Whether you are a homebrewer finally moving away from swamp coolers or a professional head brewer expanding your cellar, a glycol system is the "gold standard" for temperature control. It provides the power to crash-cool beers to near-freezing, maintain rock-solid fermentation temps, and offset the heat produced by active yeast.
However, a glycol chiller is a precision tool. If you "guess" on the size, you risk an undersized unit that can’t cold-crash your tanks or an oversized unit that costs more than you need to spend.
Before you buy, we want to help you get it right. Collect the information below and email your specs to info@moreflavor.com. Our experts will crunch the numbers for you and tell you exactly how much cooling power (BTUs) you need.
Your Glycol Sizing Checklist
Please gather these details for your setup. Whether you're running 10-gallon Chronicals or 10-barrel Unitanks, these answers are the blueprint for your system.
What are you chilling and in what type of vessels? Are you cooling beer, wine, or spirits? Are the vessels stainless steel, plastic, or wood?
How many vessels are you trying to chill? Tell us the total count of fermenters, brites, or storage tanks you want to hook up to this single system.
Exact volume in each vessel? We need the actual liquid volume (e.g., 10 gallons, 1 BBL, 10 BBL) rather than just the total tank capacity.
Exact dimensions of each vessel? Please provide the diameter and height in inches. This helps us calculate the surface area where heat loss occurs.
Are these vessels jacketed or will you be using snakes or plates? Jacketed tanks are highly efficient. If you are a homebrewer using immersion coils (snakes) or cooling plates, the heat exchange rate is different.
What is the warmest possible ambient temperature? What is the "worst-case scenario" for the room temperature? If your garage or brewhouse hits 95°F in July, your chiller needs the "oomph" to fight that heat.
What is the lowest desired temperature of each tank? Are you just maintaining 68°F for an ale, or do you need to cold-stabilize/crash a lager at 33°F?
How fast (in hours) do you need to cool each tank? If you need to drop a tank 40 degrees in 4 hours, you need much more power than if you have 24 hours to reach your target.
How many feet of tubing do you anticipate having? This is the distance between the chiller and your vessels. Long runs of tubing cause "line loss," where the glycol warms up before it reaches the beer.
Do you plan to expand in the future? It is often more cost-effective to buy a chiller that can handle two extra tanks now than to replace the whole unit when you grow next year.
Will these be used for active fermentation, cold stabilizing, or just maintaining temperatures? Please specify exactly which tanks will be used for stabilization, as this requires the most power.
Ready to Calculate?
Don't leave your fermentation to chance. Send your answers to the questions above to support@moreflavor.com and one of our specialists will help you find the perfect system for your brewery.
Are you a Professional Brewery, Winery, or Distillery? Visit us at MoreBeerPro.com or MoreWinePro.com for commercial-grade glycol systems, bulk ingredients, and expert consultation.