- 5RT-60RT Capacity
- 5~25℃ Outlet Temperature
- Package Design
- No Need Cooling Tower
- Easy to Installation
Glycol Beer System
- 3RT-60RT Capacity
- -15~5℃ Outlet Temperature
- Package Design
- No Need Cooling Tower
- Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
- Easy to Installation
- 5RT-4000RT Capacity
- -5~25℃ Outlet Temperature
- PLC Controller
- No Need Cooling Tower
- Easy to Installation
Why Choose Geson Glycol Beer Chiller System?
Being the leading Glycol Beer Chiller manufacturing company, Geson Chiller offers all types of Glycol Beer Chillers and customizes various process chillers to the customers.
Geson Chiller design, manufacture, and supply a full range of chillers, Glycol Cooly System Chillers, and chiller systems used in both industrial cooling processes and commercial applications.
With years of experience in the chiller industry, Geson Chiller can proudly say their Glycol Beer Chillers are installed over several countries and regions throughout the world.
All Glycol Beer Chillers designed and manufactured at Geson Chiller feature wide advantages that more than 40 industries have applied.
Geson Chiller has more than 15 years of industry experience when it comes to the manufacture of chiller systems in China. Thus, we are the one-stop solution for your chiller requirements. Our chiller system offers easy installation, easy maintenance, and quality design.
If you have more questions on water chillers, free to contact us
Geson Brewery Glycol Chiller — Complete Buyer’s Guide
Geson manufactures brewery glycol chiller systems for craft breweries, microbreweries, and large-scale commercial brewing operations. All brewery glycol chillers use food-grade propylene glycol circuits — propylene glycol is non-toxic, FDA GRAS approved, and the only acceptable glycol type for any application where contact with beer, wort, or brewing equipment is possible.
Available in air cooled scroll configurations (3RT–100RT) and air cooled screw configurations (50RT–300RT). Lead time: 30 working days.
Request a brewery chiller quotation →
Brewery Cooling Applications
| Process | Cooling Requirement | Typical Glycol Setpoint | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wort chilling | Rapid cooling of hot wort from ~95°C to pitching temperature after boiling | −2°C to +2°C | Fastest cooling stage — requires highest chiller capacity |
| Fermentation temperature control | Maintain fermentation tank at target temperature during active fermentation | +5°C to +20°C (ale/lager dependent) | Ale fermentation: 18–22°C; Lager fermentation: 8–12°C |
| Crash cooling | Rapidly reduce beer temperature after fermentation to clarify and crash yeast | −1°C to +2°C | Critical for yeast flocculation and beer clarity |
| Conditioning / lagering | Hold beer at near-freezing temperature during conditioning period | −1°C to +2°C | Extended cold conditioning improves flavour development |
| Bright beer tank cooling | Maintain carbonated beer at serving temperature before packaging | +2°C to +4°C | Stable temperature prevents CO₂ loss |
| Draft beer line cooling | Maintain beer temperature in trunk lines from cellar to tap | +2°C to +4°C | Glycol never contacts beer — flows through insulated jacket |
Brewery Glycol Chiller Sizing Guide
Chiller capacity for a brewery glycol system depends primarily on the wort chilling load — the most demanding cooling stage. Use this table as a starting reference, then confirm with Geson engineering based on your specific batch volume and brew schedule.
| Brewery Size | Batch Volume | Recommended Chiller Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homebrew / nano | Up to 500L per batch | 3RT – 5RT (10–18kW) | Single fermentation tank + line cooling |
| Microbrewery | 500L – 3,000L per batch | 5RT – 20RT (18–70kW) | 2–6 fermentation tanks |
| Regional craft brewery | 3,000L – 15,000L per batch | 20RT – 80RT (70–280kW) | Multiple fermenters + conditioning tanks |
| Commercial brewery | 15,000L – 50,000L per batch | 80RT – 200RT (280–700kW) | Central glycol system, multiple brew lines |
| Large brewery | 50,000L+ per batch | 200RT – 300RT+ (700kW+) | Multiple chillers recommended for redundancy |
Rule of thumb: Allow 1RT of cooling capacity per 500–800 litres of fermentation tank volume. For breweries with multiple tanks, apply a diversity factor of 0.6–0.8 — not all tanks will be at peak cooling demand simultaneously.
