Beer production

“Hops and malt, may the Lord preserve them!” Almost everyone involved in the beer production knows this saying. It is almost a prayer for the beer connoisseur. In addition to hops and malt, two more ingredients that are vital are needed: water and yeast. Beer production requires excellent quality water and lots of it.

MASHING:
The brewer starts by taking the water and heating it in the mash tun. The malt is then crushed and allowed to sink into the 52 degrees warm water. This process is called mashing. After the mash has gradually been heated, the mash is then transferred to the lauter tun.

LAUTERING AND WORT BOILING:
The lauter tun now separates the liquid from the grain, so it is drawn away. The liquid is now known as wort and it is brought to the boil, the hops are added and can be introduced at the beginning, during or at the end of the boiling process. The wort should now be removed from the hop residues and from the formed proteins. For this process the whirlpool is used: centrifugal forces form a cone in the middle of the tun and the wort can be cooled in the plate heat exchanger ready for the next step. As long as there is no yeast in the wort, it is not beer!

FERMENTATION:
When the yeast works, transforming sugar into alcohol and CO2, the wort becomes beer. Bottom fermented yeast likes temperatures of 7-9 degrees, whereas top-fermented yeast is particularly laborious at 16-22 degrees.
The yeast takes about a week until the sugar is processed and then the resting period begins.

MATURATION:
The brewer leaves the beer in the storage tank after fermentation for maturation. After a month or even two, the matured beer is filled into barrels or bottles to be enjoyed – cheers!