This article is about brewing beer. For other uses, see Wort (disambiguation)
Wort ( ) is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose,[1] that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. Wort also contains crucial amino acids to provide nitrogen to the yeast as well as more complex proteins contributing to beer head retention and flavour.[2]
Production
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Draining wortThe first step in wort production is to obtain malt, which is made from dried, sprouted cereal grains, including barley. The malt is run through a mill, cracking the husk and exposing the starch inside. The milled grain is then mashed by mixing it with hot water, and then steeped, a process that enables enzymes to convert the starch in the malt into sugars which dissolve in the water. Sometimes the mash is heated at set intervals to alter the enzyme activity.[3] The temperature of the mixture is usually increased to 78 °C (172 °F) for mashout. Lautering is the next step, which means the sugar-extracted grist or solids remaining in the mash are separated from the liquid wort. In homebrewing, the use of grain malt (including milling and mashing) can be skipped by adding malt extract to water to make wort.[4]
The mixture is then boiled to sanitize the wort and, in the case of most beer production, to extract the bittering, flavour and aroma from hops. In beer making, the wort is known as "sweet wort" until the hops have been added, after which it is called "hopped or bitter wort". The addition of hops is generally done in three parts at set times. The bittering hops, added first, are boiled in the wort for approximately one hour to one and a half hours. This long boil extracts resins, which provides the bittering. Then, the flavouring hops are added, typically 15 minutes from the end of the boil. The finishing hops are added last, toward the end of or after the boil. This extracts the oils, which provide flavour and aroma but evaporate quickly. In general, hops provide the most flavouring when boiled for approximately 15 minutes, and the most aroma when not boiled at all.
At the end of boiling, the hot wort is quickly cooled (in homebrewing, often using an immersion chiller) to a temperature favorable to the yeast. Once sufficiently cooled, the wort is transferred to a separate fermentation vessel, oxygenated, and then yeast is added, or "pitched", to begin the fermentation process.
The adjunct grains that can be added to the mash include oats, wheat, corn (maize), rye, and rice. Adjunct grains may first need gelatinization and cooling.[5] They are used to create varietal beers such as wheat beer and oatmeal stout, to create grain whisky, or to lighten the body (and cut costs) as in commercial, mass-produced pale lagers.
References
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We researched brewing equipment for about two years before placing an order. There are so many factors to consider such as size, number of vessels, type of heat source, cooling the wort, as well as country of manufacturing and engineering origin.
Heres a summary of the main issues that were considered and our approach to a solution.
Commercial brewing requires several different types of big vessels made of stainless steel. First, the water gets heated in a dedicated vessel called the Hot Liquor Tank (liquor is referring to the technical term for any liquid used in a process of some kind, not the liquid that gets you drunk). The hot water is then transferred to a vessel known as the Mash/Lauter Tun where it saturates milled grain to extract the delicious sugars and flavors.
Example of a hot liquor tank.
After a little while, the carbohydrate-rich water is transferred to the Boil Kettle right next to the mash tun where it is brought to boiling temperature by a direct gas-fired burner, indirect gas-fired burner, steam, or electric elements. Hops (and other special ingredients depending on the recipe) are added during the boil. Once that is completed, the boil kettle becomes a Whirlpool, forcing the water into a vortex that separates it from the larger particles in the solution (like large clusters of hops).
For more information, please visit YME.
The Boil Kettle/Whirlpool and the Mash/Lauter Tun are usually right next to each other with a platform and stairs between them so the brewer can visually monitor the process and add ingredients. Collectively, theyre referred to as the Brewhouse. As breweries expand (reach the limit of beer that can be produced from the brewhouse in a 24 hour period), they will often add a third vessel for a dedicated whirlpool (and then a fourth vessel for dedicated lauter). This increases the churn rate and increases labor efficiency so more beer can be produced each day.
Example of a brewhouse comprised of a Mash/Lauter tun, platform, and brew kettle.
The hot liquid is then cooled and transferred to a Fermenting Vessel where yeast is added and the magic of transforming sugars to alcohol begins for several days to a few weeks. Then the fermentation process is stopped and beer is transferred to a Brite Tank where it is cooled even further to allow remaining particles in the beer to fall to the bottom of the tank. Once finished, the beer can be kegged or bottled/canned for serving.
