Brewing for Beginners

Objective
A very simple explanation of the brewing process.

Index
What is beer? ........................................................................................................................ 6

Cereals................................................................................................................................... 6
Barley...................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Malting ....................................................................................................................................... 8

What is Malt?......................................................................................................................... 8
Why do we malt?.................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Steeping.................................................................................................................................................................................. 9

Germination.......................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Kilning................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Lager (Pils) malt ................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Vienna malt........................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Crystal malt .......................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Wheat malt............................................................................................................................................................................ 15

Adjuncts .................................................................................................................................. 17

What are adjuncts? ............................................................................................................. 17

So why use Adjuncts? ........................................................................................................ 17

Cost & availability ................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Control of fermentability...................................................................................................................................................... 17

Beer quality and taste can be enhanced............................................................................................................................. 18

Colour contribution.............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Beer presentation................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Affect on stability ................................................................................................................................................................. 18

There are some disadvantages though ............................................................................. 18

Affect on foam...................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Affect on fermentation ......................................................................................................................................................... 19

Solid cereal adjuncts. ......................................................................................................... 19

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 Liquid adjuncts.................................................................................................................... 19
Raw Sugars .......................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Cereal Syrups....................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Solid blends of natural sugars. .......................................................................................... 20

The Brewhouse ....................................................................................................................... 21

Milling ...................................................................................................................................... 21

Mashing ................................................................................................................................... 24

Enzymes .............................................................................................................................. 24
How does Amylase work in the mash?............................................................................................................................... 25

Mashing, the process.......................................................................................................... 26

Lautering ................................................................................................................................. 28

What does a lauter tun look like? ...................................................................................... 28

Sparge................................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Rakes .................................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Draw off ................................................................................................................................................................................ 30

Operation............................................................................................................................. 30

The mash filter .................................................................................................................... 31

What does it consist of?...................................................................................................................................................... 31

Wort boiling............................................................................................................................. 33

Why boil wort? .................................................................................................................... 33

What does a modern copper look like?............................................................................. 33

Hops......................................................................................................................................... 36

What are hops? ................................................................................................................... 36

Why are hops used in beer?............................................................................................... 37

History ................................................................................................................................. 37

The brewing bit.................................................................................................................... 38

Hop growing ........................................................................................................................ 38

Hop harvesting.................................................................................................................... 43

Summary ............................................................................................................................. 46

Wort clarification..................................................................................................................... 47

Why do we clarify wort? ..................................................................................................... 47

Types of separation system ............................................................................................... 47

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 Breweries using whole hops ............................................................................................................................................... 47

Hop Back .......................................................................................................................................................................... 47

Hop Strainer ..................................................................................................................................................................... 49

Breweries using hop pellets or extracts ............................................................................................................................. 49

Settling tank...................................................................................................................................................................... 49

Whirlpool........................................................................................................................................................................... 50

Hot Wort Centrifuge ............................................................................................................................................................. 51

What is centrifugal force?.................................................................................................................................................. 51

How does a decanter centrifuge work? ............................................................................................................................. 52

Wort filters ........................................................................................................................... 52

Wort cooling, aeration & yeast pitching ................................................................................ 54

Why do we cool wort? ........................................................................................................ 54

Microbial Contamination ..................................................................................................................................................... 54

Cooling Wort to fermentation temperature......................................................................................................................... 55

Aeration/Oxygenation & yeast growth................................................................................................................................ 57

Why do we aerate? ........................................................................................................................................................... 57

What does aeration achieve?............................................................................................................................................ 57

Where & how should we aerate? ...................................................................................................................................... 57

Ensure that you only use air from an oil free compressor. In any event, the air/oxygen should pass through a sterile
filter....................................................................................................................................................................................... 58

Safety .................................................................................................................................................................................... 58

Be aware that pure oxygen can explode in contact with grease. All joints and fittings should be grease (and oil!) free
if oxygen is used. ................................................................................................................................................................. 58

Yeast pitching ..................................................................................................................... 58

Formation and separation of cold break. .......................................................................... 59

Yeast ........................................................................................................................................ 61
Reproduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 62

Selecting yeast for Brewing ............................................................................................... 62

Yeast metabolism (growth)................................................................................................. 63

Fermentation ........................................................................................................................... 64

Fermentation in practice..................................................................................................... 66
Temperature ......................................................................................................................................................................... 66

Deep Cooling........................................................................................................................................................................ 66

Process and progress of fermentation ............................................................................................................................... 66

A Saccharometer. ............................................................................................................................................................. 67

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 Yeast collection.................................................................................................................................................................... 67

How does yeast do it? ........................................................................................................ 67

Feeding the Fermentation.................................................................................................................................................... 68

Phases of Yeast growth....................................................................................................................................................... 68

Types of fermentation......................................................................................................... 68

Maturation ............................................................................................................................... 71

Why mature beer?............................................................................................................... 71

How do we do it?................................................................................................................. 72
The traditional method......................................................................................................................................................... 72

Modern method .................................................................................................................................................................... 72

Oxygen.................................................................................................................................................................................. 72

Sedimentation ..................................................................................................................... 73
How a centrifuge works. ...................................................................................................................................................... 73

Stabilisation......................................................................................................................... 74

What can we use? ............................................................................................................... 74

Where do we add them? ...................................................................................................................................................... 74

Filtration .................................................................................................................................. 76

Why filter beer?................................................................................................................... 76

What is filtration?................................................................................................................ 76

How do filters work?........................................................................................................... 76

Surface filtration................................................................................................................................................................... 78

Depth filtration ..................................................................................................................................................................... 78

What type of filter should we use? .................................................................................... 80

The Plate and Frame Filter................................................................................................................................................... 80

Candle Filter. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 81

Horizontal Screen Filter. ...................................................................................................................................................... 84

Safety .................................................................................................................................................................................... 85

Carbonation......................................................................................................................... 86

Bright beer............................................................................................................................... 87

Water........................................................................................................................................ 88

Suitability for brewing......................................................................................................... 89

How?..................................................................................................................................................................................... 89

Chlorine ............................................................................................................................................................................ 89

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 Chlorine dioxide ................................................................................................................................................................ 89

Ozone ............................................................................................................................................................................... 89

UV treatment .................................................................................................................................................................... 89

Sterile Filtration & Distillation ............................................................................................................................................ 89

Removal of solids ............................................................................................................... 90

Minerals & Salts .................................................................................................................. 92

Calcium................................................................................................................................................................................. 92

Magnesium ........................................................................................................................................................................... 92

Sodium.................................................................................................................................................................................. 93

Potassium............................................................................................................................................................................. 93

Iron........................................................................................................................................................................................ 93

Zinc ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 93

Copper ions .......................................................................................................................................................................... 93

Carbonates & bi-carbonate.................................................................................................................................................. 93

Chloride ................................................................................................................................................................................ 94

Sulphate................................................................................................................................................................................ 94

Nitrite & nitrate .................................................................................................................................................................... 94

Water hardness. .................................................................................................................. 94

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What is beer?

Beer is an alcoholic drink made from cereals. It is flavoured with:

· Compounds from the cereal

· Hops (to give bitterness)

· And sometimes extra sugars (for flavour and fullness)

It is fermented by yeast. Yeast produces Alcohol and Carbon Dioxide from sugar. The
sugar is produced from the cereal during a malting process followed by a brewhouse
process. Sometimes non malted adjunct is added as well to provide extract and other
advantages.

The alcohol gives the intoxicating effect and some flavour to the beer. The Carbon Dioxide
gives sparkle and improves the “palate”

Cereals

The most common cereal is Barley. Some beers however are made from Wheat (German
Weizenbier). Some beer is made from Sorghum. Sorghum is a common crop in Africa.
These cereals are malted to prepare them for the brewing process.

Other cereals are also processed (but not malted) and included in the brew. These are
called adjuncts. They supply fermentable material, but little flavour. We will see later the
advantages of using adjuncts as well as malted cereal.

Barley

There are two types of barley grown. Two row barley and six row barley.

2 Row barley 6 row barley

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These names come from the arrangement of the corns in the ear.

Two row barley has 2 lines of corns on the

ear:

Looked at from the side Looked at from the

top

Six row barley has 6 lines of corns on the

ear

Looked at from the side Looked at from the

top

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Malting
What is Malt?

Malt is barley that has been germinated and dried. Germination starts the production of
enzymes: the drying stops them from working until mashing.

Why do we malt?

The fermentable sugar in barley is “locked up” as starch in the seed. Yeast cannot ferment
starch.

Fortunately, when cereals start to germinate (grow) they produce biochemicals called
enzymes. These enzymes can break down starch to fermentable sugars.

When we malt, we want to start germination and produce the enzymes. We germinate the
malt in big tanks called steeps. The germinated malt is then put into germinating boxes
where it is allowed to start growing. This starts the enzyme production.

Nevertheless, we must stop the action of the enzymes before they start to breakdown the
starch. If we did not stop them, they would produce sugars. The barley seed would grow
and we would lose extract for the brew. Later on in the brewhouse, we will see how we use
these enzymes to breakdown the starch to produce a fermentable liquid, wort.

We stop the enzymes working by drying the germinated barley carefully. We do this in
such a way that the enzymes stop working (they need water to work) but so they are not
destroyed (they are sensitive to heat). The barley is dried on a kiln. Kilning also produces a
dark colour and the “malty” flavours we expect in beer.

Let’s look at the malting process in a little more detail.

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Steeping

The first stage of malting increases the water content in the barley grains.

The increased water content “tricks” the barley into growing, i.e. starts the germination
process.

Steeping takes place in a steep tank.

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 Steeps seen from below

Barley being sprayed with water in

the steep.

It is also aerated with compressed

air. This improves the germination
rate.

After steeping the wet grain is transferred to germinating boxes

Germination

Towards the end of steeping, the barley starts to grow, to germinate. The rootlet starts to
emerge.

Germination is done in large, aerated, open vessels. It is done under controlled

temperature conditions at approximately 150 C. Air, saturated with water, is passed
through the germinating malt. This goes on for a period of three to five days

The germinating barley is regularly turned to prevent matting of the rootlets.

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 Steeped barley being added to the
germinating box.

Barley being turned by machine in the

boxes.

A Diagram of a germinating box is shown below.

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While the grain grows, the natural enzymes are produced.

When the maltster decides that the time is right (maximum enzymes but before the starch
is attacked) the germinated barley is transferred to the Kilns, where it is dried.

Kilning

During kilning water is removed and flavour compounds formed.

Diagram of a kiln

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 A malt kiln fully loaded.

