chiller Applications

8 Industrial Chiller Applications

Industrial chillers use process cooling to funnel heat away from industrial equipment to keep it going strong. Whether air- or water-cooled, their hard-working and high-performance capabilities provide the ideal cooling solution for many industrial chiller applications:  

  1. Beer brewing
  2. Dairy milk processing
  3. Food processing
  4. Medical equipment
  5. Cannabis extraction
  6. Refrigeration
  7. Low-temperature applications
  8. Industrial manufacturing

Keep reading to learn more about how industrial chillers keep process equipment cool in these applications.

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Brewery

Chestnut Hill Brewing Co. Doubled Operations Thanks to Custom Drake Chiller Solutions

Chestnut Hill Brewing Co. Custom Chiller and brite tanks

Located in Philadelphia at Market at the Fareway, Chestnut Hill Brewing Co. is a popular microbrewery with a taproom and beer garden currently offering approximately eight draft beers and delicious food to their loyal patrons. Owner and brewer, Nick Gunderson, prides himself on inventing and creating an ever-evolving lineup of small-batch beer made from fresh ingredients. His favorite beer they offer? Chestnut Hill’s very own west-coast style IPA.

A couple years ago, Nick decided it was time to upgrade his brewing equipment from a 2-barrel to a 5-barrel system with six fermenters and six brite tanks. This decision allowed him to increase the brewery’s monthly output to sixty kegs. First on the list of equipment upgrades was a new industrial-grade custom brewery chiller that could keep up with an increasingly sophisticated brewing process.

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Brewery Chiller Systems Food processing

Everything You Want to Know About Glycol Chillers

What is a glycol chiller? What are the advantages? Is it safe for food and beverages? What about energy efficiency? If you’re considering a glycol chiller for your industrial process cooling needs, you may have many unanswered questions. This article will answer these and other frequently asked questions to help you make the best decision for your needs.

To start, let’s get down to basics with a brief definition of a glycol chiller.

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Brewery

What Should I Look for in a Brewery Chiller?

Brewery Chiller - Beer

That first sip of a frothing pint of citrus- and pine-laced malty amber. The distinct effervescence of a floral hop-forward pale ale as it hits the tongue. The distinct aromatics of artisanal seasonal medleys that comprise an award-winning signature blend. These are just some of the nuances that tasters love about sipping their favorite brews, and it’s all made possible with dedication, ingenuity – and the right equipment. An industrial-grade brewery chiller can help you deliver these kinds of unforgettable experiences, but not every chiller lives up to the rigorous standards you expect for your brews.

In this post, we’ll outline some of the features to look for in a brewery chiller that will work as hard as you do, including:

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