Concrete Egg Fermentation Tank

Find all shapes and sizes of concrete fermentors such as the popular egg style.

Concrete egg fermentation tank.

Though they re not always made of concrete. In this giant egg the lees are continuously forced upward by an internal current. Walk into just about any modern brewery and you re sure to see rows of fermentation tanks gleaming in their stainless steel glory. Semi porous materials such as concrete ceramic terracotta and permeable plastic are most often used to make egg shaped fermenters.

But if you traveled back in time to the 19th century you d almost certainly find large vats made not out of steel but concrete with the invention of stainless steel a material that was easy to sanitize and would never rust in 1913 concrete fell out of. Certainly stainless steel tanks attract a lot fewer column inches but eggs have not been laid everywhere in the wine trade. The world leader in concrete wine tanks. With no corners the wine is free to circulate naturally during fermentation and you can actually watch the wine move during this process of constant stirring.

Classic egg 476 gal. I ve noticed concrete eggs are becoming an emerging trend in wineries what s the point. Concrete tanks are commonly used in wineries but egg shaped vessels are fairly new. Later when nomblot was.

Concrete wine tanks are being rediscovered by winemakers all over the world. Christelle guibert decanter tastings director replies. These building materials offer a way to expose the wine to small levels of aeration. Ap photo eric risberg ceramic clay used for wine fermentation storage and as a transport vessel is as.

Our egg tank is. The vertical ovoid tank takes advantage of the micro oxygenation that is made possible by the clay cement material. Historic bordeaux producer domaine de chevalier installed 10 large concrete tanks in 2014 and argentinian winery el enemigo exclusively uses concrete eggs for fermentation. The first concrete egg was commissioned in 2001 by michel chapoutier from french concrete tank maker nomblot.

The first egg vat was commissioned in 2001 by michel chapoutier following discussions and design between chapoutier and french vat manufacturer marc nomblot whose company has been making concrete wine vats since 1922. The shapely historic connection to roman amphorae was not coincidental in the design. They are made without using chemical additives according to nomblot from washed loire. Eggs particularly of the concrete variety seem to be all the rage in winemaking.

Michel chapoutier designed the. Concrete eggs in the winery ask decanter. Stackable concrete storage and fermentation vessels will be producing wine long after those oak barrels are producing. Enter the concrete egg fermenter.

Concrete wine tanks are being rediscovered by winemakers all over the world.