Brewing Process
The Brewing Process
The Mash
Malted barley and other specialty grains are milled into a barley “grist” and transported through an auger system to the mash tun. Here the malt flour is mixed with hot water to allow the natural enzymes in the barley to convert the grain’s starch into sugars.
The Boil
After approximately 1½ hours the sweet liquor is rinsed from the grains and transferred to the brew kettle. This liquor, or wort as it’s called, is boiled with hops for 1½ hours to extract bitterness and to develop flavor and stability.
Fermentation
After boiling, the wort is transferred through a heat exchanger to a fermenter where yeast is added and the beer is allowed to ferment for as little as 4 days to as much as a number of weeks or months.
After fermentation, the beer is chilled, fined and transferred to serving tanks, kegs, or bottles.
Four Main Ingredients in Beer
Malt
Malted barley is the second most prevalent ingredient in making beer (second only to water). A mash of malted barley and hot water activates natural enzymes in the malt to convert the starches found in the grain into sugars. These sugars are what the yeast eventually ferments into alcohol in the beer. The blend of malts controls the balance of flavor, sweetness, color and strength in the beer.
Hops
Hops, the most common “flavoring” for beer, are the flowering portion of a tall vine-like plant that is now grown throughout the world. Different locations have produced different varieties of hops, each known for their varying bitterring and aroma characteristics. Hops are added to beer during the boil. Hops add bitterness, flavor and aroma to beer. They also have an antiseptic quality to them that protects the beer from spoilage. This is why hops have been chosen historically to flavor beer.
Yeast
Yeast are single celled organisms which consume sugars and produce alcohol and CO2 as by-products. This process is called fermentation. The yeast is added to the beer in the fermenter and eventually turns the wort into beer.
Water
Water is extremely important in the brewing process. The brewing process uses, on average, 6.5 volumes of water to make one volume of beer.
