Beer 101: The Fundamental Steps of

Brewing
The process of brewing beer is like a foreign
language to many, but if craft beers fans want to
truly appreciate the delicious drink in front of them,
a basic understanding of the fundamental steps of
brewing can be beneficial when imbibing
delectable craft brews.
June 30, 2016
By: Editorial Dept.
Story Revised:
06/22/2023
Malt

Brewing begins with raw barley, wheat, oats or rye that has
germinated in a malt house. The grain is then dried in a kiln and
sometimes roasted, a process that usually takes place in a
separate location from the brewery. At the brewery, the malt is
sent through a grist mill, cracking open the husks of the kernels,
which helps expose the starches during the mashing process.
The process of steep milling, or soaking the grain before milling,
is also an option for large-scale brewers.

The combination of different types of grain used by a brewer to

make a beer is often called the grist bill.

Mashing
The first step in the beer-making process is mashing, in which
the grist, or milled malt, is transferred to the mash tun. Mashing
is the process of combining the grist and water, also known
as liquor, and heating it to temperatures usually between 100
degrees Fahrenheit up to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Mashing
causes the natural enzymes in the malt to break down starches,
converting them to sugars, which will eventually become alcohol.
This process takes place in one to two hours. Mash temperatures
can be gradually increased or allowed to rest at certain
temperatures, choices which are very much part of the brewer’s
art. Different temperature levels activate different enzymes and
affect the release of proteins and fermentable sugars. Proteins
play a smaller role but are important to the creation of foam in a
finished beer. For heating, most brewers use steam.

Timmermans International Beer Day 2023

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Infusion vs. Decoction Mashing

Water is combined with the grist in one of two ways,

infusion or decoction.

In infusion mashing, the grains are heated up in one vessel (the

mash tun); in decoction mashing, a portion of the mash is
transferred from the mash tun and boiled in a separate vessel
(called the mash kettle), then returned to the original mash.
Some brewers repeat this process to achieve double decoction
and a few are known to use triple decoction.

The liquid consisting of sugars and hot water resulting from

mashing is wort.

(Note: For extract brewing, malt has already been processed into
a concentrated syrup or powder consisting of milled grain, which
is then combined with heated water to make the wort. This is a
method most often employed by homebrewers, enabling them to
by-pass the steps required for separating spent grain from the
wort.)

Lautering

Lautering is the process of separating the wort from spent grain

as efficiently as possible. Generally, it is done in a separate
lauter tun, although the process of mash filtering can now be
done by large-scale or small-scale brewers.

A lauter tun has a perforated or slotted bottom with runoff ports.

The solids from the mash settle on the bottom and form a filter
for the wort.

Lautering consists of three steps: mashout, recirculation and

sparging. The mashout consists of raising the mash
temperature to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, which stops enzymatic
reactions and preserves the fermentable sugar profile of the
wort, and also makes the wort less viscous and easier to work
with.

Next, the wort is drawn out from the bottom of the lauter ton
and recirculated, causing loose grain particulates to be filtered
out naturally by the grain bed, allowing for a clearer wort
composition.

Once the wort is transferred, the remaining spent grain, which

consists of grain husks and particles left over from the mashing,
requires sparging. Sparging is the process of rinsing the spent
grain with heated water to get as much of the sugars as possible
from the remaining grain for the wort.

After sparging, the spent grain is commonly recycled as feed for

cattle and hogs, or can be used to make bread.

Boiling

Once a brewer has wort, it is sterilized through a boiling process

in a brew kettle, which halts enzyme activity and condenses the
liquid. During the boil, which typically lasts from 60 to 120
minutes, hops are added.
Hopping

The qualities of aroma, taste and bitterness that hops impart to

beer depend on what point they are added. Hops can be added
early in the boil for bittering, with more time boiled resulting in
more bitterness. They can be added mid-boil for flavor, or late
boil for flavoring and aroma.

The key to hops' bitter taste in beer is alpha

acids (aka humulones). These alpha acids vary in content (2-
15%) depending on the hop variety. When exposed to the boil,
alpha acids undergo isomerization, resulting in the formation of
different forms of humulones. It's these iso-alpha acids that are
responsible for the distinctive bitterness found in beer.

