The Brewing Process
The brewing process begins when malted barley is crushed and mixed with hot water in the mash tun. This is a process called mashing. During this process, natural enzymes within the malt break down much of the starch into sugars which play a vital part in the fermentation process. After mashing the liquid is drawn from the mash while the malted barley is left behind. This process is known as lautering. The sweet sugary liquid is known as wort. From the lauter tun the liquid is transferred in to the kettle where it is boiled for 90 minutes. During the boil hops are added at different times to achieve different flavors and aromas. Hops are bitter flowers that are needed to provide balance to the beer. Without hops beers would be much too sweet. After the boil is completed the wort is whirl pooled which allows the hops to settle to the bottom of the kettle. The boiled wort is then transferred out of the kettle through a heat exchanger which cools the 200 degree wort to 45 to 70 degrees. Once the wort passes through the heat exchanger it is sent to a fermenter where fresh yeast has already been pitched. Shortly the yeast will begin to consume the sugar in the wort to create alcohol. This process is known as fermentation. From there is will take 2 to 6 weeks to have a fully conditioned beer that is ready to drink. Then the beer is either filtered or left unfiltered and transferred to a serving tank. From the serving tank the beer runs directly to the taps at the bar. You can’t get any fresher than that!