The temperature determines the colour of the malt. It also determines the amount of
enzymes that survive for use in the mashing process. Heat denatures enzymes.

· High heat gives high colour and low amount of enzymes.

· Low heat gives low colour and a high amount of enzymes.

Kilning usually takes between 24 and 36 hours and brings the moisture down to between
3% and 6%

Once the malt has been kilned, it can be stored (dry) until it used for brewing.

Many different types of malt are made. The most common are the pale malts. They have
not been kilned heavily. So there is a maximum amount of enzyme for the brewing
process. Here is a typical pale lager malt:

Lager (Pils) malt

Other malts are made, sometimes for flavour like Vienna Malt

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Vienna malt

It is produced in a similar way to lager malt, but using higher kilning temperatures (900C) to
give a darker colour and slightly stronger nutty, or toffee flavour.

Other malts are very dark indeed. They are heated so much that all the enzymes are
destroyed, but they give very strong flavours.

Crystal malt

Crystal malt has a sweet caramel flavour. It is made by "stewing" green malt. Crystal malt
gives beer a ruby red hue.

Others are actually roasted to produce a malt where all the contents are caramelised.
These are used for British style Stouts.

Roasted Malt

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Roasted malt is also called Black malt. It is produced by roasting White Malt at a high
temperature. This gives a sharp acrid flavour and a black colour. Roasted malt is used in
Sweet Stouts and Dark beers.

Wheat is also commonly malted in central Europe to produce “wheat” or “Weizenbier”

Wheat malt

After kilning, all malts are cleaned in special “screening” machines before being stored in
Silos or bags.

A screening machine.

The screens are circular. They rotate and

the grain moves along.

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 This mesh will separate different grain
sizes.

This mesh separates long thin material like

stalk from the grain.

The malt is now ready for brewing.

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Adjuncts
Before we move on to the brewing process we should look at Adjuncts.

What are adjuncts?

Adjuncts are materials that contain fermentable extract. (They may have to be processed
before they can be used)

Typical adjuncts are:

· Sugar or syrup.

· Treated cereal (like maize or rice).

· Raw starches (such as maize starch).

Most sugars can be fermented directly. All the cereal products have to be treated and
added to the brewing process. The natural enzymes in the mash convert them to sugars.

So why use Adjuncts?

Cost & availability

Adjuncts are used to reduce raw material costs.

Another reason can be to utilise local sources of extract. This is especially when locally
malted barley is not available. This can happen in tropical areas.

Relative cost of selected adjunct (based on malt cost of 100 units):

Source of Extract Relative unit costs

Malt 100

Raw Barley 65

Raw Wheat 70

Maize Grits 86

Control of fermentability

Adjuncts can be used to adjust the fermentability of wort.

Different sugars ferment at different rates. This affects beer flavour.

· Glucose ferments rapidly. It gives a thin taste.

· Maltose ferments more slowly. It gives a fuller taste.

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There is a range of different syrups that can be added to the copper. These syrups have
different sugar compositions.

Beer quality and taste can be enhanced

Bland adjuncts (such as starch and corn syrups) have the effect of diluting malt flavours.
As malt flavours are less pronounced, subtler flavours from the fermentation and hops can
be tasted.

This is typical in some North American beer styles. These beers have up to 50% cereal
adjunct.

Adjuncts also contribute their own flavours to the beer:

· Maize gives a fuller flavour.

· Wheat gives dryness.

· Rice has a very neutral aroma and taste. It gives a clean lighter tasting beer.

· Semi-refined cane sugar (Golden Syrup) adds colour and flavour to the beer. It
gives a luscious character to ales.

Colour contribution

Dark coloured adjuncts are used to provide or adjust the colour of a beer. They may also
add flavour. Coloured adjuncts include dark sugars and caramels.

Light coloured adjunct will dilute malt colours to produce lighter coloured beers. Light
coloured adjunct include rice, pure starches, sugars and other cereals.

Beer presentation

Some adjuncts such as raw barley and wheat add glycoproteins. These improve foam
stability.

Affect on stability

Most adjuncts are low in Nitrogen. Their use reduces total Nitrogen in the beer. This
improves the haze stability of the finished beer.

There are some disadvantages though

Affect on foam

Some adjuncts are high in lipids (fats), for example maize. Lipids can cause rancid off
flavours in the beer. Excess lipids can reduce the amount of foam.

Most adjuncts are low in protein. This reduces the total amount of foam proteins available.
This reduces the foam potential of the beer.

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Affect on fermentation

When very high levels of adjuncts are used, there is a risk of producing wort with low
soluble nitrogen. Soluble nitrogen is needed for healthy yeast growth.

Under these circumstances, yeast nutrient may have to be added to the wort.

Adjuncts are supplied in three forms

Solid cereal adjuncts.

The energy is stored as starch and has to be converted to sugar in the brewhouse
during mashing.

Flaked maize Flaked wheat

Liquid adjuncts.
These are already in the form of sugars ready for fermentation. They are generally
added directly to the copper

Raw Sugars

Sugar is available in crude form as sugar cane or as sugar beet.

The raw cane sugar is refined through a series of crystallisation and filtrations. A range of
liquid and solid sucrose sugars is produced.

The less refined the sugar, the darker the colour and the stronger the flavour.

The dark coloured sugars give a light caramel, honey, or brown sugar taste.

The colour and flavour can be changed by blending in less refined sugar to pure sugar.

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Some brewers prefer to use invert sugar. Invert sugar is a mixture of glucose (also called
dextrose) and fructose. It is available in liquid or solid block form.

Cereal Syrups

Brewing syrups can be manufactured from cereals such as wheat and maize cereals by
converting the starch to sugars in a separate process.

The syrups are available in liquid form with a range of sugar content. These can be added
directly to the copper. Wort fermentability can be adjusted by using different types of
syrup.

Solid blends of natural sugars.

Added either to the mash copper or after fermentation. The blends can highly fermentable
(cane sugar) or at the other extreme purely for flavour (Lactose: a non fermentable sugar)

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The Brewhouse
The brewhouse is where we change our malted cereal and cereal adjuncts into a sugary
liquid that can be fermented by yeast to make beer. We call the liquid, wort.

The conversion is done in large vessels called Lauter tuns. Malt is ground, mixed with
warm water and added to the lauter tun. The enzymes (remember them?) in the malt turn
the starch into sugar. The sugar dissolves in the water and is ready for boiling and hop
addition.

We’ll see in a moment that we can use the adjuncts directly in the brewing process.
However, the malt has to be prepared for the brewhouse.

Milling
Malt when it is delivered to the brewery is of course a whole “seed”. The starch, enzymes
and flavours are all locked up in a tight seed coat.

We have to open up the malt to expose the goodies. We do that by milling.

There is quite an art in milling. We will see in the next few pages that we not only have to
expose the starch but that we also have to provide a filter bed for the lauter tuns. This filter
bed is made up of the crushed skin or husk of the malt. It must be just the right size.

In addition, it is important that we don’t over-mill the starch. Too fine and it will form a gluey
porridge before it can be converted. Too big and we’ll lose extract because not all the
starch will be attacked by the enzymes.

There are many types of mill. Some are dry mills others are wet mills. The most common
dry mill is a six roll (3 pairs) dry mill. When we dry mill the malt is milled to the correct
consistency. It is then stored in a hopper over the mashing vessel (we’ll come to that in a
moment). The mashing vessel is where it will be mixed with warm water to start the
conversion process.

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 Three pairs of rolls allow optimum
grinding for husk with coarse grits
and fine grits. Paired screens below
each of the first two sets of rollers
divert the various fractions, either to
the appropriate set of rolls or direct
to the mill outlet.

It’s easy to control the different

percentages of husk (for filtration in
the lauter tun) and grit size of the
starch.

Wet milling involves grinding the malt and mixing it with warm water during the milling
process. Mashing happens in the mill, not in the mash vessel. We still use a mash vessel
though, particularly if we want to use adjuncts.

A typical wet mill looks like this.

The equipment consists of a

steep tank where the entire
malt charge for a brew is
soaked in water for up to 30
minutes. The amount of
water is preset. The soaked
malt then passes through a
simple two roll mill. Here the
endosperm (the starch) is
squeezed out. Because the
husk is soft, it is not
damaged. The milled malt
passes directly into the
mashing system. Additional
water is sprayed in to get
the mash consistency
correct. Steep water can be
re-used as part of the mash.
The mash either falls directly
into the mash vessel or is
pumped to it.

There are many variations on these two systems. What both of them do however is to:

Page 22 of 95
· Expose the starch

· Provide husk for filtration

· Grind the starch to the correct consistency for best extract and no “setting”

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Mashing
Now that we’ve milled out malt we have to start (and control) the process of
saccharification. This long word describes the action of the enzymes turning the starch into
sugar.

Before we go into detail let’s talk about enzymes. We’ve mentioned them before, but what
are they? How do they work?

Enzymes

· Enzymes are proteins that catalyse biochemical re-actions.

· They are biochemical catalysts. This means that they make a reaction happen but
they are left unchanged to repeat the same reaction again and again.

· Enzymes are specific in the reaction that they catalyse. That is, they only work:

· On one reaction

· On one substrate (or target molecule)

Enzyme We can represent an enzyme as

having specific sites on its molecule

These coincide with the sites on a

target molecule or substrate
SUBSTRATE

Enzyme The enzyme combines with the

target molecule. Because it “fits”, it
can start a reaction. You may like to
SUBSTRATE imagine the as substrate being the
lock and the enzyme the key.

The enzyme breaks up the substrate.

It is left unchanged to work again on
another molecule.

In mashing, the substrate is starch. The products of enzymatic action are maltose,
glucose, maltotriose and dextrins. The most important enzyme in the malt is Amylase.
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How does Amylase work in the mash?

Let’s imagine this is a starch

molecule.

Amylase breaks it up. Most of these

sugars are fermentable. They
dissolve in the wort.

This sugar is Glucose. It ferments

very well.

This sugar is Maltose. It ferments

well.

This sugar is Maltotriose. (Triose

means three). It ferments slowly.

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 This sugar is a Dextrin. It does not
ferment.

Another important enzyme group is the Proteases.

They act on proteins to produce peptides.

Peptides in turn are broken down by peptidases to give essential yeast nutrients called
amino acids.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Without protein, nothing could grow. For
example, yeast needs amino acids to grow.

Mashing, the process

The mash tun is where the process of saccharification starts. Saccharification means,
“turning to sugar”. Dry grist is mixed with water at a specific temperature in the mashing
vessel. Alternatively, already wetted “wet milled” mash may be pumped in.