Why Propylene Glycol — Not Ethylene Glycol — for Brewing
This is one of the most important decisions in brewery chiller system design and is non-negotiable from a food safety perspective:
- Propylene glycol is non-toxic, FDA classified as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS), and is the only glycol type permitted in food and beverage applications where any risk of system fluid contacting the product exists. All Geson brewery glycol chillers are configured for propylene glycol as standard.
- Ethylene glycol is toxic if ingested. It must never be used in brewery systems. Its lower cost is not a justification — contamination of a batch of beer with ethylene glycol is a serious food safety incident.
Recommended propylene glycol concentration for breweries: 25–35%. This provides freeze protection to approximately −12°C to −18°C, which is more than sufficient for all standard brewing temperature ranges. Higher concentrations reduce heat transfer efficiency without benefit for most brewery applications.
Real Project References — Food & Beverage Industry
| Year | Country | Industry | System Supplied |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Lithuania | Beverage factory | Air cooled scroll chiller 260kW/74RT, free cooling function for energy saving during cold months |
| 2025 | Ireland | Food industry process cooling | Water cooled screw chiller 800kW/227RT, 12/7°C, complete system with cooling tower and pumps |
| 2025 | Turkey | Dairy / food processing | Air cooled screw chiller 700kW/199RT, dual compressor configuration |
| 2024 | Saudi Arabia | Drinking water cooling | Air cooled scroll chiller 240kW/68RT, SS316 plate heat exchanger, food-grade configuration |
| 2023 | Vietnam | Marine / food processing | Air cooled scroll chiller 55kW/15.6RT, anti-corrosion design, SS304 heat exchanger |
How to Get a Brewery Chiller Quotation
To receive a formal quotation within 24 hours, provide:
- Total fermentation tank volume (litres or barrels)
- Number of fermentation tanks, conditioning tanks, and bright beer tanks
- Wort chilling requirement — batch volume and target time to chill from ~95°C to pitching temperature
- Maximum ambient temperature at the brewery location
- Power supply — voltage, frequency, phases
- Any special requirements — free cooling, food-grade SS304 evaporator, skid package
Contact Geson engineering team →
WhatsApp: +86 138 5195 0629 | Email: info@gesonchiller.com
Frequently Asked Questions — Brewery Glycol Chillers
What size glycol chiller do I need for a brewery?
As a general rule, allow 1RT (3.5kW) of chiller capacity per 500–800 litres of fermentation tank volume. For a 5,000L microbrewery with 4 fermenters, a 10RT–15RT chiller is typically sufficient. However, the wort chilling load often drives the sizing — if you need to chill a 3,000L batch from 95°C to 18°C in 60 minutes, the instantaneous chiller capacity required is significantly higher. Contact Geson with your batch volume and target chilling time for accurate sizing.
What temperature should a brewery glycol chiller run at?
The glycol supply temperature from the chiller is typically set at −2°C to +2°C for most brewery applications. This provides sufficient cooling margin for fermentation temperature control (8–22°C depending on beer style), crash cooling (near 0°C), and wort chilling. The glycol setpoint does not need to match the beer temperature — the tank jacket heat exchanger provides the temperature differential needed to transfer heat from beer to glycol.
Should I use propylene glycol or ethylene glycol in my brewery?
Always propylene glycol for brewery applications. Propylene glycol is non-toxic and food-grade — it is the only acceptable glycol type for any system where contact with beer, wort, or brewing equipment is possible. Ethylene glycol is toxic and must never be used in food or beverage processing systems. All Geson brewery glycol chillers are configured for propylene glycol as standard.
Can I use one chiller for both fermentation cooling and wort chilling?
