Winery 2

What Size Chiller Does Your Brewery Need? Here’s How We Calculate It.

May 28, 2025

Whether you’re just getting started with your brewery buildout or you’re upgrading your current system, one of the first—and most important—questions you’ll face is:
What size chiller do I need?

It’s a simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. That’s where our 30 years of chiller-building expertise comes in.

Sizing a Chiller Isn’t Guesswork—It’s Engineering

We’ve developed our cooling load calculations to take into account everything from tank volume and process load to inlet/outlet temperatures and simultaneous demand. This allows us to calculate the exact BTU (British Thermal Unit) load your system will require—whether you’re actively lagering, fermenting ale, cold crashing, or knocking out hot wort post-boil.

Here’s What We Look At:

  1. Fermentation and Cold Crashing Loads

Some of what we calculate includes:

  • Number and size of fermenters
  • Desired temperature drop (ΔT)
  • Cooling time goals (e.g., crash in 12 hrs vs 24 hrs)
  • And much more

Why it matters: Cold crashing pulls a lot of BTUs in a short time—your chiller has to keep up.

  1. Knockout Load (Wort Cooling)

We ask:

  • How many barrels per batch?
  • What’s your hot wort temp vs target fermentation temp?
  • How long do you want knockout to take?

This is often the biggest single load on a brewery chiller, and we size accordingly to ensure it doesn’t bottleneck your brew day.

  1. Simultaneous Processes

 Breweries rarely do one thing at a time. That’s why we consider:

  • Are you knocking out while another tank is fermenting?
  • Will you cold crash while also carbonating a brite tank?

All these concurrent demands increase the load, and we build that into your chiller sizing.

  1. Glycol Reservoir Size

The reservoir helps buffer peak loads. Too small, and your chiller short cycles. We make sure your reservoir is optimized for your application.

  1. Future Expansion

We always ask:

“Are you planning to add more tanks next year?”
We’ll help you choose a system that meets today’s needs—and scales up when you’re ready to grow.

Real Engineering, Not Rule-of-Thumb

We’ve sized thousands of brewery chillers using this method—from 3 BBL nano systems to 60+ BBL production breweries. Our engineering process gives us a clear BTU requirement, which we match to the best chiller model to meet:

  • Cooling performance
  • Efficiency
  • Reliability

Need Help With Your Brewery Chiller Sizing?

Rather than trying to figure it out on your own or relying on outdated rules-of-thumb, just call our team and we will walk you through a quick questionnaire and run your numbers through our cooling and load calculations. Or send us your brewery specs via email and we’ll run the numbers for you.

Let’s Get It Right the First Time

Your chiller is the heart of your brewery’s cold side. Undersize it, and you’ll constantly fight for temperature control. Let’s dial in the perfect fit—for today and tomorrow.

 

Call us today and let’s keep your beer cold and your process smooth.

800-555-0973
info@gdchillers.com

Cheers!