The mash vessel is fitted with an agitator and some sort of heating.

The mash is heated to different temperatures over very carefully controlled time spans.
These temperature changes start the saccharification process. They also start other
enzyme reactions that produce yeast growth biochemicals from protein in the malt.

These different temperatures can be used to change the fermentation characteristics of

the beer. For example, a long time at lower temperatures can produce more fermentable
sugars.
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A typical temperature process would look like this

TEMPERATURE/TIME MASH PROFILE FOR PROGRAMMED INFUSION MASH.

100

78
Saccharification
75
72

65
Temp C
o

50 52
Gelatinisation DP

Transfer to Lauter Tun

25
Mash Tun

20 30 5 5
Time in Minutes
Firstly, the malt starch is allowed to gelatinise (the starch mixes with water and the first
enzyme attach makes it soft and sticky). Then the temperature is raised in steps to start
saccharification. At the end, the temperature is raised high enough to kill the enzyme
activity. The mash is then pumped to the lauter tun.

We have to stop the enzyme activity otherwise saccharification would continue and we
wouldn’t be able to control the composition of the final wort.

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Lautering
Now that we’ve made our mash what next?

The mash is now like a thin porridge. It contains bits of husk and other non soluble
material. The liquid part is a sticky syrup from all the dissolved sugar. That’s the bit that we
want. How do we get it?

The answer is the lauter tun!

What does a lauter tun look like?

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Probably the most important thing about the lauter tun is the false bottom. This keeps back
all the solid particles and allows the liquid to run down to the true bottom. The liquid (the
wort) can then be drawn off ready for the next stage.

Milled slots The false bottom is built up of interlocking

Wear line plates. These may have either milled slots
or they may be built up of wedge wire.

G a p in c r e a s e s
w it h w e a r The advantage of wedge wire over cut slots
is that wear on the wire does not produce
Wedge wire slots an " opening" of the gap.

Wear line
The plates are made in sections so that they
can be lifted. This enables them to be
thoroughly cleaned if required.
No gap change
with wear

Sparge

It has a sparging system. This is used to spray water over the mash to wash out the worts.
Once the strong wort has been collected, the water spray washes out the remaining wort.

Rakes

It has a raking
system. These
are knives that
can “cut” the
bed. This, when
used properly,
helps the
filtration process.

There is a CIP (Cleaning In Place) system installed. There are spray balls or jets which
clean the internal surface and under the plates.

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Draw off

All Lauter tuns are fitted with a special draw off device. This enables the operator run off
the wort without pulling the “bed” down onto the plates. This would block the slots in the
false bottom.

Operation

A typical lauter tun cycle to collect 1000 hl is described below.

Event Duration Volume HI
Underletting 3 minutes 23
This covers the false bottom. It stops the
mash settling into the slots and blocking
them.
Filling 11 minutes
The mash is pumped from the mashing
vessel.
Re-circulation 4 minutes 20
Wort is recirculated through the false
bottom until it is bright.
First worts 41 minutes 200
The strong worts are run off
Second worts 74 minutes 475
Weaker worts are run off. Sparge water
starts to wash out the wort.
Last worts 10 minutes 141
The last weak runnings are collected
Weak worts 16 minutes 179
Weak worts are sent to drain. They may be
collected and used for mashing the next
brew. This saves extract. However, they
must be kept hot and therefore sterile.
Drain down 8 minutes 93
The remaining liquid goes to drain.
Grain removal 25 minutes
Spent grains are removed
Under plate flush 5 minutes
The space under the plates is cleaned. This
removes any bits of grain that may have got
through the slots. If it were left it would be
infected very quickly.
Total 197 minutes 1000

There are other devices to “strain” the wort. The most common is the mash filter.

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The mash filter

What does it consist of?

It consists of alternating plates. Mash is pumped into one plate. This is hollow:

Perforated
Hollow plate support plate

Perforated support
Wort
outlet
port

The cloths are put over the adjoining plate, which has a perforated centre area.

The cloth holds the mash. The wort travels through the cloth. It goes through the
perforated plate and into its hollow inside. It then feeds out through exit ports.

Cloths are normally polypropylene which is easily washed.

The plates are held together by a hydraulic press.

Page 31 of 95
 A modern mash filter: the
Meura 2001

Mash in

Filter plates

Wort out

The mash filter is flushed, and then preheated with hot water.

The mash is then pumped into the filter through the top channel, completely filling the filter
frames.

The entire transfer to the mash filter is completed in 20 to 30 minutes

When the filter is full, the wort collection system is opened. The wort is drawn horizontally
through the filter cloths.

Sparging is started after the first wort is partially drained but before the filter cake becomes
dry.

After the last wort, the filter is opened automatically, plate-by-plate, and spent grains fall
into a trough with a screw conveyor.

Whatever system we use we should produce a “bright” (clear) wort. It should also be of a
consistent “gravity” (gravity is a measure of the sugar content)

This wort is then pumped to a copper where it will be boiled with hops.

Page 32 of 95
Wort boiling
Why boil wort?

Wort boiling stops any trace of enzyme activity. It also precipitates out undesirable protein
material that has come from the mashing process. This helps to “stabilise” the beer so that
it keeps longer in package. It also removes unpleasant aromas that might have come from
the process.

Most importantly, it extracts the bittering substances from hops. Hops give all beers their
characteristic bitter taste and aroma.

Equally important however is the fact that boiling sterilises the wort. There are millions of
bacteria and moulds that could have survived the brewing process so far. If they were
allowed to grow, they would make the beer undrinkable! It’s essential that the wort is
sterile before we start to ferment it.

What does a modern copper look like?

All coppers are vessels designed for boiling. Some have external heating jackets like this
“asymmetric copper”

Others have a central boiling column that boils the wort and “shoots” it out through a
spreader

Page 33 of 95
The most modern ones have an external boiler. The wort is pumped around and the
external heater boils it.

Page 34 of 95
Hops are added to the copper, usually in stages to control the bittering and aroma
properties. Nearly all breweries today use hop powder or extract (we’ll look at these in the
next section)

When the wort has been boiled, it has to be “filtered” or “cleared” again. Boiling
precipitates lots of undesirable protein and it must be removed before we can ferment it.

Virtually every brewery today uses a “Whirlpool” to do this. Only a few, very specialised
breweries who still use whole hops, use other devices to filter out this protein (called trub)
together with the “spent” hops.

Before we go onto the whirlpool, let’s look at Hops.

Page 35 of 95
Hops
What are hops?

Hops are the flowers of the hop plant. They have glands in the flower (the hop cone) that
contain a powder called Lupulin. This powder contains bitter substances. The glands also
contain oils (called essential oils) that have a pleasant aroma.

These substances also contain compounds that can suppress bacterial growth
(bacteriostatic).

This picture shows hops on the bine. The bine is the

name for the long stalk of the hop plant.

Close up of a hop cone on the bine Hop cones after drying

Page 36 of 95
 Adding leaf
hops to the
copper!

Why are hops used in beer?

· For flavour

· For Aroma

· To help preserve the beer.

The use of hops was discovered in the Middle Ages in Europe. For many years, “brewers”
had added traditional plants to Ale to change or improve the flavour. Ale was a simple,
bland drink fermented from malt. They found that hops, when added to Ale, gave a distinct
and pleasant flavour. More importantly, they realised that hops also helped to preserve the
beer. This is because hops contain compounds that slow down or stop bacterial growth.
This is known as bacteriostatic. You should remember that in the old days no one had any
idea of micro-organisms so that they did not understand why beer went sour. It was
marvellous to find a plant that stopped ale going sour and made it taste good.

Hops today are used mainly for their flavour and aroma. Most breweries today pasteurise
their beer so that the bacteriostatic properties of hops are not important. However, in some
countries dry hops are still added to beer. Dry hopping means adding dry whole hops to a
cask or a tank. Dry hopping adds aroma and helps preserve the beer where it is sold in
casks.

Other hop compounds also affect fermentation and certain biochemical processes.
However, the influence is not strong and is not a fundamental reason for hop use.

History

There are records of cultivated hop gardens,

associated with monasteries in France and
Germany in the 8th and 9th Century, growing hops
for their medicinal properties. The value of hops
for flavour and preservation of beverages appears

Page 37 of 95
to be recognised by the 12th century. In Bavaria, the Purity Law of 1516 outlawed
traditional bittering compounds and decreed that only hops could be used to bitter beers.

The use of hops spread rapidly through most of Northern Continental Europe.

In the United Kingdom, it took a long time for hops to displace other traditional herbs for
bittering beer. There are still records of unhopped "ales" being brewed up until the 18th
century.

The brewing bit

The part of the hop plant used for brewing is the flower or hop cone. The cone contains
small yellow granules called lupulin glands. These glands contain resins. They also
contain the essential oil of the hop. The resins are converted into the bitter substances in
the beer. The essential oils give the "hoppy" character.

The Hop flower or Inflorescence

Hop growing

Hops (Humulus lupulus) belong to the family Cannabinaceae.

Hops are found in temperate (cooler) zones of the world between latitudes 350 and 700
(see diagram below). The latitude is important as a long day with a length of 15 hours or
more is needed for flowering. Their natural distribution range is in the Northern
Hemisphere where they can be found growing wild in hedgerows. They are now cultivated
all over the world. They are even being cultivated at the very edge of the normal growing
range. In South Africa, they use lights to extend the day length.

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The hop is

· Hardy (However a minimum of 120 frost free days are needed for flowering)

· Climbing (it needs a physical support. In nature this would be a hedge or small
tree)

· Perennial (regrows every year),

· A herbaceous plant (leafy rather than woody)

It is cultivated (almost) solely for the brewing industry.

The plant regrows annually from the same rootstock. It produces long bines between 4
and 7 meters high (depending on variety and growing systems). These are usually
supported on overhead wires in the hop gardens or hop yards. Bines grow rapidly in the
spring. As days get shorter, the bines stop growing vertically. They then produce side
arms that bear the flowers.

Page 39 of 95
Hops supported on wire work

Hop wires being strung from

the trellis.

Page 40 of 95
 As the first shoots appear,
they are trained around the
wire.

As the plant grows it twists around the supports to hold itself upright. The plant grows
steadily upwards.

At the end of the growing season, the bines are cut off for harvesting. The rootstock is left
in the ground to overwinter.

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New hop plants are grown from Rhizomes. These are like extra roots, produced by a
mature plant. It takes up to 3 years for a hop garden (yard) to be ready for commercial
production.

Hop Rhizomes/growing
roots, ready for planting.