Yes — a single central glycol chiller can serve both fermentation tanks and the wort chiller (plate heat exchanger) simultaneously. However, the wort chilling load is the peak demand point. Size the chiller to handle wort chilling at full capacity while also maintaining fermentation temperatures. For larger breweries, a dedicated wort chiller or oversized central chiller is recommended to ensure wort chilling speed does not compromise fermentation temperature control.
What concentration of propylene glycol should I use?
For most brewery applications, a 25–35% propylene glycol concentration in water is recommended. This provides freeze protection to approximately −12°C to −18°C — sufficient for all standard brewing temperatures — while maintaining good heat transfer efficiency. Higher concentrations (above 40%) increase viscosity and reduce heat transfer effectiveness without meaningful benefit for brewery use.
Does Geson supply complete brewery glycol systems?
Yes. Geson supplies complete brewery glycol chiller packages including the chiller unit, propylene glycol reservoir, circulation pump, insulated piping manifold, and electrical control panel — skid-mounted and factory-tested as a complete system. This simplifies on-site installation and ensures all components are correctly sized and matched.
What is free cooling for a brewery chiller?
Free cooling (also called economiser mode) allows the chiller to use cold ambient air to cool the glycol loop during winter months, without running the compressor. This can reduce chiller energy consumption by 30–60% in cold climates during the winter brewing season. Geson can include a free cooling option on air cooled scroll chiller configurations — specify your minimum ambient temperature when requesting a quotation.
Related Products & Resources
Glycol Beer Chiller – The Ultimate FAQ Guide
This guide will help you to select the best Glycol Beer Chiller manufacturer.
It contains every aspect of the Glycol Beer Chiller you have been searching for, such as types, advantages, and components.
Interesting fact: We have discussed the comparison of different types of Glycol used in a Glycol Beer Chiller System.
Before you plan to buy a Glycol Beer Chiller, have a look at this guide.
How To Choose The Best Glycol Beer Chiller Manufacturer & Supplier In China?
Choose a Glycol Beer Chiller Manufacturer with hundreds of products for you to choose from and with an ever-growing product range to meet your industrial needs.
A China Manufacturer and Supplier that will provide a full-service to keep you up and running and meet your requirements.
Where quality and safety is a stronger priority, offers a greater chance of being the most trustworthy manufacturer and factory delivering high-levels of performance, efficiency, and reliability all the time.
And sure to provide all equipment to be competitive and cheap that would get you an edge in your own market providing perfect solutions for your various industrial applications.
Glycol Beer Lines
How Does Geson Chiller Manufacture Good Quality Glycol Beer Chiller To Support Your Business?
Being the leading Glycol Beer Chiller manufacturing company, Geson Chiller offers all types of Glycol Beer Chillers and customizes various process chillers to the customers.
Geson Chiller design, manufacture, and supply a full range of chillers, Glycol Beer Chillers, and chiller systems used in both industrial cooling processes and commercial applications.
With years of experience in the chiller industry, Geson Chiller can proudly say their Glycol Beer Chillers are installed over several countries and regions throughout the world.
All Glycol Beer Chillers designed and manufactured at Geson Chiller feature wide advantages that more than 40 industries have applied.
What Is A Glycol Beer Chiller System?
Glycol Beer Chillers are a specific type of cooling system often used to cool a diversity of liquids including alcohol and other beverages.
Using a Glycol Beer Chiller allows producers to lower the temperature of the product greatly over a short period of time depending on the production needs.
For cooling in brewing, there are few processes where decreasing or maintaining temperature is important – like crash cooling a beer after fermentation, or keeping a steady temperature during fermentation (which generates heat), or cooling the wort after an initial boiling process.
The chilling process works by forcing a cold liquid (glycol) along tubes to a chiller pla
Glycol Beer System
te, which is usually cast aluminum, and then through the tap system, thereby keeping the beer cold, the glycol never actually comes in contact with the beer.
How Does A Glycol Beer Chiller Work?
Glycol is a non-evaporating refrigeration liquid.
Its properties allow it to achieve cold temperatures without freezing.
In a Glycol Beer Chiller System, the multiple beer lines are combined side by side with glycol lines, which are in turn, bundled inside an insulating foam rubber tube.
