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The Brewing Process
Brewing beer typically uses custom built brewing equipment, and combines the expertise of the brewmaster with hand selected ingredients.
Step One - The Roller Mill
Brewing starts with grain. The first step in brewing is milling. Grain is run through a roller mill, which breaks the husk open and exposes the starches inside. Once crushed, it's referred to as grist. The grist is then transferred to the brew house where it awaits mashing.
Step Two - The Grist Hopper
The grist is transferred to a grist hopper in the brew house using a variety of transportation methods. The grist hopper holds the grist until the brewer is ready to add it to the mash tun.
Step Three - The Mash Tun
In the mash tun, the brewer mixes hot water and grist to produce the mash, a thick blend that resembles oatmeal or porridge. The mash is steeped in hot water to begin the conversion of starch to sugar. Once the proper color and clarity have been achieved, the sweet liquid, called wort, to the brew kettle. A false bottom that works much like a coffee filter holds back the mash to allow drainage of the wort. The final step is to rinse, or sparge, the remaining grain that is in the mash tun.
Step Four - The Brew Kettle
Once the appropriate volume of wort has been placed in the brew kettle, it is brought to a boil and hops are added. Additional hops may go into the kettle throughout the boil, depending on the beer style. Boiling allows for removal of excess proteins which can affect the final clarity and stability of the finished beer. The brewer adds hops at various times during the boil to provide bitterness, hop flavor and hop aroma.
Step Five - The Heat Exchanger
Once the boil is complete and the wort is concentrated, it travels through a heat exchanger which chills the wort to a yeast-friendly temperature. The cooled wort is sent from the heat exchanger to the fermenter.
Step Six - Fermentation Tanks
Yeast is added to the sterile wort, and the fermenter is sealed. The yeast consumes the sugars in the wort, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. The alcohol becomes part of the final beer, while the carbon dioxide is vented out of the fermenter.
Step Seven - Conditioning Tanks
The final step is the cold room. Beer is transferred from the fermenter to a conditioning tank. Yeast continues to fall out of the beer as it ages, while the flavors mature until the beer "drops brite." This process varies in time from days to months depending on the beer style. At this point the beer is transferred to a serving tank.
Step Eight - The Serving Tanks
After conditioning, the beer is delivered to the serving tanks. The beer is carbonated here and then either kegged, bottled, canned, or delivered directly to a tap handle.
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