Hops on the bine

Page 42 of 95
Harvested hop field
(foreground), hops in
full growth (background)

Hop harvesting

Once the hop cones on the bines are ripe, they are harvested. This is usually at the end of
August or in September in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is
February or March.

Traditionally hops were hand picked. Note that “picking” refers to the removal of the cone
from the bine. The bine has to be cut first. The requirement for casual labour was one of
major factors in determining the location of the hop gardens.

Today in all countries, except China and India, machines have replaced hand picking. The
bines are cut and collected from the fields. They are transported to a static hop picking
machine. This strips the bines and separates the cones from the plant.

Firstly, the bines have to be cut from the supports.

This can be by hand

Page 43 of 95
Or by machine

Separating/Picking:

The hops are separated

from the debris (stones,
stems, leaves, sticks etc.)
through a picking machine.

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They are then loaded onto
the kilns

Where they are dried

They are then baled

After collection, the fresh hops have moisture content of around 80%. They have to be
dried in hot air kilns (traditionally called Oast Houses) until the moisture level has been
reduced below 12% (usually to 10%). This ensures the hops can be stored in good
condition

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After drying, the hops require a short period of conditioning. This gives an even distribution
of moisture. They are then compressed and packed into bales. In England, these are
called pockets.

The dried hops can be sold “as is” or processed. Processed hops are converted into three
types of product

1. Pelletised hops (the most commonly used form)

Whole hops, milled and compressed.

2. Hop extracts

Bitterness chemical extracted and concentrated.

3. Hop oils and essences

The aroma essentials extracted and concentrated

Summary

Hops have the following properties:

· Hops provide the bitter taste in beer.

· The hop oils provide aroma.

· Hops modify yeast performance during fermentation.

· Hops contribute to beer texture (mouth feel).

· Hops have bacteriostatic properties. These protect beer against some spoilage
micro organisms.

· Hops reduce over-foaming during wort boiling.

· Hops aid in trub formation during the boil.

· Hops act as a filter medium when a hopback is used.

· Hops are a foam active agent in beer.

· Cone Hops contribute tannins that may increase resistance to staling. Tannins
may also contribute to chill haze.

Let’s now move on to wort clarification.

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Wort clarification
Why do we clarify wort?

When wort boiling is finished, we must separate:

· The hop debris (spent hops) and

· The coagulated protein (normally this is called the hot break or trub) before
cooling.

This break consists principally of

· Polyphenol-protein materials (complex nitrogen containing material)

· Insoluble salts,

· Some hop resin materials.

· Heavy metals such as copper and iron

· Trapped sweet wort

Insufficient trub removal or defective trub formation can result in trub carry over into the
fermentation vessel. This can cause poor yeast performance and unsatisfactory
fermentation. The beer may therefore be prone to infection. It will also be difficult to filter at
the bright beer filter. A persistent haze may form and the taste may be affected.

Separation in the brewing process is normally carried out by sedimentation or filtration.

In sedimentation solids are removed by either:

· Natural gravity

· Induced gravity, e.g. whirlpool

· Mechanically generated gravitation, i.e. a centrifuge.

Types of separation system

The type of separation system employed depends on the nature of the hop product used.

Breweries using whole hops

Where a brewery uses whole cone hops, spent hop is mixed with the trub. The solid hop
material has to be separated first. There are two principal methods used:

Hop Back
This operates in a similar way to a lauter tun. It is a vessel with a false bottom. The hops
settle to form a filter bed. This retains the wort solids and allows the clear wort to run off.

Page 47 of 95
How does it work?

4. Water is let in by the underlet pipe. This floods the false bottom. This stops the hops
“jamming” into the slots and blocking them.

5. The copper is discharged through the wort main.

6. Wort sprays into the hop back from the top. It is evenly distributed by a spreader
plate.

7. The hops settle onto the false bottom.

8. The wort is recirculated until it is bright

9. The clear wort is drawn off

10. The spent hops are sprayed briefly with sparge water. This washes out any trapped
wort.

11. After use, the hops and trub are removed, usually by hand.

12. The vessel is cleaned.

13. Cleaning routines depend on use and scaling rate.

Page 48 of 95
Hop Strainer
Wort is passed into a screw conveyor/press. The press is surrounded with a fine mesh that
holds back the solids. It allows the wort to pass through. As the hops proceed up the
screw, they are squeezed to recover as much of the trapped wort as possible. The hops
are discharged to waste. They are ejected with compressed air, normally to a small silo.

This is a relatively coarse filter. It does not retain all the wort solids. The wort may have to
be pumped into a whirlpool or settling tank to complete trub removal.

How does it work?

1. The wort is fed in at the top.

2. The mesh prevents the hops from falling through.

3. The screw drives the spent hops to the top where they are ejected.

4. Wort is removed from the bottom

5. There is a level control so that the machine is kept full but not overflowing

6. At the end, a small amount of sparge is added to flush the system of wort.

7. Cleaning is as required, with CIP.

Breweries using hop pellets or extracts

Hop pellets or powders cannot form a filter bed. Clarification has to rely on natural or
enhanced sedimentation.

Settling tank
It consists or a tank, usually circular.
Page 49 of 95
The particles settle by gravity. Since draw off happens from the top down there is
considerable time for the particles to drop.

wort run off wort inlet

point

hot wort spreader

wort lev el
pivotable float

wort outlet

How does it work?

1. Boiled wort is allowed to stand for 20 to 60 minutes.

2. This allows natural gravity settling of the solids. The float keeps the wort outlet point
in the top (and therefore clear) part of the wort.

3. The float drops with the decreasing wort level until the vessel is empty.

Whirlpool
The whirlpool is probably the most common wort clarification system used today. It cannot
be used if whole hops are used in the brewing if the beer.

It is a circular vessel. The wort is introduced

tangentially.
Wort in A tangential inlet of around 200 with an inlet
velocity of 3.5 m/s generally performs
satisfactorily.

This makes a force. This accelerates the trub particles towards the centre of the vessel.
They form large flocs that then settle down the centre line of the vessel to form a trub
cone. Stir a cup of tea and watch where the leaves end up!

The clarified wort is run off from above the trub cone through a series of run off points.

Page 50 of 95
How does it work?

1. Hot wort is pumped in at an angle.

2. This “spins” the wort.

3. Separation starts and particles move to the centre and bottom.

4. After a period of time (+/- 60minutes) wort is drawn off. Draw off starts at the top.
This is where the wort is clearer.

5. As the level drops, successive draw offs are opened.

6. When the vessel is empty, a light sparge may be applied to the trub cone. This must
not break it up.

7. The trub is removed by spray jets in the base of the vessel.

Hot Wort Centrifuge

Many breweries also use centrifuges. These are nearly always decanting centrifuges.
Centrifuges apply centrifugal force to solids.

What is centrifugal force?

An outward force on a body rotating about an axis.
An example would be a playground merry-go-round. The centrifugal force tries to throw
you from the ride. The intensity of the centrifugal force is larger if you turn faster.

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How does a decanter centrifuge work?
Bowl
Scroll

Wort in

Clarified wort out

Sludge out
Feed: The wort is fed through a fixed central pipe into the distributor located in the scroll.
The product is then accelerated smoothly and passes through feed ports in the scroll to
the bowl.

Bowl: Separation takes place in the conical cylindrical bowl. This rotates at a preset speed.
The cloudy wort rotates in the bowl and forms a concentric layer around the inside of the
bowl. The solids contained in the wort are deposited against the bowl wall under the
influence of centrifugal force.

Scroll: The scroll rotates at a different speed to that of the bowl. It conveys the separated
solids in the direction of the conical end of the scroll where they are discharged.

Solids Discharge: The separated solids are discharged through openings at the conical
end of the bowl. They are discharged down the outlet chute.

Wort filters

The standard range of brewery filters (cloth, kieselguhr and sheet) can be used.

Only a few breweries use hot wort filtration. Those that do claim advantages including:

· Excellent bright worts

· Even fermentations

· Reduction in the level of maturation clarifying agents

The disadvantages include:

· High revenue and maintenance costs

· Powder handling (kieselguhr)

· Effluent problems

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 · Poor cleaning performance

Blockages can occur and becomes a rate- limiting step in brewhouse turn-round time. This
system may be used with whole hops after hop separation or with processed hop
products. It can be used in addition to other wort clarification systems to give very low trub
carry over.

The solid trub recovered is usually added to the spent grains where it is used as cattle
food.

Now that the wort is clarified, it has to be cooled. It must be cooled; otherwise it would kill
the yeast when we add it to the wort.

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Wort cooling, aeration & yeast pitching
Why do we cool wort?

After boiling and clarification, the wort has to be cooled. This is in preparation for the
addition of yeast. Yeast would be killed by high temperatures (i.e. hot wort).

The temperature of fermentation is also important. Too high can produce undesirable
flavours. Too low and fermentation will slow and may not complete.

Wort cooling describes the process between the end of clarification and the actual
collection of the wort in the fermentation vessel. If this process is not correctly managed, it
can have serious consequences for the subsequent beer quality.

During wort cooling it is necessary to control:

· Microbial contamination

· Cooling (so that variations are within tolerance range)

· Aeration/oxygenation

· Addition and mixing of the correct quantity of active yeast

· Formation and separation of cold break. (Cold break is a similar material to the
hot break or trub that we discussed earlier. It forms as the wort cools.)

Microbial Contamination

During the Brewhouse operation the wort is kept hot and finally boiled. This means that it
is sterile.

Wort is an ideal growth media for yeast and a large range of bacteria. Before yeast
pitching, any micro-organisms that may infect the cold wort can grow without competition.
This can result in a serious infection of the wort.

The infection can be quickly spread throughout the brewery. Yeast cropping will continue
the spread of the infection to the next brews.

It is essential that the wort lines are thoroughly clean and sterilised before use.

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Cooling Wort to fermentation temperature.

One of the critical ways of controlling fermentation is through temperature. The rate of
fermentation is generally faster the higher the temperature.

The wort leaving the whirlpool after 30 to 60 minutes stand is generally around 950C and
has to be cooled to the starting fermentation temperature.

Wort is usually cooled through a plate heat exchanger, (shown below) which uses cold
water (and usually a refrigerant such as Glycol) to cool the wort.

They operate by passing counter flows of cold water against wort on either side of a plate.
Thus, wort is collected and the water is heated. The water is collected and used as preheated
water for the next brew in the mashing vessels.

The plates alternate between Wort and coolant. They are separated by gaskets around the
“holes”

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In order to maximise heat extraction the flows are arranged in staggered counter flows. In
other words, you might have 2 “cooling” plates for each “hot” one.

