Tank Reference¶
FUERST WIACEK Fermentation tanks — type, volume, ports, jacket layout
The brewery has two generations of fermentation tanks. They differ in beer outlet type, dry hop access, and Zwickel handling at CIP. Several SOPs change procedure based on tank generation — this page is the single source for which tanks are which.
All tanks have a manway, a Zwickel (sample port), a CIP arm, and a spund. The differences below are what matters in practice.
Tank Map¶
Note
All standard fermentation tanks below: 18–24 hl single brew / 36–48 hl double brew. FV 16 (blending) is non-standard. Tanks 4, 8, 12 are not present (numbering gaps).
| Tank | Gen. | Beer outlet | Dry hop access | Zwickel at CIP | Panel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FV 01 | Old | Racking arm | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 02 | Old | Racking arm | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 03 | Old | Racking arm | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 05 | Old | Racking arm | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 06 | Old | Racking arm | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 07 | Old | Racking arm | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 09 | Old | Standing pipe | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 10 | Old | Standing pipe | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 11 | Old | Standing pipe | Manway | Fixed | 1 |
| FV 13 | New | Standing pipe | Dry hop port | Removable | 2 |
| FV 14 | New | Standing pipe | Dry hop port | Removable | 2 |
| FV 15 | New | Standing pipe | Dry hop port | Removable | 2 |
| FV 16 | Blending | — | If DH: as old tank | — | 2 |
| FV 17 | New | Standing pipe | Dry hop port | Removable | 2 |
| FV 18 | New | Standing pipe | Dry hop port | Removable | 2 |
| FV 19 | New | Standing pipe | Dry hop port | Removable | 2 |
Differences That Affect Procedure¶
Beer outlet — racking arm vs standing pipe¶
| Outlet | Tanks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Racking arm | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 | Movable. Set to 2 o'clock during Tank CIP recirculation (prevents pump cavitation). Set to 1–2 o'clock during carbonation bubbling. At Tank CIP: remove arm, inspect seals, soak arm + all seals/O-rings in caustic bath, apply a small amount of Krones Celerol L7001 to the seals only before reinserting. See the Carbonation SOP for a photo of the 2 o'clock position. |
| Standing pipe | 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 | Fixed vertical. No adjustment needed. |
Dry hop access — manway vs dry hop port¶
| Access | Tanks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Manway (full open) | 1–11 + 16 (if dry hopped) | Spray interior with alcohol before adding hops. |
| Dry hop port (~10–15 cm) | 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 | Smaller dedicated opening — port cap and gasket go into PAA pitcher during the hop addition. |
Zwickel — fixed vs removable¶
All tanks have a Zwickel (sample port). It's the same role on every tank. The CIP procedure differs:
| Zwickel | Tanks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed | Old tanks (1–11) | Cleaned in place during Tank CIP. |
| Removable | New tanks (13–19) | Remove during Tank CIP. Brush inside with the thin red circular brush + caustic — there is always residue inside. Use the correct tri-clamp seal (DN40 outer diameter, smaller internal hole, more rubber to close off dead spots). Wrong seal leaves a dead spot. |
Cellar panel — Panel 1 vs Panel 2¶
| Panel | Tanks | Wortway swing bend |
|---|---|---|
| Panel 1 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 | Connect Wort Vorlauf to Panel 1 |
| Panel 2 | 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 | Connect Panel 2 Vorlauf to CIP return at Panel 1 |
Glycol Jacket Layout — All Tanks¶
All tanks have three glycol jackets: Cone, Bottom, Top. Which is open depends on fill level and recipe step. See Fermentation Management — Glycol Valve Logic for the operating rules.