By chilling the liquid glycol and pumping it into lines that run alongside the beer lines, the beer is chilled and maintained within one degree of the temperature in the walk-in cooler.
Beer Brewing Chiller
Why Glycol Is Used In Beer Chillers?
Using Glycol Beer Chiller has proved to be beneficial.
Glycol is an important heat transfer fluid in industrial applications.
Glycol reduces the freezing point of the process fluid and ensures that it continues to flow at the operating temperature.
Using inhibited glycol in your cooling system will prevent scale and corrosion from forming, algae and bacteria will not grow and metals such as copper, brass, steel cast iron, and aluminum are protected.
How Much Glycol Do You Put In A Glycol Beer Chiller System?
It is very important to use the correct mixture of glycol to water in your Glycol Beer Chiller System; too little encourages bacteria growth and brings with it the risk of freezing.
Degradation of glycol can cause lactic acid to form which can lead to rapid system corrosion left untreated.
Equally, too much glycol can lead to system inefficiencies from reduced heat transfer ability and increased viscosity.
To correctly dose glycol you’ll need to know how much water your Glycol Beer Chiller holds, a minimum of 25% is recommended to allow the correct application of the inhibitor pack and keep the fluid biostatic (inhibits bacterial growth).
Glycol Beer Chiller
What Types Of Glycol Are Used In Glycol Beer Systems?
Glycol comes in two varieties: Ethylene Glycol and Propylene Glycol.
Both types offer the same relative level of freeze protection.
Both also help to guard against corrosion.
Some grades of both types of Glycol also help to prevent the growth of algae and bacteria within the chiller.
- Ethylene Glycol
Ethylene glycol is a moderately toxic chemical that has a sweet taste and can be harmful if swallowed.
For this reason, it should not be used in potable water or food processing systems when leakage is a possibility.
Ethylene glycol has more widespread use due to its lower purchase price.
Industrial applications like ice rinks and factories requiring large volumes of the coolant find this to be the most economical choice of glycol.
Glycol For Your Business
- Propylene Glycol
Propylene glycol has a lower level of toxicity and is considered to be a food-grade antifreeze.
This type of glycol is safer to handle than ethylene and can be more easily disposed of.
Propylene glycol is commonly used in the food industry or in industrial refrigeration systems where people may come into contact with a fluid.
Propylene can also become more viscous than ethylene, even slightly affecting the heat exchange rate when used at very low temperatures.
What Are The Advantages Of Glycol Beer Chillers?
We recommend Glycol Beer Chiller Systems for those looking for longer beer runs for their tavern, pub, or bar.
Glycol Beer Chiller works well at greater distances and is excellent for beer lines that run up to twenty-five feet or more.
It is common knowledge that beer should be kept cold all the way to the faucet or dispenser; otherwise, the quality, taste, and texture of the beer will greatly suffer.
Glycol Beer Chiller Systems that are properly designed, installed, maintained, and used properly work perfectly.
Why Glycol Is Required For Brewing Beer?
In the brewing industry, Glycol is a necessary part of day-to-day operations.
It’s used in Glycol Beer Chiller Systems that run throughout fermentation tanks and conditioning tanks to control temperature during fermentation reactions.
In the service side of the industry, Glycol is also used for maintaining the temperature of draft beer dispensing.
In order to achieve the desired temperature, brewers must use the proper ratio of Glycol to water in the Glycol Beer Chiller System, too much Glycol will cost more and limit the efficiency of the chiller, while not enough Glycol could lead to freezing and damage to the Glycol Beer Chiller if left unchecked.
Glycol Beer Line Chiller
How To Maintain Your Glycol Beer System?
The end-user of the Glycol Beer System should have the beer lines cleaned on a regular basis, usually every two weeks.
The line cleaner should run a circulating solution of warm water and line cleaning chemical for about ten minutes to ensure the lines are properly cleaned.
While the cleaning solution is circulating, the line cleaning tech will disassemble the beer faucets and brush them out, the tech will also check the condition of the washers and o-rings inside of each faucet.