Most start-up microbreweries size their brewhouse at 10-30 barrels (1 barrel = 31.5 gallons = 2 big kegs = 240 pints of beer) and have equivalent-sized fermenter/brite tanks.
Sizing the brewhouse is a balancing act for a new brewery that cant be sure of sales and growth. Starting too big will place a strain on initial expenditures as well as make a bad batch of beer a costly mistake. Starting too small will make it difficult to catch up with demand and increases the cost of ingredients per batch since smaller systems utilize hops at lower efficiency. Many brewers will tell you that doubling the size of your system is much less than double the cost. This is usually true, however, that alone is not a good reason for buying a bigger system.
Consider the amount of physical space available in the brewery. If there isnt much room to add additional fermenting and brite tanks in the future, starting with a large brewing system isnt wise. Its also important to consider the clear height of the ceiling compared to the diagonal height of the fermenting/brite vessels. These are the tallest vessels. Unless your space has a tall dock door, these tanks need adequate ceiling height to be tilted up to standing within the space. Large breweries will often create an opening in the ceiling to drop in these tanks.
Consider starting with a smaller brewhouse with room to add a dedicated whirlpool in the future. Then size the fermenters/brite tanks at double the size of the brewhouse. The tanks can be half filled when business is slow and filled completely with double batches from the brewhouse when demand increases. This allows the brewery to double their capacity with only about 30% higher initial cost compared to having to purchase additional tanks (which would be 100% additional cost).
A general rule of thumb is to purchase the number of fermenters and brite tanks needed to take you through the first 2-3 years of production. You can calculate the approximate maximum annual capacity of a fermenter using these metrics:
Daily fermenting volume available = # vessels * volume of vessel
Turns per year = # of brew days per year / days to ferment average beer
Annual capacity = fermenting volume * turns per year
A way to simplify this is to assume 80% ale production (shorter fermentation time), 20% lager production (longer fermentation time) and 50 weeks of brewing (assumes some vacation and/or maintenance time):
Annual capacity = fermenting volume * 42
This also assumes that you have sufficient number of brite tanks to rotate beers this quickly.
If you plan to have a lot of different beers on tap at any given time, consider starting with the same ratio of brite to fermenting vessels.
There are three heat sources for the hot liquor tank and brew kettle:
There are many suppliers of brewing vessels, especially given the boom of new breweries within the last decade. But most suppliers do not actually manufacture the vessels themselves. Rather, they are typically imported from manufacturers in China or other countries. While this can keep costs down for customers, the quality of the design, materials, and build varies wildly.
If you do end up choosing a supplier that imports equipment, pick one that uses US-based engineers to design the equipment. Remember that importing from overseas adds significant shipping charges, often about 10% of the cost of the equipment itself. The wait time for delivery is also longer.
Verify that any foreign-built equipment has electrical components that are rated for your country along with design specifications in English.
The brewing industry typically places the most value on domestically designed and manufactured vessels. The US tends to have higher standards for the quality of steel used in food-grade equipment and the build tends to be better. This of course comes at a higher cost, but may be made up with saving more from shipping.
For any supplier, its very important to check their references. Ask for a list of their customers and contact them personally to inquire:
We decided on a 10 barrel indirect fire brewhouse for the following reasons:
Since our business plan calls for a heavy taproom focus initially, we need enough brite tanks to allow for more different styles of beer we are planning to produce. So we ordered tanks in a 1:1 ratio 3 brite tanks and 3 fermenters. These are all sized at 20 barrels to allow for eventually double batching to increase production capacity without having to add more tanks. If you do this, make sure the supplier adjusts the glycol jacket around the vessel. Since glycol jackets are normally only around the upper half of the vessel, they wont adequately cool a tank that is only half full.
We selected Rocky Mountain Vessels, a US-based supplier that designs and manufactures vessels at their Colorado location. In addition, the steel is sourced domestically. Cant get much better than that. Were looking forward to delivery sometime this June, !
Are you interested in learning more about professional brewing equipment? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!