- Barley- The basis of a beer is the starch source, typically a grain such as barley, wheat, or even rice, which has been malted to release enzymes.
- Mill- After the barley or other grain has been malted, it is milled to break up the endosperm, creating a greater surface area for the enzymes to work in the mashing process.
- Mash Mixer- Also known as a mash tun, this is where the malted barley is mixed with water and heated, allowing the enzymes present in the barley to break down the starches into sugars. The heating process is completed in phases at different temperature ranges, where specific enzymes begin acting.
- Lauter Tun- The mash is then transferred to the lauter tun in order to separate the wort from the grain. The process is made up of 3 steps: mashout, recirculation, and sparging. The mashout consists of raising the temperature to about 170°F to stop the conversion of starch and to make the wort more fluid. In recirculation, wort is taken from the bottom of the lauter tun and added back into the top, in order to remove any debris from the wort. Finally, during sparging, hot water is used to rinse the remaining grain to extract any remaining sugars.
- Kettle- In the kettle, the wort is boiled and flavoring ingredients, such as hops, are added periodically. The boiling process extracts flavors from the hops, which then shows up in the flavor profile of the beer.
- Whirlpool- After the boil is complete, solid particles in the wort mixture are removed by the whirlpool system. By swirling the wort, the dense solids are pushed to the center of the tank for easier removal.
- Fermenter- After the wort is cooled and transferred to the fermenter, the yeast is added and fermentation begins. The sugars are consumed and turned into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
-RC