Industrial Chillers for Wineries | General Air Products

A winery chiller is a piece of equipment that allows you to control and maintain the ideal temperature throughout winemaking, including fermentation, aging, and storage. Winery chilling systems are vital for temperature control for wines and fermentation, as they help you preserve the flavor and aroma of the wine. As the chiller keeps the wine at a consistent temperature, it maintains the quality of your wines at each step in the production process.

Benefits of Winery Chillers

Getting a chiller is a vital and worthwhile investment for your winery, no matter the scale of your production. These are some of the benefits a winery chiller offers:

Better quality and consistency: Chillers maintain the right temperature throughout various stages of winemaking, helping prevent issues like wine clouding or browning during fermentation. Because the chiller maintains a constant temperature, it also helps you standardize your process and your wines so you can achieve the same quality from batch to batch.
Increased efficiency: Refrigeration is one of the largest contributors to energy consumption in winemaking, so finding ways to be more energy-efficient is essential. Thankfully, winery chillers can quickly chill to desired subzero temperatures, which saves more energy than alternative cooling and refrigeration methods. Another way to save on energy costs using a winery chiller is to operate at higher suction pressure setpoints, which can be done by raising the glycol temperature.
Cost-savings: Energy efficiency is important for your power consumption and the quality of your wines, as you can let it ferment for longer while saving on your power costs. Because glycol also acts as added lubrication for the chiller pumps, it can extend the life span of your equipment, leading to greater efficiency and savings on maintenance costs.

Types of Chillers Used in Wineries

There are a few types of chiller systems, each with its own pros and cons:

Water-Cooled Chillers

Water-cooled chillers have external cooling towers to reject heat from the refrigerant in the system’s condenser, which cools the vessels. The main advantage of these chillers is that they use water rather than refrigerants. Water-cooled chillers also tend to have a longer life span and operate more quietly than other chillers.

These chillers are quite energy-efficient, which makes them an excellent option if energy-cost savings are particularly important to your brand. However, they cost more upfront since they require extra parts compared to air-cooled chillers, for example. A water-cooled chiller needs an external cooling tower and condenser pumps to operate. Because of these components, they also require extra maintenance.

Air-Cooled Chillers and Glycol Chillers

These chillers use ambient air to circulate glycol or a glycol-water blend instead of only water to cool systems. They are well-suited to operations where water conservation is a primary concern. Air-cooled chillers are low-maintenance and easy to set up compared to water-cooled chillers.

Air-cooled chillers typically cool the vessels with food-grade antifreeze, like propylene glycol. The glycol is pumped cool through a closed-loop tubing system attached to a heat exchanger.

Vapor Compressor and Vapor Absorption Chillers

A vapor compressor chiller uses a compressor to pump refrigerant and cool the system, while vapor absorbent chillers do not have compressors but rather use a heat source to move coolant through the systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Explore these FAQs to learn how to choose the right winery chiller and maintain it.

Grapes need to ferment to become wine. This process happens when yeast converts sugar to alcohol. Heat speeds up the fermentation process, but with wine, slower is better, and a longer fermentation process often produces better-quality wine.

However, simply storing your wine in a cool place isn’t enough, as the fermentation process naturally generates its own heat. This is where a chiller plays it’s significant part in the winemaking process. Wineries cool the wine vats to subzero temperatures without freezing the inside of the vessels, so using propylene glycol or another food-grade antifreeze is a great solution for improving your process and producing quality wine.

There are numerous winery chillers on the market, but choosing the right one simply comes down to your specific needs. Here are a few aspects to consider:

Process requirements: Consider the quantity of your fermentation and brite tanks, as well as your wort cooling requirements and brewing capacity.
Production size: The size of your production is a great starting point for choosing a winery chiller. For large operations, shopping for industrial chillers for wineries is best. If you are a smaller winery, it is important to consider your production and storage capacity needs, but it is also wise to think about your projected growth and choose a chiller that suits your growth goals. If space is a real concern, there are portable glycol chillers that can combat space constraints.
Energy needs: If energy efficiency is your primary concern, look for a chiller with energy-saving features.
Piping options: Winery chillers may have plastic or copper piping. Both types of piping have various benefits. Plastic is more affordable, easier to install, and low-maintenance. Copper piping is more durable and generally lasts longer, saving maintenance costs over longer periods.

At General Air Products, we have a range of winery chillers for resale. The best way to choose the right winery chiller for your wine production needs is to speak to one of our helpful experts about what we have available and which chiller is best suited to your winery.

Maintenance will depend entirely on the type of chiller you have, so checking the manufacturer’s guide is key to caring for your system correctly. For most glycol chillers for wineries, maintenance includes:

Checking the filters and changing them as needed.
Cleaning your units regularly.
Monitoring ambient temperature.
Ensuring only the correct cooling blends are used for your units.
Checking the glycol reservoirs regularly.

Maintaining your water-cooled chiller is relatively simple and includes the following steps:

Ensure the cooling and condenser fluids are debris-free and maintain a pH of seven.
Check that the electrical system is operating as it should.
Check your tubing and other components for the buildup of sediments and minerals.

Contact General Air Products for Chillers for Wineries

Excellent wine requires excellent temperature control, and a quality winery chiller helps you achieve that. If you are searching for industrial chillers for wine production, contact General Air Products today!

At General Air Products, we offer vineyard cooling solutions to winemakers of all sizes. We have a wide selection of standard chiller systems for wineries and breweries in different models and capacities, ranging from 1.2 tons to over 350 tons. Through us, you can choose from a range of air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chiller systems to suit your operations needs.

Visit us online to view our range of industrial cooling equipment and accessories, or contact us today to speak to one of our friendly experts.