Inspiration

The fermentation process

DE: Kupferne Braukessel in moderner Brauerei mit Fliesenwand FR: Cuves de brassage en cuivre dans une brasserie moderne avec mur carrelé IT: Tini di fermentazione in rame in birreria moderna con parete piastrellata EN: Copper brewing kettles in modern brewery with tiled wall

The beer-making process: from raw ingredients to a delicious beer

What makes beer so fascinating is the multitude of different styles that can be created from malt, water, hops, and yeast. Many individual factors involved in beer production can influence the final result. While beer was originally produced in a rather simple manner, over the millennia the art of brewing has evolved into a highly technological process. The quality of the raw materials has always been paramount.

The main stages of the brewing process

The beer production process does not take place in a single vessel or in a single step, but passes through numerous different processes and vessels until the finished beer is obtained. The entire beer production process can be divided into two main stages:

  1. Hot phase: This phase includes mashing, filtration, and boiling the wort.
  2. Cold phase: This phase includes fermentation, storage/maturation, and filtration.

The beer production process step by step

  1. Mill: This is where the brewing process begins. In the mill, the malted grains are crushed and ground to prepare them for processing.
  2. Mash tun: This is where mashing takes place—the mixing and heating of malt and water.
  3. Lauter tun: During filtration, the wort is formed by separating out the undissolved substances. The filtered solids (spent grain) settle on a sieve in the lauter tun.
  4. Boiling vats: This is where the wort is boiled with the addition of hops.
  5. Whirlpool: The vortex separates the solids from the wort in the whirlpool.
  6. Chiller: The wort is cooled in the chiller, dropping from about 100 degrees to 8–15 degrees.
  7. Fermentation vat: Once cooled, the wort can ferment in the fermentation vat with the addition of yeast. During fermentation, the sugar in the malt is converted into carbon dioxide, alcohol, and aromas.
  8. Storage tank: The beer is stored in the storage tank for a period ranging from three weeks to three months. It is here that the beer undergoes secondary fermentation, and the last traces of yeast and tannins settle out, allowing the beer to clarify and acquire its characteristic color.
  9. Filtration system: Unwanted suspended particles and residual yeast cells are filtered out, resulting in a clear beer.

It is thanks to these precise steps and the rigorous selection of raw materials that the delicious beer we all love is created.