Hops can also be added at stages after the boil

during whirlpooling (flavor/aroma), fermentation (dry-hopping for
aroma) or maturation (dry-hopping for aroma).
Whirlpooling

Once the boil is complete, the whirlpool phase further clarifies

the wort by removing protein and hop solids through settling.
These solids are known as trub. Although the boiling kettle can
also be used as a whirlpool, many brewers use a separate,
specially designed container.

A hop back is a type of vessel for whirlpooling that employs

fresh hop flowers or cones in a sealed chamber for filtering the
trub, which adds more hop aroma compounds to the wort. A hop
back is often employed when whole hop cones are used in the
boil. A standard whirlpool is better at collecting trub created
from hop pellets.

Next, a heat exchanger is used to reduce the wort to the

temperature desired for fermentation. Water heated by this
exchange is often used by brewers to start a new brewing cycle.

Fermentation

Wort is transferred to a fermentation vessel and the yeast

is pitched, or added. Ale yeast rises to the top of the wort and
lager yeast generally collects in the bottom. This stage is
the primary fermentation -- the conversion of sugars to alcohol
and carbon dioxide that lead to an ale or a lager, depending on
the type of yeast used. (Hybrid beers also use one of these two
types of yeast.)

Once yeast has been pitched at proper temperature, the beer is

generally maintained from 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit for ales,
and 50 degrees Fahrenheit for lagers. The process of the yeast
converting sugars to alcohol generates heat and is monitored
closely by brewers. The higher temperatures employed for ale
yeast result in more esters, or fragrant organic compounds.

A Note on DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide) Aromas

One notable off-flavor can occur if wort does not boil long
enough at the right temperatures: DMS. This dreaded corn-like or
popcorn-like aroma flaw can spoil any terrific brew, but if all of
your equipment is clean and the brewing process is followed
exactingly, this off-flavor will almost never be present in your
brews.

Conditioning
During the conditioning process for ales and lagers, the beer will
mature and smooth, and by-products of fermentation will
diminish. It is possible to dry hop during this stage for added
aroma, and other methods such as barrel aging can further
introduce complexity.

The cold storage of beer for 30 days known as lagering is a key

difference in the cleaner nature and more defined flavors of
lagers when compared to ale.

A type of secondary fermentation for lagers is known by the

German word kräusening. Once the fermented “green” beer is
transferred to tanks for cold storage, kräusening is the
introduction of actively fermenting beer, including yeast, to the
dormant new beer. The additional yeast helps carbonation and
the elimination of unwanted aspects of the primary fermentation
such as diacetyl – or butterscotch flavors – and other
compounds.

The conditioning process can last from one to six weeks and
sometimes more. Depending on the style, brewers may choose to
filter any remaining yeast or other particles from the beer and
then store it in bright tanks. Some pasteurize their beer to
improve clarity and shelf life.
Packaging and Carbonation

Once the beer has fermented, it must be kegged or bottled and

carbonated, either naturally or by force. Force carbonation
involves adding CO2 to a container under high pressure, forcing it
to be absorbed into the beer. Most breweries use force
carbonation because it’s a much faster process and allows for
greater clarity in the beer.

Krausening is a method to introduce carbonation during the

fermenting stage. Bottle conditioning – or adding a small
amount of sugar and yeast at bottling – is also used to generate
carbonation. Cask-conditioned real ale is carbonated by adding
sugar, yeast and hops when the beer is first introduced to the
cask.
Experimentation

Experimentation is the soul of the brewing process and any facet

of brewing from ingredients to temperatures to timing can be
altered.

Measurements

Key measurements determined by a hydrometer help brewers

follow the process of fermentation.

1. Gravity: Ratio of water to other substances in

the water such as sugar.
2. Original Gravity (OG) The gravity reading of the
wort taken before yeast is pitched.
3. Final Gravity (FG) The gravity reading taken
after fermentation is complete.
4. Alcohol By Volume (ABV) The Original Gravity
and Final Gravity are the key variables in the
calculation to determine Alcohol by Volume.