Cider Equipment for New & Growing Cideries

To give new cideries or ciders scaling up in size some advice, we tapped MARKS Design & Metalwork to give us some answers on the tools of the trade. MARKS creates American-made storage and brewing/fermentation equipment for beer, wine, and cider making. They has brewing systems, tanks, and can offer custom solutions for those in need of their services or equipment. MARKS can get cideries off the ground and are innovators in the space. One of their newest products in their new infusion vessel that we wanted to mention for cidermakers out there.

In tapping MARKS, we had a series of questions for them to answer to help cideries find the right tools for them at the right time. Without further ado, we have the interview below.

Our Interview with MARKS on Cider Equipment for Cideries

What equipment does a new cidery need?

The basis for all good cider is the apple juice.  Once the cidery has the apple juice, the basic equipment MARKS suggests making the best craft cider includes:

• A Steam Kettle with a Mixer.
• A Fermenter to turn the juice into an alcoholic beverage.
• Brite Tanks to clarify, carbonate and store cider
• Cellar panel with glycol controls for fermentation monitoring
• A Clean In Place (CIP) system for sanitation.  This can be as simple as a manual system which includes a mobile pump cart. 
• An Infusion Vessel to add flavor ingredients to the cider such as fruit, hops or spices to create a unique craft beverage.
• A “Smart Cart”, a pump with the ability to control speed, flow rate, and has programmable set points with auto-off features for specified volumes or time- perfect for blending needs in the cellar 
• A “Cellar package”, with the various sanitary hose lengths, clamps, gaskets, and other small parts needed to keep the equipment running. 
• Glycol Chiller is a must to keep the cider cold throughout various cellar processes.
• If the cidery is going to keg the product for draft, then a keg washer will be needed.

What is needed to scale-up my cidery?

• To scale up production the cidery will need larger equipment or more Fermenters and Brite Tanks to add capacity.
• With larger capacity, the production facility will need a CIP System.  Mobile units available but large scale cider production, a centralized CIP system will be the most efficient.

What cidermaking equipment is right my business?

• MARKS is a custom stainless steel equipment manufacturing company that recognizes each cidery has specific demands. MARKS offers individual pieces of equipment to complete fermentation systems. For fermentation, selecting the right Tank and feature set is critically important to supporting the cidery’s production-style.  MARKS offers: 
  • Closed top Fermenters with integrated CIP 
  • Variable Capacity Fermenters – perfect for cidermakers who have varying amounts of product at a given time 
  • Uni-tanks with cone bottom for yeast extraction 
  • Brite Tanks for conditioning, carbonating and storing the final product before packaging. 

What your equipment does or helps support in the cidermaking process?

• All MARKS equipment meets all food and beverage sanitary requirements.
• MARKS is a custom fabrication manufacturer of stainless steel vessels.  We can fully customize sizing and dimension on any vessel to satisfy the restrictions of any facility.  
• Our unique customizations and equipment is engineered with consideration of producing a superior product.  MARKS assists with configuration and layout for guaranteed operational efficiencies and performance targets. 

What does your company offer?

• MARKS provides fully customized cider production systems.
  • We have a fully staffed engineering section with both mechanical and electronic engineers to design the cider production system.
  • With our engineers, MARKS has the full capacity to build ASME rated systems with pressure ratings above 14.9 PSI.
• MARKS also has technical consultants that help the cider-maker build the right system:
  • The consultant works with the cider-maker determine the right equipment.
  • The consultant can also work with the customer with site design for larger scale production and distribution across state lines.
• MARKS has a full Controls Shop and all our panels are UL listed.
• MARKS has a convenient Parts Store that provides the cidery with a full line of maintenance and replacement parts.
• MARKS offers a full line of Mixing Vessels, Storage Tanks, and CIP Skid Systems.

What other options or features do you have and their benefits?

• MARKS provides complete Cidery systems or expand existing production facilities with individual pieces of equipment.
• As a production facility expands, MARKS can provide automation through our in-house custom controls.
• MARKS works to form a partnership with each customer.  With our Technical Cider Consultant MARKS provides highly specialized advice in the building or expansion of a cidery operation.
• MARKS also offers field service capabilities, including installation of our equipment.

For more information, visit https://marksdmw.com. To accompany this piece, we also have how to start a cidery article.

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