After the cleaning solution is done circulating, the tech will rinse the beer lines with cool water which will rinse out the chemical and also help the beer lines come back down to temperature so the Glycol Beer Chiller doesn’t have to work so hard to bring the beer lines back down to operating temperature.
How To Troubleshoot Your Glycol Beer System?
The main causes of foamy beer are either temperature or pressure.
If the end-user is experiencing problems pouring beer, they should make sure the temperature of the Glycol Beer Chiller is at the appropriate temperature for their brand of chiller.
Keg cooler temperature should be 34- 36 degrees.
The end-user should consult with the Glycol Beer System installer for the proper pressure setting and troubleshooting any other problems that arise.
What Can The Glycol Beer System Do For Your Business?
- Improve Beer Quality & Reduce Pouring Waste
Glycol Beer System chills draught products at the point of dispense.
You will instantly notice the dramatically improved quality of your draught beers, ales, and stouts.
This characteristic also means the system naturally reduces needless pouring waste to 0.5% (depending on the outlet) and will allow you to serve your beer, stout, ale at adjustable pouring temperatures, ranging from 0 to 10°C.
The Glycol Beer System can also accommodate splash soft drinks and dispense wines at adjustable temperatures.
Beer Fermenter
- Lower Energy Bills
The Glycol Beer Chiller’s unique system design can accommodate and cool all your other refrigeration equipment including bottle coolers, cold storage, and kitchen refrigeration.
It can achieve this at a much more cost-effective and higher level of efficiency than standard refrigeration systems.
It will also eliminate the need for any under-counter coolers in your draught dispense area which will reduce costs, noise & heat and free up more space on your premises.
- Less Line Cleaning & Maintenance Costs
The Glycol Beer System only requires you to clean your beer lines once every 4 weeks as opposed to the currently recommended, once every week.
This means lower maintenance costs and cheaper keg prices from major breweries at home or from overseas.
In large pubs & hotels, considerable maintenance savings will accrue when all compressors are removed from all food equipment, cold rooms, and bottle coolers.
Why Glycol Beer Chiller Has A Wider Range Of Operating Temperatures Than Water-cooled Chiller?
Propylene glycol freezes at -12.9 degrees Celsius and mixtures of propylene glycol with water can remain liquid at temperatures as low as -52.8 degrees Celsius.
The ability to operate at low temperatures allows Glycol Beer Chillers to cool your wort more quickly than a Water-cooled Chiller.
In effect, a smaller Glycol Beer Chiller can do the job of a much larger Water-cooled Chiller.
What Are The Main Components Of A Glycol Beer Chiller?
Although Glycol Beer Systems consist of dozens of components, the three main ones will always be these:
- Glycol Power Pack
The glycol power pack is the heart of the glycol tap system.
It is essentially a commercial refrigeration unit designed to pump and circulate glycol through the system thus maintaining the proper temperature.
The coil contains a refrigerant to cool the glycol in the reservoir and the circulation pump runs continuously forcing the glycol through the supply line.
The compressor runs on and off as necessary to maintain the temperature that’s been set on the thermostat.
- Trunkline
If the power pack is the heart of the draft beer glycol system, then the trunk line is its blood vessel.
The trunk line itself is a bunch of beer lines (usually, from 4 to 10) sandwiched around a pair of glycol refrigeration lines all of which are wrapped in foil and bound together with some insulation on top.
One glycol line is outbound extending from the power pack to the beer tower while the other returns from the beer tower back to the glycol power pack.
Each product line of the trunk line is hooked up to a unique beer keg stored in the walk-in cooler.
- Beer Tower
The easiest-to-explain part of the Glycol Beer Chiller System since it’s the only element that’s “on the surface”.
Beer lines are attached to a shank or faucet that’s inside the beer tower.
All you have to do then is pull the lever called “tap handle” and pour some fresh, cold beer.
From a customer’s point of view, this is where beer comes from but we now know that it has to come a long way before it reaches the draft tower in your bar counter area.