If temperatures lower than the local water supply temperature are required then a second
stage trim chiller is needed. This is usually a segment at the end of the wort cooler. In this
segment, chilled brine or Glycol is used to achieve the final temperature.

Typical collection temperatures would be:

Lagers Between 8 and 14 0C

Ales Between 16 and 22 0C

It is most important to periodically check the plates for leakage since the return water will
be used for brewing. Check across gaskets and for pin hole leaks. An engineering dye is
available for this purpose. If a glycol or I.M.S. (Industrial Methylated Spirit) coolant is used
to achieve final temperature there is the possibility that the wort could be contaminated.

It is always a good idea to have wort outlet pressures marginally higher than coolant inlet
pressures since in this way at least the wort will not be contaminated.

Page 56 of 95
Aeration/Oxygenation & yeast growth

Why do we aerate?
An all-malt wort will provide:

· All the nutrient energy (carbohydrate in the form of sugar)

· Growth materials such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals

to support healthy yeast growth.

However, wort is deficient in certain phospho-lipids necessary to form the yeast’s cell wall
membrane. Yeast requires oxygen in order to synthesise the cell wall material.

This is why we aerate or oxygenate the cold wort prior to yeast addition. If the yeast is
unable to grow, this will result in a poor or sluggish fermentation. The sugar is not used up
and a non-standard beer is produced.

Pure oxygen is frequently used, particularly with high gravity brewing. Air may not provide
the necessary degree of oxygen concentration to enable normal yeast growth. (Wort
saturated with oxygen contains 5 times the oxygen level of normally aerated wort).

It is surprisingly difficult to get oxygen to dissolve in wort (or water). Using air, only about 8
ppm oxygen can be achieved.

In case higher levels of oxygen are needed, the addition of pure oxygen is required.

The amount of dissolved oxygen required varies according to the yeast strain. It is also
related to the Original Gravity of the beer being fermented.

The required amount of dissolved oxygen is usually in the range 7 to 18 ppm.

What does aeration achieve?

High aeration produces:

· High yeast growth

· High extract loss (since yeast growth is excessive).

Low aeration produces:

· Low yeast growth

· Potentially poor fermentation

Where & how should we aerate?

There is a difference of opinion as to when the wort should be aerated.

Aeration at the "hot" end of the heat exchanger has the advantage that the air is sterilised.
In addition, the passage through the heat exchanger will thoroughly dissolve the gas.
However, this will result in significant colour pick up and can affect flavour by oxidation
reactions.
Page 57 of 95
The introduction of air into the cold wort has opposite advantages and disadvantages.

In any event, the air/gas supply should pass through a dehumidifier and sterile gas filter
before use.

Most breweries aerate on the “cold” side. If multiple brews are added to a fermenter, the
aeration of subsequent brews is frequently omitted since the yeast would be well into its
growth phase.

Oxygen is usually added to cold wort. Its solubility is higher, and there is less risk of wort
oxidation. (Wort oxidises faster when hot: oxidation gives unpleasant flavours). Some
brewers add the oxygen in the middle of the wort cooling heat exchanger when the wort is
sufficiently cold. The turbulent flow conditions ensure good gas and wort mixing.

Other brewers use specialist wort aerators, which inject the air (or oxygen) as very small
bubbles.

Huppmann
Oxygenator

Oxygen in Restriction Oxygen is injected

through a small ring
embedded in the
main pipe. The wort
flow is restricted.
Decompression This builds up
pressure. After the
restriction, the
bubbles rapidly
decompress and
Compression dissolve.

Ensure that you only use air from an oil free compressor. In any event, the air/oxygen
should pass through a sterile filter.

Safety

Be aware that pure oxygen can explode in contact with grease. All joints and fittings
should be grease (and oil!) free if oxygen is used.

Yeast pitching

Pitching means adding yeast to the cooled wort. Without yeast, we could not produce
beer. The wort would not ferment.

For the best result, the pitched yeast should be thoroughly mixed with the wort. In large
fermentation vessels such as cylindro-conical vessels, this is best achieved by in-line
dosing. In smaller vessels, the yeast can be roused or mixed in as the vessel is filled.

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To obtain a consistent fermentation it is necessary to pitch a constant amount of viable
(living) yeast. The brewer needs to know:

· Number of yeast cells (cell per millilitre)

· Viability – number of live cells – (% viable)

· Vitality – the healthiness of the yeast cells.

· The pitching yeast is free from microbiological contamination

Typical yeast pitching rate for a 5% w/v alcohol beer is:

Lagers Between 15 and 20 million cells per ml

Ales Between 8 and 12 million cells per ml

(Ales ferment warmer so initial yeast growth is higher: Not so many initial cells needed)

Formation and separation of cold break.

When the wort from the brewhouse cools down it immediately starts to produce a haze.
This is more precipitation of protein in the wort. There may also be some carryover of trub
(hot break) from wort clarification.

Excessive amounts of break can cause flavour and process problems in beer:

· Formation of “dirty” yeast heads with top cropping yeast

· Poor fermentation performance – often associated with the trub physically

binding to the yeast

· Sulphury (cabbage) flavours in beer

· Difficulties in clarifying and filtering the beer.

These problems are usually solved by good management of the wort boiling and
clarification stage.

It is important that the cold break is not carried over into the pitching yeast to be used in
subsequent brews. The risk can be reduced by:

· With top fermenting yeasts:

Skim off the yeast 12 to 24 hours after pitching. This yeast should be discarded.

· With bottom fermenting yeasts:

The first part of the crop (around 3 to 8% of the total volume) should be removed
and discarded before the main crop required for re-pitching is collected. This is
particularly important with cylindro-conical vessels where it removes the dead
yeast cells along with the settled cold break.

Poor yeast management or poor control during wort cooling can result in defective
fermentations and poor quality beer.

Page 59 of 95
Before we move on to fermentation, let’s look at yeast,

Page 60 of 95
Yeast
Yeast is a single celled fungus. It is capable of growing anaerobically (i.e. in the absence
of air). It breaks down sugars to release energy and produces carbon dioxide, alcohol and
water.

Yeast Cells under the

microscope.

Nucleus
Oil droplet

Cell wall
0.005mm

Vacuole
Glycogen
granule
The different parts of a yeast cell.

The Nucleus: this is where the genetic material of the cell is stored (Chromosomes)

Glycogen granules: A carbohydrate energy source.

Oil droplets: a fat energy source.

Vacuole: An area of the cell with high enzyme activity associated with yeast growth and
cell maintenance.
Page 61 of 95
Yeasts are small and their structure can only be seen under a powerful microscope.

Reproduction

Yeast cells normally reproduce asexually. That means that they do not “mate” with another
cell. They bud off new cells from a mother cell. Bud scars occur when daughter cells
separate from their parents. The larger the number of scars the greater the number of
generations and the older the parent cell. There is a limit on the number of daughters a
yeast cell can have and hence the age of a yeast cell.

Bud scars

It is possible to force most yeasts to reproduce sexually. This is normally done by exposing
them to severe conditions. In this case, two yeast cells fuse and form spores or pellicles.
These can survive poor conditions for a long time. When conditions improve, the spores
germinate to form a new yeast cell.

Yeasts are present everywhere. They are in the atmosphere and particularly on the
surface of dead and decaying animals and plants. There are a large number of yeast
species. They are adapted to a variety of environments. The particular strain, which is
used in fermentation, is Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Selecting yeast for Brewing

Not all yeasts are suitable for brewing. Brewers select and maintain their own yeast strain.
It contributes to the processing and specific character of each beer. Most breweries use
unique strains of yeast. They often use different yeast strains for different beer brands.

Each yeast strain will impart different characteristics and flavours to the beer. Some of the
key characteristics that are important when selecting a yeast strain are shown below:

An ideal yeast for fermentation should be able to:

· Produce alcohol & desirable flavour compounds

· Complete the fermentation – achieve attenuation (degree of fermentation)

required

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 · Produce a consistently flavoured product

· Complete the fermentation within a set time

· Retain viability & genetic stability during fermentation

· Be convenient for harvesting – flocculate at the end of fermentation

· Retain viability & vitality during storage

· Reproduce adequately

· Ferment the sugars supplied

Yeast metabolism (growth)

Brewers Yeast needs a readily available source of nutrient to grow. This includes:

· Carbohydrate (sugars)

· Nitrogen (alpha amino nitrogen – selected amino acids)

· Vitamins

· Trace minerals particularly zinc.

All of these requirements are supplied by a good brewery wort. Usually the only addition
made to brewery wort is additional Zinc. Zinc Sulphate helps yeast performance.

Yeast also needs a small amount of oxygen to produce cell wall material.

During the process of fermentation yeast produces:

· Heat - respiration is a heat producing process

· Waste products which are alcohol and CO2

· A small amount of flavour compounds

· More yeast cells by budding.

Let’s now move on to the fermentation process. We’ve cooled the wort, aerated it and
pitched the yeast.

Page 63 of 95
Fermentation
Fermentation is the part of the brewing process where the yeast converts sugars into
alcohol, carbon dioxide and water. The yeast also grows and produces more yeast cells.
The carbon dioxide produced can be collected and used to re-carbonate beer later in the
process.

There are many different types of fermenting vessel from a traditional Ale brewery
Yorkshire Square

You can see the yeast head bubbling over

the sides.

Through even more esoteric fermenting methods such as the Burton Union system.

Wort is fermented in large casks. The yeast

overflows into troughs where it is collected
and the beer returned to the cask.

To the most common type of fermenter today, the conical.

The top of conical Fermentation Vessels

Page 64 of 95
 The cone bottoms

CIP
in

Cooling
jackets Pressure/
vacuum
relief

Yeast CO2
cooling out
jackets

Wort
in

Beer CIP Yeast

out out out

Outdoor cylindro -conical vessels Diagram of a conical fermenter

The function of any fermenter is

· To be a vessel to contain the fermenting wort

· To allow CO2 to escape or be collected

· To provide cooling to manage the fermentation.

Older vessels were rectangular, often not enclosed. They had internal pipes to carry
cooling liquids. Control was simple and very variable. Improvements were made by
enclosing vessels to improve sterility, combined with basic in-place cleaning systems.
Ultimately the conical fermenter was developed.

The advantage of the conical fermenter is primarily economic. A large volume of wort can
be stored in a relatively low ground surface area. The totally enclosed design makes it
easy to incorporate in place cleaning. However, enclosure also makes it necessary to
incorporate pressure and vacuum relief devices. These are essential to prevent explosion
or collapse.
Page 65 of 95
The vessels are also stronger than rectangular vessels of the same weight or lighter than
rectangular vessels of the same capacity. The shape of the vessel causes a vigorous
fermentation. Fermentation is completed more quickly than in shallower rectangular
vessels.

