The current essay is an analytical piece of writing that addresses beer processing. The brewery is a series of complex processes that include the following subprocesses: malting and milling, mashing and lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning and filtering, and as the last step, pasteurization. In the current essay, the abovementioned nine (excluding packaging) stages of the brewery are presented and explained to demonstrate the whole process of making beer.
The first two steps of the process of brewery are malting and milling. First of all, grains (wheat, oats, or rye) are placed in cold water until they are saturated. This is followed by its placement in germinating boxes for germination that can take up to six days. After, grains are placed in a kiln and get dried. At this stage, the taste and color of future beer are formed. When the drying process is complete, the product is called ‘malt.’ The malt is milled (in the same way as flour) and can be easily dissolved in water.
The next steps of the beer processing are mashing and lautering. The obtained malt is mixed with hot water in the mash tun to create the mash. At this stage, mashing and temperature control are essential to optimize sugars and proteins. Then, in the lautering process, the wort is separated from the spent grains (McHugh, 2017). The mash is placed into a lauter tun where the clear wort is separated from the spent grains. Besides, water is added to the tun to extract fermentable sugars. It is essential to not hold it for too long, as bitterness may appear. Often in modern breweries, mash filters are used instead of grains.
The fifth step of the complex brewing process is wort boiling. The wort is boiled in a copper brew kettle or the brewing pan, and the hops are added into the wort to bring flavor and aroma to the beer (McHugh, 2017). The type and amount of hops influence the future taste of the beer. The received mixture is cooled to avoid oxidation and off-flavors.
The sixth step of beer processing is alcoholic fermentation. The process occurs in a fermentation tank where a brewing yeast is added. The yeast transforms sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide (McHugh, 2017). The next two steps following the fermentation are conditioning and filtering. When the sugars are turned into alcohol and carbon dioxide, the fermentation process is ended. However, in conditioning, the yeast still performs an important function – absorbing off-flavors. In a week, the yeast is filtered that gives the beer the right taste, and makes it shiny. The last step in the process is pasteurization that aims “to kill any remaining yeast and prevent further alcohol production” (McHugh, 2017, para. 11). The processes consisting of nine stages are described above can be presented through three main components: raw materials (wheat, oats, or rye), processing and fermentation, and monitoring.
In summary, the present paper aimed to provide an analytical process writing devoted to the brewery. There are nine essential stages of beer processing: malting, milling, mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering, and pasteurization. The nine processes were presented and explained in detail to analyze the process. Each step is essential and affects the next one and, thus, the whole outcome of the brewery is closely connected with the correct execution of every stage.
References
McHugh, T. (2017). How beer is processed. IFT, 71: 11. Web.