New tanks (13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19) — jacket coverage by fill level¶
New tanks are the 40 hl-working / ~55 hl-gross HGM cylindroconicals. The three jackets cover these fill levels (scale ≈ 65 mm per hl; each cylinder jacket is a 750 mm band ≈ 11.5 hl):
| Jacket | Covers (fill level) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Top | ~24 → 36 hl | A full (double) brew sits in and above this jacket; the ~38 hl mark is near its top. |
| (gap) | ~19 → 24 hl | No jacket — a ~5 hl dead band between Top and Bottom. |
| Bottom | ~7.5 → 19 hl | A single brew (~19 hl, a stamped mark) fills to about its top edge. |
| Cone | up to ~2.2 hl | Down to the standing-pipe draw point; the cone tip at the outlet is unjacketed. |
Note
These fill levels are for the new HGM tanks only. Old tanks share the same three-jacket layout (Cone / Bottom / Top) but different coverage.
Temperature Probes¶
| Probe | Position | Tanks | Read by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom (control) | Cone shoulder, ≈5 hl (cone–cylinder junction), angled down into the cone | All new tanks | Recipes + fermentation process — the control probe on every tank. |
| Top | ~38 hl, just above the Top jacket | FV 13 & FV 14 only | Human spot-check only. Other new tanks have an empty pocket here. |
Warning
Recipes and process logic read the bottom (cone) probe on all tanks. Only FV 13 and FV 14 have the top probe fitted, and nothing automated reacts to it — treat any top reading as a manual reference only.
New Tank Spec (HGM 40 hl)¶
New cylindroconical tanks (13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19). Source: HGM model HGMPFG40I-0A.
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Working / gross volume | 40 hl / ~55 hl |
| Fill graduations (stamped) | 10 / 19 / 32 / 40 hl |
| Shell | Ø1400 mm ID, ~3.0 m straight side |
| Overall height | ~5.25 m, on 4 legs |
| Cone | 70° included angle, DN150 (Ø150 mm) bottom outlet |
| Cooling | 3 glycol jackets, 8.1 m² total (Top 3.3 + Bottom 3.3 + Cone 1.5) |
| Max working pressure | 2.0 bar (safety valve 2.1 bar) |
| Jacket pressure | 3.0 bar design |
| Design temperature | −5 to +55 °C |
| Material / insulation | 304 stainless / PU |
| Key ports | Top CIP + dry-hop port DN150 · bottom outlet DN150 · side manhole Ø550 · spund / PRV |
| Weight | ~1.3 t empty · ~7 t full of water |
Cold Storage & Freeze Safety¶
Glycol supply runs −1.6 to −3.3 °C. The thin layer of beer touching the jacket sits close to the glycol temperature, not the tank temperature — so beer can begin to ice against the jacket wall while the cone probe (T1) still reads 0 °C.
Standard practice is 0 °C for everything and it does not need changing. Every Botec FV profile crashes and matures at 0.0 °C, which is safe for every beer we make. If you do not know the beer's ABV, use 0 °C.
Warning
The low-ABV beer is the one at risk, not the strong one. A 3% beer starts to ice at −1.2 °C while the glycol behind the plate is at −3.3 °C. Never assume a small beer is the safe one to push cold.
Lowest allowed setpoint by ABV, why the probe can read warm, and when to dump the cone: see Fermentation Management — Temperature Floors, Freeze Safety. That SOP is the single source for these limits — they are deliberately not repeated here, so the two pages cannot drift apart.
Note
Frost on uninsulated glycol fittings, valves or the manway is ambient humidity condensing on cold metal — not beer freezing. The vessels are rated to −5 °C, so the steel is never the limiting factor; the beer always freezes first.
CIP-Relevant Notes¶
- Tank capacity at CIP: designed for 50°C max (some 55°C). Always send cold water first when mixing with hot. Never send hot water alone.
- CIP arm orientation: vertical pipe with valve, top of tank. Used for solution delivery, top pressure, and venting.
- Manway seal: present on all tanks. Check seating before closing — seal can slide. Re-check from outside after closing. An improperly seated seal means the tank will not hold pressure during fermentation.
- Spund: All tanks have a spund (pressure relief). Set to 0 bar during CIP, 0.2 bar during fermentation, 1 bar during spunded conditioning, 0.5–0.6 bar at packaging-ready.