Brewing : Beer making Process

2. Milling:

• After kilning is completed, the malts are then crushed between the rollers to break the kernels of the malt into cotyledons, making it easy to extract sugar during mashing process.
• Impurities like dust, metals and stones will be separated.

3. Mashing:

(Source:https://www.alamy.com/close-up-of-milled-malt-grains-brewery-process-with-fragmentation-of-malt-at-modern-equipment-concept-of-brewery-image329271092.html)

• The grains from the milling process are then mixed with a hot water at 65°C for about 1 hour to create a cereal mash.
• When mixed with hot water, starch gets hydrolyzed by it’s naturally occurring enzymes which was already present in malt during germination starts producing simple sugars, maltose, dextrose. Similarly, proteolytic enzyme hydrolyzes proteins into amino acids.
•  This conversion process is called saccharification which depends on the pH and temperature.
• Then after saccharification, the sugar rich liquid is obtained which is called wort.

5. Wort boiling:

• Boiling is done for about 60 to 120 minutes depending upon the volume of water and addition of hops in a large tank.
• The boiling process is done for the wort sterilization to remove unwanted microorganisms and also to stop the chemical and enzymatic activity.
• During boiling process, the volatile compounds are removed in vapor and the off-flavor and odor of the wort are also removed out.
• The boiled wort is separated out at the end in a vessel.

6. Wort separation and cooling:

• Solid particles from the hopped wort are separated out in a vessel called whirlpool or settling tank.
• The vessel swirls the wort with a force into a center of the tank and are easily separated.
• The separated worts are brought down to 20-26°C in a plate heat exchanger.
• Water is also added to cool the wort through the gaps of the plate.

7. Fermentation

(Source: https://brewfuse.com/how-to-ferment-beer-a-step-by-step-guide/)

• Yeasts are added when the wort is transferred to a fermentation tank.
• Fermentation is carried out in open or closed vessel initially then the secondary fermentation takes place during bottling.
• Saccharomyces cerevisiae is ale yeast that ferments at the top of the wort and Saccharomyces pastorianin is lager yeast that collects at the bottom.
• The temperature is maintained at 60-68°C for ale and 50°C for lager. The temperature for ale is high because it results in ester formation and fragment organic compounds.
• After proper temperature is maintained, the yeast converts the sugar into ethanol and carbondioxide.
• After primary fermentation is completed, the obtained alcohol is conditioned or matured for about a week to year depending on the desired alcohol content.
• The beer is transferred to another container to prevent the formation of unwanted flavours and compounds.
• Krausening is a secondary fermentation done by the addition of wort to active yeast that will restart the fermentation and helps in carbonation and eliminates unwanted compounds.