Craft brewers select and combine the right ingredients and brewing method to achieve distinctive flavor, color and body so passionately that it may be considered an art but so carefully that it resembles a science. The diligent brewer ensures that the science throughout the entire brewing process reflects that commitment to quality and also to safety.

From nationally known and widely admired brands like Deschutes Brewery of Oregon and Bell’s Brewery of Kalamazoo Michigan, to smaller brewing operations like Mountain Town Brewing Company, which enjoys an excellent local reputation in mid-Michigan, brewers who care about quality know the importance of selecting the right heat transfer fluid for their system. That’s why they choose DOWFROST™ inhibited propylene glycol heat transfer fluid.

In fact, so many beer and wine makers use DOWFROST™ fluid that it has led the industry for over 50 years. Bell’s Brewery and Deschutes Brewery are among the top 15 largest craft breweries out of over 2,000 operating in the United States. Both produce hundreds of thousands of barrels each year and have grown rapidly largely based on their reputation for making quality beers.

Subtle differences between batch to batch brewing temperatures, particularly during primary and secondary fermentation stages, can affect the taste, color and aroma of beer. Just a few degrees higher means yeast will produce larger amounts of ester-based components; even when present at part per quadrillion levels, these can have a profound effect on flavor. DOWFROST™ fluid was selected by Bell’s as their secondary coolant because their brewing operations leaders recognized the importance of consistent temperature control in making quality beer.

“We have been using DOWFROST™ fluid here at Bell’s for about 18 years,” said John Mallett, director of operations for Bell’s. “We would not be interested in considering another brand of coolant, because we know the quality we are getting with Dow.”

Many craft brewers produce more individual brands than macrobrewers, frequently featuring a mix of top- and bottom-fermenting recipes that call for distinctly different temperature control profiles. Non-dedicated equipment used to produce more than one style of beer may require different temperature profiles throughout the year. Those are a few of the reasons craft brewers rely on a coolant like DOWFROST™ fluid that allows very precise control of temperature in wort coolers, primary fermenters, secondary fermenters, and other equipment. Used at 25 to 45% in aqueous solutions, this fluid provides dependable temperature control across an operating range from -50°F to 250°F (-46°C to 121°C).

Continuing to grow as their reputation for consistent quality spread, Bell’s Brewery produced 373,000 barrels in 2015, but even much smaller brewing operations recognize the importance of dependability. Mountain Town Brewing Company’s owner Jim Holton asserts that temperature control is vital to maintaining the quality and consistency of the regional brewer’s beers. “

With our ales, it’s very important that we keep temperatures very close to 70 degrees,” said Holton. “Too much above that, and we could have trouble with off-flavors from wild yeast strains. We’re very pleased with the temperature control we get with the DOWFROST fluid, and we plan to continue it as we grow our operation.”