The General Process of Brewing Beer

At its essence, beer is the product of malted barley, hops, water and yeast. Of course, there are a multitude of variations within those ingredients alone, and other ingredients such as wheat, corn, rice, sugar, herbs, spices, fruits, honey, and just about anything else, can be used to brew beer.

The brewing process is not terribly complicated. Malted grains (primarily barley) are mashed at a temperature usually between 145 F and 155 f. At this temperature range, certain enzymes in the grain become active, and convert the starch of the grain into sugars. The mash usually lasts an hour, after which water is slowly added to the grains to rinse the sugars from the grains into the boil kettle (known as lautering). The spent grain is left behind, and only liquid is in the boil kettle. This liquid is known as “wort”.

The wort is traditionally boiled for an hour, with hops being added at various time during the boil. Boiling both kills any unwanted bacteria or yeast present in the wort. Boiling also brings out the bitterness of hops (which is desired).

At the end of the boil, the wort is cooled. If the beer will be fermented with an ale yeast, the wort is usually cooled to around 68 F. If a lager yeast, then it is usually cooled to 45-50 F. Once boiling is complete, the wort is sanitized. It is important not to let anything contact the wort that has not been sanitized, and the wort should be kept covered.

Once the wort is cooled to the desired temperature, it is transferred to a sanitized fermentation vessel. Oxygen may be added, or the wort splashed and shaken to add oxygen. The yeast is pitched into the wort, the top of the fermentation vessel is covered, and the fermentation vessel is place in an area where it can maintain the desired fermentation temperature with little to no temperature fluctuation (typically 68 F for ales, 50 F for lagers). If a clear fermentation vessel is used, the fermentation area should not be exposed to sunlight or fluorescent light. The rays of these lights will interact with the hops, and skunk the fermenting beer.

The fermentation process takes anywhere from as little as 2 days for some ales up to four weeks or longer, depending on the type of beer and the amount of sugar contained in the original wort. For homebrewed ales, it is recommended that these be allowed to ferment for two weeks to make sure fermentation is complete. Once fermentation is complete, the yeast and the small grain and hop particles (called “trub”) that may have made their way into the fermentation vessel will settle to the bottom of the fermentor. When moving the fermentor, care should be taken not to shake the vessel, as ideally you want the trub and yeast to stay at the bottom and not make its way into the final beer.