Drink Processing
very quickly. For custom
equipment, the company
focuses on stainless steel
tanks from 300 to 40,000
gallons and caters to a wide
range of industries (wine,
brewing, distilling, food,
and pharmaceuticals). Its
stock-tank program consists
of designs ranging from a
500-gallon portable tank up
to a 13,000-gallon storage
tank.
Sales Manager Scott Dapelo
says that, while these stock
designs were generally
built to be standard wine
fermentation/storage tanks,
the recent uptick of newer
(often nontraditional)
beverage players has been
helping the growth of QST’s
stock-tank program as well.
And, like others, he notes
an increased interest from
wineries for automated cap-
management features for
their fermentation tanks.
S t . Pa t r i c k ’ s o f Te x a s
operates a 50,000-square-
foot warehouse in Taylor,
Texas, and maintains what
may be the largest inventory
of stainless tanks in North
America—more than 2
million liters of current tank
inventory, ranging from 300
liters up to 14,000 liters.
The company focuses on
providing wine, food, and
other beverage-industry
tanks from Letina Group
in Croatia, which it’s been
working with for almost
15 years. It accepts online,
phone, and fax orders, but
warehouse walk-ins are by
appointment only.
Custom Concrete
Another fermentation tank
option is concrete tanks,
available from a small handful
of producers worldwide,
including Sonoma Cast Stone
in Petaluma, Calif. One of the
key considerations in favor of
The Pivotal lid features a yacht
wheel that, after being turned a
few times to lift the lid up, lets the
lid then be moved aside with very
little physical effort. The design aims
to improve on existing stainless lid
designs, which tend to require either
a lot of screwing or a heavy lid.
Drink Asia
38
concrete is its high level of
temperature control relative
to stainless, though these
tanks take more effort to
clean and maintain. Concrete
tanks also contribute a
certain degree of minerality
to fi nished products
Sonoma Cast Stone currently
makes tanks between
240 and 1,070 gallons, in
addition to working on a set
of modular tanks capable
of handling approximately
28,000 gallons. SCC’s
President Steve Rosenblatt
notes that the company’s
egg and amphora shapes
are particularly popular;
both are shaped so that the
temperature differential
between top and bottom
of the fermentation tank
encourages a gentle, constant
circulation of the contents.
For better use of space, SCC
also offers conical, square,
and tower tanks. Glycol lines
can be built directly into the
concrete, and the company’s
multi-layer construction
means the exterior can be
customized in bold colors.
The company is currently in
the process of patenting its
Pivotal design for tank top
manways. The Pivotal lid
features a yacht wheel that,
after being turned a few times
to lift the lid up, lets the lid
then be moved aside with
very little physical effort. The
design aims to improve on
March-April 2020
existing stainless lid designs,
which tend to require either
a lot of screwing or a heavy
lid. Rosenblatt also notes that,
while concrete tanks have
been used in the wine industry
for centuries, it’s only very
recently that brewers have
shown interest. Clients like
Russian River Brewing (Santa
Rosa, Calif.), Hair of the
Dog Brewing Co. (Portland,
Ore.), and Allagash Brewing
Co. (Portland, Me.) are now
using them for sour-beer
production. “Brewers are
always looking for something
different,” says Rosenblatt.
One of the key points
that came up repeatedly
in talking with equipment
manufacturers and providers
is that their commercial
landscape is changing fast
these days—whether due
to new markets opening
up from non-traditional
beverage sources, or from
simply trying to meet the
evolving needs of existing
clients. New technologies,
advances in automation,
and changes to stock-
tank availability all afford
beverage producers greater
operational flexibility, and
these tank providers offer
up a snapshot of how these
interconnected industries are
moving forward together.
Source:
http://www.spiritedbiz.com/