- Malting/Milling
- Preparing the grains for the process
- Includes crushing grains to expose starches in center
- Mashing
- Crushed grains are mixed with hot water to form “mash”
- Heat activates enzymes that convert starch to sugar
- Temperatures required vary depending on desired product
- Dry Beers=lower temperatures
- Sweet Beers=higher temperatures
- “Lautering” must occur after. This is the process of separating out spent grain
- Boiling
- This self explanatory step is performed for 1 or 2 hours to not only sterilize the beer, but it also allows the hops to release some bitterness into the beer
- Fermenting
- Yeast is added to the cooled sugary mixture.
- Yeast devours the sugars and produces CO2 and Alcohol
- Packaging and Aging
- Preparing for consumer use!
- Depending on the packaging, age can drastically improve the taste!
