A portable assembly for cooling the contents of a fermentation vessel is provided. In one embodiment, the assembly comprises an insulated, cylindrical enclosure having a fixed bottom and a removable lid. A flexible heat exchanger is cylindrically disposed within the enclosure and encircles the fermentation vessel. In one embodiment, the flexible heat exchanger is connected to a vessel containing thermally conductive fluid by flexible tubes that extend outside the enclosure. In one embodiment, a heating element is used to heat the fermentation vessel.

An apparatus for the production of red wine is provided. This compact device is suitable for home and hobby use. The fermenting wine is contained inside a single-use plastic bag, eliminating cleaning. A reusable rubber bladder is inflated periodically to squeeze the cap and disperse it. At the conclusion of the fermentation, a perforated device is inserted into the fermentation bag and pneumatic bladders are sequentially inflated to press out the wine while retaining the waste skins and seeds.

A beverage maker apparatus including a fermentation tank having a space in which a beverage is made, a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the fermentation tank, a temperature controller configured to control the temperature of the fermentation tank, and a controller configured to operate when yeast is put into the beverage that is being made so that a fermentation process comprising a pre-fermentation process of controlling the temperature controller on the basis of a first setting temperature and a main-fermentation process of controlling the temperature controller on the basis of a second setting temperature.

A fermenter may include a fermentation container having a fermentation space in which a beverage is fermented and a first gas passage communicating with the fermentation space, and a fermentation lid opening and closing the fermentation container and having a second gas passage. When the fermentation lid closes the fermentation container, a gas chamber communicating with each of the first gas passage and the second gas passage is provided between the fermentation container and the fermentation lid.

A novel fermentation method uses a novel single stage horizontal cylindrical or partial cylindrical fermentor, larger in volume than the target volume of wine, which bounds the entire winemaking process. Fermentor has at least one opening for ingredient insert/removal, one-way venting gaseous closure, fermentor tilting prop, cavity space and bottling tap. Fermentor's cavity space and convex curvature underside provides for a fermentor rocking motion creating agitation and splashing for mixing the wine must and inducing ambient air/oxygen therein. A cavity space for fermentation foam expansion, heavier fermentation emitted CO.sub.2 gas purges out the ambient air/oxygen then retains CO.sub.2 gas providing a safe substantially oxygen free environment for a manually applied to the fermentor rocking motion creating agitation and splashing for mixing, degassing and resting the wine to clear in a safe substantially oxygen free environment until ready for direct bottling via bottling tap.

The present invention relates to a flexible fermentation, storage, transportation, and dispensing vessel and, more particularly, to a vessel that is structured and/or configured to ferment and/or store a liquid that can be cooled and/or heated and/or pressurized and/or protected from environments that would affect fermentation as a standalone container and/or in conjunction with additional device(s) using a flexible material and/or ports and/or valves.

A system, method, and apparatus for the fermentation of a beverage by use of continuous flow is provided. The fermented beverage can be any of a wine, beer, mead, ale, soda, cider, or other. The invention provides for small-scale fermentation that can be done in a much shorter time than previous batch fermentations. The small-scale and shortened time allows for variables to be introduced and tested to produce new varieties, flavors, qualities, and other combinations that are inputs of the fermented beverage.

A method for processing a crushed vegetal material, which has a solid part and liquid part and is placed inside a container, includes increasing the gas pressure inside the container so that the gas dissolves or diffuses in the liquid part; and decreasing the gas pressure inside the container.

The racking arm includes a housing affixable to a tank side wall. A racking shaft extends through the housing with an inlet pipe coupled to an inside end of the racking shaft, with an entrance offset from a rotational axis of the racking shaft. A control arm is affixed to the racking shaft and can be rotated to cause rotation of the racking shaft relative to the housing and to change the entrance to different elevations within the tank. A clearance groove surrounds the inside end of the racking shaft to facilitate cleaning of the inside end of the racking shaft. The arm can interface with an indexing plate to hold the racking shaft fixed with the arm indicating by its position the orientation of the entrance. At least one leak detection port extends through the housing to indicate whether fluid is leaking between the racking shaft and housing.