Lesson 7 - Design of Fermentation Vessels SAQ
This lesson enables you to test yourself on the material covered in the Design of Fermentation Vessels lesson and determine to what level you have attained the outcomes.
Self-Assessment Questions
1. *List the ideal properties of materials used to construct fermentation vessels.
2. **Answer BOTH parts of this question:
a) With the aid of a suitable diagram, describe the processes that are carried out during the fill of a cylindroconical fermenting vessel.
b) You have just installed some new, bigger cylindroconical fermentation vessels. The fill time for the new vessels is 20 hours and it requires six batches of wort, twice as long as the old vessels and three more batches of wort. Initial trials in the new vessels have shown that beer ester levels are significantly lower than standard. Why might this have happened and what steps would you take to reverse the changes?
3. ***Answer ALL parts of this question:
a) What is meant by the term uni-tanking?
b) What are the major differences between vessels designed for primary fermentation and those designed as dual-purpose vessels?
c) Describe what changes would be needed to the process to incorporate a system for continuous maturation.
4. **Why is it inherently difficult to carry out primary fermentation in a single-tank continuous fermentation system?
5. **You are the new manager of a traditional ale brewery. You have been provided with capital to install some much-needed new fermentation vessels. The yeast you have to use is a very flocculent, poorly top-cropping ale strain. For marketing reasons you want to use a traditional style of open vessel. Using a suitable diagram, show the features of a vessel suitable for this task and give reasons why it can be used successfully with this type of yeast strain.