CO2 emission causes strong circulation currents. This improves the growth rate of yeast. It
also gives more effective cooling as the wort is pushed over the cooling surfaces.

The conical fermenter is ideal for Lager yeasts that drop to the bottom during fermentation.
The cone makes it easy to collect yeast. There is also a small, but significant saving in the
"loss" of bittering materials by yeast adsorption with bottom settling yeasts.

“Conicals “ are easy cleaned. It is also easy to extract the CO2 for collection.

Fermentation in practice

The principle control objectives in fermentation are yeast counts, temperature and
pressure control. Little can be done at this stage if aeration or brewhouse parameters have
not been correctly met.

Temperature

Temperature has an effect on the metabolism of yeast (as in any organism) Simply put,
the higher the temperature the faster the reactions and vice versa. However, this effect on
the rate of yeast respiration has other effects, such as high ester production (too many
esters can be bad for flavour) and the pattern of yeast growth.

Slowing or insufficiently fermented brews can be revived by allowing a higher temperature

before the end of fermentation. This may however create undesirable by-products.

Deep Cooling

At the end of fermentation, the beer is normally cooled. This stops any further fermentation
and prevents any potential yeast autolysis. (Yeast break down)

The cooling routine is critical to beer quality. Too early cooling can result in unpleasant
flavours. Too late can result in yeasty off flavours from yeast breakdown.

Process and progress of fermentation

The progress of fermentation is measured by the fall in the value of the specific gravity
using a Saccharometer. Since alcohol is lighter than wort its production results in falling
gravity.

Page 66 of 95
 A Saccharometer.
The Saccharometer works by floating in a liquid. It measures the density of
a liquid. If the liquid is strong wort then it floats with the scale at the green
mark. If the liquid contains alcohol then the density starts to drop. The
hydrometer will sink to, say, the red line. If the beer is even stronger (more
alcohol) then the hydrometer will sink more.

As temperature affects density ‘tables are available to correct for changes in

temperature of the liquid.

Yeast collection

Yeast collection is employed to have a supply of yeast for subsequent brews. Normally
yeast will be re-used for a specified number of generations (no more than 5)
Yeast is normally removed from conical fermenters by pump to a chilled holding vessel
(yeast storage tank), where it is retained for repitching.

Gyling is also practiced, where up to 12% of an actively fermenting brew will be directly
transferred to freshly collected wort.

If the crop is low it may be because the fermentation has been poor or because of low
calcium or other mineral substances. Lack of these will stunt yeast growth or affect yeast
flocculation.

How does yeast do it?

Sugar is converted to alcohol, CO2 and energy.

Glucose N 2 Ethanol (alcohol) + 2CO2 + 2ATP (Energy)

The process is carried out by a complex enzyme reaction driven by a chemical called
A.T.P. (adenosine tri phosphate)

The yeast used must also be fit, healthy, and free from contamination. During the course
of the fermentation, the yeast should be freely dispersed throughout the wort. At the end of
fermentation, the yeast will generally settle out or flocculate (for lager), when it can be
cropped for repitching. Yeast removal can be accelerated through centrifugation for lagers,
ales, and stouts.

Page 67 of 95
During the course of the fermentation the yeast cells grow and replicate up to two to three
times.

Feeding the Fermentation.

As well as sugars, yeast requires nitrogen. This usually comes from the malt wort. If there
is insufficient soluble nitrogen, for example when high levels of cereal or sugar adjunct are
used, then additional nitrogen may be required in the form of simple ammonium salts.

Yeast also requires trace minerals, vitamins and metal ions. The most common added to
enhance fermentation is zinc. This forms the basis of most yeast food supplements.

Phases of Yeast growth

The initial phase of fermentation reveals a "lag phase" in yeast growth. This is caused by
the yeast re-adjusting to its environment and beginning to absorb the nutrients ready for
growth. This is followed by a rapid growth phase, starting between 6 and 12 hours after
pitching. By 24 hours, the growth phase is well under way with a logarithmic growth
pattern. Growth is only limited by physical parameters such as temperature and the
availability of nutrients such as amino acids (F.A.N.) and by the presence of oxygen.

The growth phase is followed by a fermentation phase that is limited by available sugars,
free nitrogen, the increase in alcohol level and to a degree by temperature.

The final stages of fermentation are slow. This is where the yeast tends to "mop up"
remaining available nutrient. Other biochemical reactions start, the most important being
the removal of diacetyl. (Diacetyl is an unpleasant “butterscotch” flavour produced during
the vigorous, main, fermentation.

Types of fermentation

There are two types of fermentation: Top and Bottom. They relate to two different strains
of yeast. Top fermenting yeasts are used mainly in British style Ale or Stout fermentations.
The characteristic is that during fermentation the yeast rises to the top of the fermenting
vessel. This means of course that we can’t use conicals, as the yeast head has to be
removed from the top of the beer.

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The excess yeast is skimmed off for storage or waste. This leaves a covering of yeast on
the vessel to protect the beer from air borne microbial spoilage organisms.

With bottom fermenting yeasts (virtually all lagers) the yeast tends to drop to the bottom.
This makes conicals ideal as the surplus yeast can be drawn off from the cone.

Page 69 of 95
The surplus yeast is collected and used for re-pitching into another brew.

Page 70 of 95
Maturation
Why mature beer?

The traditional maturation process is particularly associated with Lager beers.

The word "lager" means "storage" in German. Many of the traditional German beers were
“lagered” for up to 9 months. This fitted the pattern of the seasons. The beer was brewed
with the new season’s malted barley and hops in the autumn, when the temperatures were
mild. After fermentation, the beers were stored in cellars over the cold winter to be
available, fully matured as a light, fresh drink during the hot summers.

Maturation starts at the end of primary fermentation, and progresses through a number of
temperature stages. The beer is initially cooled down to between 60 and 80 C. It is then
gradually cooled to between 20 and -0.50 C.

Reasons for storage (lagering) are to:

· Continue a slow fermentation to remove traces of foreign gas.

· Continue a slow fermentation to remove undesirable flavour substances.

· Increase the CO2 saturation of the beer (conditioning).

· Aggregate and precipitate the haze forming compounds of protein and

polyphenols.

· Clarify the beer through the settlement of yeast and suspended solids.

· Improve flavour through slow secondary fermentation.

Today few beers enjoy the luxury of 9 months maturation.

The maturation stage has been reduced to between 1 to 4 weeks for most lager beers.
Some brewers reduce "lagering" times to as little as 3 days. New rapid continuous
maturation systems can complete the required flavour changes within a few hours.

During lagering, we try to optimise:

· Flavour improvement and removal of unwanted taints

· Oxygen control

· Adjustment in carbonation

· Beer sedimentation and clarification (usually prior to filtration)

· Beer stabilisation

Warm maturation is followed by a period of cold conditioning. Cold conditioning helps to

prepare the beer for filtration and stabilises the beer. At 0 to –20C there is little yeast
activity (although lager yeast can grow very slowly at this temperature).

Page 71 of 95
How do we do it?

The traditional method

The traditional method is to cool the beer at the end of fermentation to around 80C. The
majority of the surplus yeast is removed before transferring the beer to a warm maturation
tank. During the transfer, the remaining yeast becomes re-suspended. This reinvigorates
the yeast. It starts to produce a slow secondary fermentation. This takes up the unwanted
flavour compounds and breaks them down.

In some cases, the yeast remaining at the end of fermentation is in poor physical
condition. It will not produce an effective secondary fermentation. Under these
circumstances, active yeast can be added in the form of Krausen. “Krausening” involves
adding actively fermenting wort to the beer in the conditioning tank.

The secondary fermentation also generates more CO2. Because it is carried out at a lower
temperature (which increases the solubility of CO2) and often under positive back
pressure, the carbonation of the beer increases.

Modern method

When the main fermentation is virtually complete, the beer is kept in fermenter for a further
24 and 54 hours at the fermentation temperature. This allows the yeast still in suspension
to carry out the warm conditioning before being cooled and transferred to cold
conditioning. The success of this procedure relies on sufficient active yeast remaining in
suspension at the end of the primary fermentation.

The duration of the stand, called “Ruh”, lasts until a quality specification is met.

Usually this is a diacetyl specification, and hence it is often called the “diacetyl rest”.

Oxygen

One of the most important things during maturation is to ensure that any traces of Oxygen
(Foreign Gas) are removed from the beer. Oxygen in finished beer is very bad. It reacts
with compounds in the beer to form hazes and unpleasant flavours.

The very slow final fermentation from the yeast remaining in the beer does this effectively.

However many other measures must be taken to reduce or eliminate oxygen. The include:

· Flushing the maturation tank with Carbon Dioxide

· Storing the beer under a positive CO2 top pressure

· Using CO2 for the cover flush on centrifuges (where used)

· Using deaerated water with dissolved oxygen levels as low as .08 gms/litre
dissolved Oxygen for all beer/water chases

· Using deaerated water with dissolved oxygen levels as low as .08 gms/litre
dissolved Oxygen for blending

Page 72 of 95
 · The use of large modern maturation tanks. This cuts down on surface area
absorption.

· Gentle beer movements through correctly sized pipes

· Purging of bends and pipes and the use of double seat valves to reduce oxygen
pick up

· In-line monitoring of dissolved oxygen to identify any problems and to take

immediate corrective action

Sedimentation

Another important aspect of maturation is sedimentation. The longer the beer is kept in the
tank, the more solids will fall to the bottom. This obviously improves the efficiency of the
next stage in the process, Filtration.

Sometimes there is not sufficient sedimentation (perhaps because of the yeast strain).
Some brewers will then use a centrifuge before the beer is filtered.

How a centrifuge works.

This is an example of a self

cleaning centrifuge made by Alfa
Laval.

Cloudy beer is pumped in at the

top. The centrifuge is packed with
thin plates that are spun rapidly.
The solids are thrown to the
outside edge. The lighter liquid is
discharged (bright) from the
bottom.

At a preset time the bowl opens at

point A. This is done very quickly.
The solids are ejected through the
gap and the bowl closes again
before liquid is lost.

Page 73 of 95
Stabilisation

These days beer has to last a long time in package.

Beer haze is due to a complex of molecules of protein and polyphenols. This complex is
formed during cold storage and either settles out in the storage tank or is removed during
filtration.

