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.
Suggested Response - Q5
**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 with success with this type of yeast strain.
Response:
The vessel which fits this brief exactly is a Yorkshire square.
The following figure shows the key features of a Yorkshire square fermentation vessel:
Figure: Features of a Yorkshire square fermentation vessel
These vessels differ from more traditional open square vessels by having a sloping deck which is linked to the rest of the vessel by tubes (called organ pipes) and a central manhole with a raised lip. In addition, there is a circulation system which takes fermenting wort from the bottom of the vessel and adds it back to the top.
They are designed to be used with very flocculent ale yeasts. During fermentation, the yeast head rises to the surface via the manhole and is retained on the deck. The beer separates from the yeast and drains back into the depths of the vessel via the organ pipes.
At the appropriate time, the crop is removed from the deck and the beer from the base, using the drain points shown in the diagram.