Equipment Manufacturing

MANUFACTURING CAPABILITIES

Sound Brewing Systems, Inc. is an OEM supplier of new brewery tanks and equipment built to the highest standards of quality. We utilize manufacturing facilities with the capabilities of producing tanks and vessels of any size up to 16,000 US gallons (60,000 liters). Equipment is built to any standards or requirements the customer needs, including saniotary requirements for brewing or beverage production, ASME or TUV pressure vessel standards, Shop facilities include crane-equipped high shop bays, the ability to flange heads, roll cylinders, shear and bend sheet, roll tubing and perform many other complex forming tasks in-house as well as full machine shop facilities.

CONSTRUCTION

All brewery tanks are not created equal. Many vendors don’t have the tooling and capability to produce top quality, sanitary, durable tanks. General standards and methods are described below. Several areas where SBS-designed equipment surpasses most competitors are noted.

Materials

Standard minimum gauge on all shells, heads, bottoms & cones as 12 gauge. Cladding is 14 gauge except on copper clad and economy vessels. Larger vessels use heavier gauges as are structurally appropriate. We also offer an economy priced line of smaller single wall vessels with 14 gauge sidewalls.

Dished Heads

Standard head supplied are pressed, not spun. Several commonly used sizes are stocked in bulk quantities. Finish, strength, dimensional accuracy, and appearance are greatly superior to spun heads used widely by others. If maximum economy is a primary concern, spun heads can be supplied at a lower cost.

Cones

Vessel cones are formed smoothly by pulling or rolling, not by making many small creases with a break, as many manufacturers do. Inside surfaces are free of grooves and ridges. A radiused knuckle is rolled on each cone to perfectly mate it to the cylinder, making a far stronger and more sanitary joint than the "corner weld" done by many competitors. The inside of the finished cone/shell joint is a smooth, polished sanitary rolled surface with no visible seam.

Legs

Legs are coped and welded to the inner tank shell to properly support the vessel weight. While this may seem elemental, there are still manufacturers around who weld the leg to the outer cladding. Where seismic codes apply, leg material and bracing conform to the required zone code.

Jackets

Both plug-welded dimple and channel type jackets are offered. Jacket pressure requirements are carefully verified for each job, especially in instances of roof mounted chiller systems, in order to assure adequate jacket pressure rating for the site. Tank cladding is swaged around jacket connection nipples, rather than welded, and a flexible sealant is applied to allow for slight movement with expansion and contraction. This prevents cracking and leaks caused by heating and cooling in CIP use.

Manways

We furnish a variety of quality manways with vessels, including "no-lip" style doors that eliminate the “cleaning shadow” found with traditional manways. Heavy stainless wing nuts have bronze inserts for smooth operation.

Weld & Interior Finish

All cold-side vessels have standard 2B interior finish with internal welds ground flush and polished to 150 grit or finer. For special applications such as yeast propogators, we offer up to 300 grit finishes. External welds are mainly TIG welded and are acid-decolorized and buffed bright. We avoid messy, rippled wire-feed welds which catch dirt and invite mold growth and oxidation.

Exterior Finishes

A unique line of intriguing stainless steel finishes are offered which we invite you to consider. One standard finish is a "spin polish" on cones and cylinders, where the vessel is rotated as an abrasive flapper wheel slowly moves vertically across the surface. The finish is similar to "bright" #4 mill finish sheet, but the spin finish is easier to cosmetically repair if it gets scratched or dinged. It has a slight horizontal "banded" effect which most users find quite attractive. And it’s the same finish seen on brewhouse vessels pictured in magazine ads from some very respected, very costly German brewhouse manufacturers. However, if you prefer it, #4 polished sheet is also available.

A variety of "jeweled" and "marbled" finishes are available on certain surfaces. These can be a great, showy and low maintenance alternative to copper cladding. Contact us for samples.

As an OEM vendor, SBS prefers to build stainless clad vessels. However, copper cladding is available as well. When we do copper cladding, only solid copper sheet of .030" thickness or more is used, (NOT copper plated steel, known as “copper-nickeloid,” which will corrode when brewery chemicals come in contact with it.). The edges and seams can be banded with brass, copper or stainless strips, with or without "rivets" or other decorative fasteners. It’s costlier to do it this way, but it will look good for years after vessels clad with copper-nickeloid sheet have rusted and deteriorated.