We have seen that a long cold maturation will reduce these compounds in beer. We have
also seen that Oxygen (foreign gas) can be very bad for beer.

Nevertheless, even when we get both these to very low levels there are still proteins and
polyphenols remaining in the beer that will slowly form hazes. It is possible to treat the
beer so that these reactions are slowed down. This gives the beer a good “shelf life”

What can we use?

· We can use compounds that adsorb Polyphenols such as

Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP). (Adsorb means to hold on to something.)
These materials are full of tiny holes. The adsorbed compounds are held inside
these holes.)

· Compounds that adsorb Protein such as Bentonite or Silica Gel

· We can precipitate the protein (before filtration) with compounds like Tannic
Acid.

· Alternatively, we can break down the protein with enzymes like Papain.

Once we have removed one of the components then the reaction will not occur.

Where do we add them?

Page 74 of 95
Fermenter Maturation FIlter Bright beer

Pre filter Post filter

buffer buffer
tank tank

Kieselguhr
dosing

A B B C

Stabiliser Point A (Before Point B (Before Point C (After

Maturation) Filtration) Filtration)

PVPP aa aaa r

Enzyme r aa aaa
Tannic Acid aaa r r

Silica Gel aa aaa r

aUse here
r Don’t use here

Page 75 of 95
Filtration
Why filter beer?

Matured beer, however bright, still contains some yeast and haze particles. Beer has to be
clear when packaged. This is mainly because:

· The consumer expects clear beer

· To prevent further biological changes taking place during or after packaging due
to yeast or haze particles

What is filtration?

Filtration involves passing un-clarified beer through a porous medium. (Porous means it
will let stuff through)

Some of the solids are retained in or on the medium. The clear beer passes through. The
size of the pores and the depth of the filter path determine the size and number of the
particles that are retained by the filter medium.

Beer contains a variety of solids. Conventional filtration can only remove the yeast and a
number of bacteria.

We should note that “haze” is not removed by most filters. It’s too fine. We must precipitate
it into larger particles or remove it by other means before filtration (see previous chapter)

How do filters work?

Every filter has a type of “membrane”.

This is the area which either blocks or traps particles passing through. Membranes in
conventional filtration are:

· Tightly woven or compressed sheets of fibre

Photomicrograph of a filter sheet

surface. See how it is built of tightly
locked fibres. Filter sheets are
generally made with cellulose fibre,
diatomaceous earth, perlite, and a
resin for bonding. This gives dry and
wet strength.

· Beds of powder

Page 76 of 95
Powder is generally different grades of Kieselguhr and/or perlite.

· Kieselguhr is the fossil skeleton of marine or fresh water microscopic

organisms. It is also called “diatomaceous earth” (DE).

· Perlite is volcanic glass.

Both are milled to a standard size for use in filtration. Perlite is generally coarser.

Photomicrograph of Perlite or volcanic powder.

Used normally as 1st pre-coat or coarse feed.

Highly magnified photo of diatoms used as a process aid in filtration. Used normally as 2nd
pre-coat and body feed.

There are two fundamental types of filtration:

· Surface filtration

· Depth filtration

Page 77 of 95
Surface filtration

These filters usually consist of filter sheets through which the beer has to pass. The sheets
are held in place by perforated plates. (Usually called a plate and frame filter)

The filter membrane “holes” are sized

to stop particles passing through. Solid
particles are retained in the membrane.
This continues until the pores are
blocked.

In this system, no particles larger than

the “hole” size can pass through. This
is described as “absolute filtration”.

As soon as all the “holes” are blocked,

filtration stops.

The advantage of this filter is that you can control exactly the size of particle that is let
through. For example, you could use sheets that trap yeast but not bacteria. Use a finer
sheet and you will trap bacteria as well. Finer still and haze particles could be trapped.

The disadvantage is that it slowly decreases in efficiency as the “holes” are blocked.
Generally, the sheets also have to be destroyed after use. They cannot be regenerated.

This type of filter is rarely used in breweries today, as it is expensive to run. Some
breweries do still use them to give a final “polish” to the beer.

Depth filtration

This type of filtration relies on building up a “bed” of filter material. The filter bed material is
either Kieselguhr or Perlite.

The filter bed is usually supported on plates or candles. Plates or candles are perforated
and allow the filtered beer through. The perforations are not big enough to let the Perlite
and/or Kieselguhr through. The perforated area is known as the “septum”.

The filterable particles are smaller than the bed pore size. However, because the bed is
thick it is difficult for the particles to pass through. They become stuck in the channels. The
filter bed is continually built up by the addition of more Kieselguhr as the beer passes
through the filter. This is necessary to keep more channels available for use. The filtration
rate decreases only relatively slowly during the filtration run (providing an optimum body
feed is injected)

The filter aid is used to build up a cake on the filter support (or septum) of the filter. The
filter septum (around 50 to 80 micron) is much coarser than the particles that are to be
removed. These are normally yeast and bacteria at 1 to 8 micron. So the cake does the
filtering, not the filter support.

The diagram refers to a candle filter:

Page 78 of 95
 Precoat Support The first pre-coat
(coarse) discs uses coarse material
in the range of 20 to
40 micron to bridge
across the holes in
the support or
Beer flow Beer flow septum. This coat is
to form a support for
the finer second coat.
The finer second coat
will do the actual
filtration.
Body fe e d Kieselguhr
(fine r)

The second pre-coat uses finer material to form a fine depth filter bed to trap the particles.
The coarser range of this material has particles in the range of 10 to 20 micron, while the
very fine grades have particles in the range 2 to 10 microns.

As the un-
filtered beer is
run through the
filter, more
kieselguhr
(body feed) is
dosed in line.
This continually
increases the
size of the bed
and keeps the
filter bed open.
The filter aid
used is normally
the same grade
as that used for
the 2nd pre-coat.

Dosage varies according to the quality of the feed beer, from 40 to 120 g/hl of beer filtered.
Ultimately the filter beds touch each other and the filter has to be cleaned and restarted.

Page 79 of 95
What type of filter should we use?

There are three styles of filter commonly used. Their relative merits depend on

· The nature of the beer being processed

· The product mix

· The acceptable revenue and capital costs

The Plate and Frame Filter.

This filter consists of a series of

vertical plates. The plates
support a filter sheet. This is
used to support a bed of
Kieselguhr for filtration.

Hollow The Beer is fed into the frame

plate section and flows through the
filter aid and filter pad into the
Exit hollow filter plate and on to the
hole Bright Beer Tank.
Inlet
hole

Perforated
support
plate

Page 80 of 95
The filter has the advantage of being robust and of relatively simple design.
Advantages
Filter slurry can be discharged dry
Simple design – low maintenance
Low beer losses because of low filter
volume
Good for longer runs on same quality
of beer.
Disadvantages
High labour requirement for washing
off & changing filter pads
Slow turn around time
Usually requires sterilization after
each run
Costs in replacing filter pads
Difficult to keep top of filter pads free
from infection
Split pads can cause filter aid to bleed
into bright beer
Cannot be fully automated

Candle Filter.

The candle filter consists of a series of vertical mounted rods or ridged candles. These
have metal rings or supports to hold the filter aid. They are housed in a vertical cylindrical
vessel.

Page 81 of 95
Division Plate Filter head The beer flows
through the kieselguhr
Outlet bed, up the centre of
the candles into the
top cavity and on to
the Bright Beer Tank.
It is important that the
Filter flow ensures an even
Filter body
bed distribution of beer
and filter aid across all
the candles.

Support
candles

inlet

Sludge outlet
Precoat Support The kieselguhr forms
(coarse) discs a bed on the “holes” of
the candle. This is the
first or “pre-coat” bed.
It acts as a support for
the final filter bed.
Beer flow Beer flow

Body fee d Kieselguhr

(finer)

Page 82 of 95

The filter is robust with a high throughput and no moving parts.
Advantages
Can be fully automated – low/
negligible labour required
Simple design – low maintenance
High throughput - good for longer
runs on same quality of beer.
Filter surface area increases
throughout run as powder builds up
on the outside of the candles.
Candle: The fine
“holes” are just visible.
Disadvantages
Spent filter cake is usually discharged
wet – effluent costs
Higher beer losses due to large
volume of water/beer interface.
Sensitive to pressure shocks
Page 83 of 95
Horizontal Screen Filter.

Beer is fed either through the top

or through the bottom. This should
give an even flow of rough beer
and body feed across the surfaces
of all the plates. The beer flows
through the filter aid and mesh into
the central column and on to the
Bright Beer

Leaf filter in section

Page 84 of 95
 These filter screens consist of a series of
fine stainless steel mesh stretched over a
horizontal leaf. These are housed in a
vertical cylindrical vessel. The weave of
the mesh is quite coarse. This requires
the use of a coarse 1st pre-coat to bridge
the holes.

Beer flow Diagrammatic representation of the filter

screen The kieselguhr forms a bed on the
“holes” of the leaf. This is the first or
“precoat” bed. It acts as a support for the
final filter bed.
Support
Note that the bed only forms on the top of
Screens
the septum. The bottom does not have
“holes”

Since the filtration surface is confined to the upper leaves, the filter cake is very stable. It
can be safely held for extended periods without the risk of filter cake slippage. Cake
discharge is achieved by a rapid spinning of the central filter column. This throws the filter
aid to the side of the tank for dry cake discharge.

Advantages Disadvantages
Fully automated – low/ negligible Rotating cake discharge system adds to
direct labour required maintenance costs
Good where shorter filter runs are Electrical energy is required for cake discharge.
required
Dry cake discharge for easy disposal The capital cost per unit filter area is higher than
to land fill. in the other designs since only the upper surface
Low beer loss as beer can be drained of the leaves are available for filtration.
down to be collected by special
scavenging plates located at the
bottom of the filter vessel.
Low sensitivity to pressure shocks
Filter cake is stable between product
runs

Safety

There is a possibility that kieselguhr and other filtration powders may induce lung damage.

All powder handling areas should be thoroughly ventilated with extractor fans.

Page 85 of 95
Operators should wear masks and eye protection.

Carbonation

At some stage, usually after filtration, the beer’s carbonation levels will have to be checked
and if necessary adjusted.

The modern brewery adjusts CO2 by

injecting it in line, usually after filtration and
controlling the system with an inline CO2
analyser.

A typical unit is the Embra CarboCheck.

The CarboCheck sensor has a silicone

rubber membrane through which the
dissolved CO2 permeates into a sealed,
evacuated chamber. The partial pressure of
the gas is then measured and displayed by
the analyser / control unit as a CO2 content.

CO2 is then injected as required. The

injection point is a flattened pipe. This
CO2 Injector increases absorption of the CO2 over the
thin beer film produced.
Picture courtesy Canongate Technology

Another device is the Haffmans carbonator.

The principle is similar.

Picture courtesy Haffmans

Page 86 of 95
Bright beer
Bright beer is a storage zone between filtration and packaging. The beer has been filtered
and brought into specification for packaging.

In order to ensure quality, the maximum temperature and time of storage should be
specified:

· Maximum storage time in bright beer tank is usually between 24 and 72 hours
depending on the specifications. Any longer runs the risk of infection developing. In
addition, there is the possibility of gas pressures affecting the overall carbonation
specification of the beer.

· Maximum storage temperature is usually 30C, but may be as high as 50C.

· Level of carbon dioxide – the solubility of carbon dioxide is inversely proportional to

temperature. This means the warmer it is the more difficult it is to keep gas in
solution.

· The maximum temperature permitted at the filler bowl. Beer will often pick up 1 or 2
degrees C on transfer from bright beer tank to filling. So bright beer temperature
should be at least 2 degrees cooler than the required filler bowl temperature.

· The storage time and general microbiology of the area. Cool temperatures suppress
microbiological growth.

· Some Bright Beer tanks are jacketed as well as lagged and can therefore be
temperature regulated. Others can pick up around 10C per day.

Page 87 of 95
Water
There’s one ingredient in beer that we haven’t discussed. Since it makes up about 95% of
the product, it’s important. Yes, water.

Brewing requires a supply of good clean

water. It is also used for making steam, for
cleaning and in packaging.

The volume of water required varies

between breweries. It is generally around
six times the total volume of beer produced.

All water that doesn’t end up in the beer is

thrown away. For example, as effluent
during the generation of services, as water
vapour from boiling, and in the spent grain.

Different kinds of water are used in different

areas:

Treated brewing water Brewing

Cleaning & CIP
Softened water Bottle washing
Pasteurisation
Mains/untreated water General cleaning e.g. floors
Demineralised water Boiler feed water.
Deaerated water Dilution
An example of water usage to produce 1 hl of packaged beer during the different brewing
operations is shown below:
Production requirements: Area: Volume hl/hl
Water treatment 0.40
Wort production & wort treatment 1.50
CIP in wort production 0.40
CIP fermentation and maturation 0.20
Fermentation and maturation 0.10
Filtration and bright beer tanks 0.20
CIP in filtration and bright beer 0.20
Bottling operations (30% of total throughput) 0.30
Pasteurisation 0.10
Cask and/or keg racking (70% of throughput) 0.70
Carbon dioxide recovery 0.10
Energy requirements: Area
Steam generation including condensate recovery 0.10
Cooling compressor 0.10
Evaporators and Condenser 0.30
Compressed air 0.20
Regulation air 0.10
Overall cleaning operations 0.50
Volume of water required in hl per hl of beer produced 5.50
Ref: based on Moll Brewing Science & Technology Series II Volume 2 : Published by The Institute of Brewing

Page 88 of 95
Suitability for brewing

In order to be suitable for use in brewing, water must be:

· Microbiologically pure. (bug free!)

· Clear and colourless

(turbidity and colour can be caused by suspended solids)

· Tasteless and odourless

(chlorinated water can affect beer flavour)

· pH
neutral pH 7, or slightly acidic

· Mineral composition
(different beers require specific minerals. This is discussed later.)

· Free from heavy metal ions.

(these can poison yeast and cause hazes).

Microbial standards (Bugs!)

Most of the water used for brewing will be heated prior to mashing. It is therefore free from
most micro organisms.

However, water used for diluting worts or beer or water used for rinsing equipment may
not be sterile. The brewery should sterilise this water.

How?

Chlorine
Very effective. Should not be present in water that goes into the beer. It can produce
phenolic off-taste (hospital-like smell) in the beer. Chlorinated town water supplies require
treatment before use.

Chlorine dioxide
Chlorine dioxide functions as an oxidising agent. Oxidation kills micro organisms. It is used
to treat final rinse water.

Ozone
This treatment has a strong oxidising effect. Oxidation kills micro organisms. Ozone
treatment can cause metal corrosion.

UV treatment
Ultra Violet (UV) light in the wavelength of 200 to 280 nm kills micro organisms. It has no
residual action. Its action is limited to where it is applied. Therefore, the water should be
treated immediately before use.

Sterile Filtration & Distillation

Page 89 of 95
Sterile filtration, Reverse osmosis and distillation will produce a sterile product. Osmosis
and distillation is discussed later. Sterile filtration through a 0.45 micron filter will produce
sterile water. The micro organisms are simply filtered out. All these methods are
expensive.

Removal of solids

Water entering the brewery, especially from surface sources, may contain suspended
solids such as soil.

This material must be removed, usually by filtration through a sand bed.

Some of this material is very fine (particle sizes in the range of 0.1 to 0.01 mm) and this
must be chemically sedimented before filtration.

Incoming water is often also aerated. This precipitates Iron and Hydrogen Sulphide.

Typical schematic of a water pre-treatment system

· Coagulants “clump” together fine particles

· Flocculants such Aluminium sulphate or ferric sulphate or chloride may be

added to the raw water. They precipitate fine particles and colloids. They are
allowed to settle out by sedimentation in a settling tank. Not all suspended
particles are removed in the settling tank.

· That is why the water is then filtered using a sand filter.

· In the sand filter, the water goes through a layer of pure sand of uniform grain
size. The suspended particles stay behind in the pores of the sand when the
water flows through.

Page 90 of 95
After sand filtration, the remaining Chlorine and other pre-treatment chemicals can be
removed from the water using an activated carbon filter. Active carbon filters impurities
and molecules like chlorine from the water by adsorbing them.

Active carbon is made from coal or coconut.

It works by physical adsorption of the impurities and unwanted chemicals into its structure.

Vent

raw water inlet

wash water discharge

Activated
Carbon steam inlet

Gravel

Wash water inlet

treated water outlet

drain and condensate outlet

Page 91 of 95
Minerals & Salts

It is important that the water contains the correct salts for brewing. In some cases, we can
add the required salts. In some cases, we have to remove them.

Let’s see what effect different salts and minerals have on beer.

Calcium

Calcium is responsible for the fall in pH (increased acidity) during mashing and boiling.

The result of lowering mash and wort pH through the addition of Calcium has the following
effects:

· Increased wort fermentability

· Improved extract recovery

· Increased wort free amino and soluble nitrogen

· Improved starch conversion

· Reduced extraction of tannins and silica compounds

· But poorer hop utilisation

Calcium also has other beneficial effects not directly related to acidity, namely:

· It protects amylase (enzyme) from thermal degradation. This extends its

effective activity.

· Improves protein precipitation during the boil.

· Limits colour formation during wort boiling.

· Improves yeast flocculation.

· Reduces the tendency for haze and gushing in packaged beer and beerstone
production.

Magnesium

The magnesium salts have a similar reaction to calcium.

It provides the beer with a slightly bitter or sour flavour. This is detectable at levels above
15 ppm.

Excess magnesium salts, particularly magnesium sulphate may cause flatulence and has
a laxative effect in humans.

Magnesium helps fermentation enzymes.

Page 92 of 95
Sodium

At low concentrations, Sodium gives a sweet flavour to beer. Between 75 and 150 ppm,
sodium adds palate fullness.

At higher concentrations (around 150 ppm) it gives a salty flavour. It is added to certain
Beers to give a sour salt taste

Potassium

Similar to Sodium.

It also gives a salty flavour but is not normally added to beer.

It helps some enzymes.

In high dose can have a laxative effect.

Iron

Iron should be absent from brewing water (no more than 0.2 to 0.5 ppm).

It has a negative effect on mashing. It prevents saccharification.

Iron also weakens the yeast, which leads to beers without palate fullness.

Iron in packaged beer acts as a catalyst in the oxidation of polyphenols. This accelerates
the production of irreversible hazes in beer.

It also gives a metallic taste to beer.

Somewhat enhances the foam head.

Zinc

Zinc at high concentration poisons yeast, BUT in small amounts (0.15 to 0.20 ppm) zinc
acts as yeast nutrient. The requirement depends on which yeast strain is used.

It inhibits enzyme activity and contributes to beer haze.

Copper ions

At high levels above 10 ppm, copper kills yeast.

At lower concentrations, it acts as a catalyst for the production of irreversible hazes in

beer.

Carbonates & bi-carbonate

Carbonate ions have the opposite effect to Calcium. Carbonate ions prevent a fall in pH.

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The increase in wort pH has an adverse effect on mash enzymes. It therefore increases
extract losses. The Carbonate level of brewing liquor should be as low as possible.

Chloride

The Chloride ion at levels up to 300 ppm increases palate fullness. They give a more
mellow flavour to a beer.

Chloride improves clarification and colloidal stability.

Chloride inhibits yeast flocculation.

Above 500 ppm, chloride leads to slower fermentations and poor beer quality.

Sulphate

Sulphate ions produce drier, more bitter flavours in beers.

They are also a source of unpleasant sulphur compounds that can be formed by the yeast
during fermentation.

The relative concentrations of chloride to sulphate affect the sweetness/bitterness balance

of the beer.

Nitrite & nitrate

Nowadays we find more nitrates in our water supplies, because of artificial fertilisers used
in agriculture.

Nitrate with wild yeast and bacteria can contaminate wort or beer. This can form
carcinogenic compounds (ATNC).

Water hardness.

· Hardness is that property of water, which enables it to "collapse" soap foam.

· Hardness causes beer stone or scale on brewing vessels.

· Hardness causes scaling in boilers and hot water installations.

· Hardness depends almost entirely on the calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) content of
the water.

The total hardness consists of Temporary hardness and Permanent hardness.

· Temporary hardness is due to the bi-carbonate salts of calcium and magnesium.

· Permanent hardness consists mainly of sulphate, chloride and nitrate salts of

calcium and magnesium.

Boiling reduces the temporary hardness.

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The hardness remaining after boiling is the permanent hardness.

Temporary hardness would make the water alkaline and increase the pH throughout the
brewing process.

Most processes in beer production proceed better or faster in acidic condition (lower pH).
This is a reason for brewers to reduce the temporary hardness. We can reduce the
temporary hardness by several methods.

We can also reduce the permanent hardness. However, we may not want to reduce the
permanent hardness, as the Ions are useful in making beer because:

· Calcium and Magnesium are necessary for yeast metabolism.

· Sulphate and Chloride ions are also needed for beer flavour.

We’ve covered the various methods of removing hardness in Water in the brewing
modules.

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