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Lautering in Brewing

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Temperature control is a vital part of nearly every step in the beer-making process. From boiling to fermentation, all brewers have to stay in charge of heat. 

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Hops being added to hot wort before wort chilling and fermentation

During the lautering phase of brewing, temperature control plays a critical role in ensuring flavors are developed correctly. Without control, beer flavors can vary and develop unwanted tastes and textures.

Lautering is broken up into three steps:

Mashout

Mashout is the term used to describe the heating of mash. Doing so helps liquify the mash and stop the fermentation of starches within the mash. This is where temperatures get precise. Optimum temperature of mashout is 170° F, which kills off bacteria that was formerly assisting the fermentation process. 

Recirculation

Once wort liquifies, it’s best to recirculate it through the mash repeatedly. The mash acts as a filter, catching small pieces of grain and other debris leftover from earlier phases of the brewing process. Recirculation is best performed by draining wort water out from the bottom of the mash and spraying it back over the top.

Sparging

Sparging is the most delicate part of lautering because any errors will significantly impact the flavors of the brew, especially the bitterness levels. Water is sprinkled on top of the grain to extract sugars that will be vital to beer taste. 

There are two methods of sparging, English and German. In English sparging, the wort is completely drained from the mash. Once the wort is removed, water is added to the mash. This time, the water is held at exactly 169° F. Eventually, the water can be drained and either be added to the wort or be used as its own light brew. 

In German sparging, water is added at the same rate as the wort is being drained from the mash. The main difference between English and German sparging is that German sparging generally results in a larger quantity of beer. 

Cold Control

keg cooler

Using temperature control equipment during lautering is important to protect these sensitive chemical changes. North Slope Chillers specializes in equipment brewers need to stay in command of their brew. Using Keg Coolers and Beacon Control technology takes the pressure off brewers as they move forward into the next part of beer-making, leading to a brew that drinkers can’t help but drain to the last drop. 

Contact North Slope Chillers to find the right temperature control equipment for your brewing needs at (866) 826-2993 or [email protected]. 

Whirlpooling

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What Is Whirlpooling?

Whirlpooling. Dangerous when floating a river, but critical when brewing beer. To put it simply, whirlpooling separates the good stuff in your brew from the waste that can be thrown away. 

Because whirlpooling is such an important part of the brewing process, simply stirring just isn’t going to cut it. Let’s dive into the brew, shall we?

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whirlpooling
Image from Homebrewersassociation.org

Wort And Trub

Before you can ferment your brew, you have to separate the brewed wort from the trub. 

For those who don’t speak beer, here’s a quick glossary: 

Wort:

Wort is “the sweet, amber liquid extracted from malted barley that the yeast will later ferment into beer.” According to Howtobrew.com, whirlpooling helps prepare the wort for fermentation by “gathering most of the break and hops into the center of the pot to better enable the siphon to draw off clear wort from the side.”

Trub:

Beerandbrewing.com identifies trub as “a collective term covering sediments formed in the brewing process during wort boiling—called hot break—and upon cooling the wort before primary fermentation boiling—called cold break—as well as during cold storage of fermented beer, which is called cold trub.” In any form, trub is usually discarded by brewers as a waste-product. 

Whirlpooling is the process of steeping hops in a way that preserves oils essential for wort flavor while separating out the trub. 

Let It Whirl

The swirling motion of the brew prevents most of the hop oils from boiling away. You can whirlpool your brew by using a spoon to stir or anything that will get the water moving. 

The main benefits of whirlpooling are preserving flavoring oils from boiling off and collecting trub to be disposed of. Experts in whirlpooling will do so in a way that shapes the trub into a cone at the bottom of the boiling pot: 

Whirlpooling

Once you’ve moved the wort brew to the fermentation chamber, you can throw away the trub. Some homebrewers use trub as a fertilizer for their lawns and gardens. Others use it as a drain filter due to the trub’s straining properties. 

Temperature Control

Throughout the brewing process, ensuring your brew doesn’t get too hot or cold is critical. North Slope Chillers offers fermentation chillers and Keg Coolers to help keep your brew at the desired temperature during each stage. For more information about how North Slope Chillers can help you brew the finest craft beer you’ve ever made, call (866) 826-2993 or email [email protected]. 

Chilling Beer

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Keep it Cold

Successful craft breweries have one thing in common: they stay in control of their creation. What’s the best way to keep beer cold?

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Beer: Stay in Command

Flavor, color and texture are all dependent on how beer is made. Temperature control during the brewing process directly impacts each of those three elements. It’s always been that way, and always will be.

Using Ice and Snow

Ever since mankind discovered how to make beer, keeping it chilled has been critical to allowing the fermentation process to work its magic. Fermentation generates heat, so beer makers have had to pay strict attention to temperature control. In the past, most beer producers stored beer in cellars to keep it protected from external heat, while using water and ice to reduce fermentation heat. 

Monk makes beer
A monk brewing beer

Beer chilling methods have changed over time. During the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, distilled water was invented, allowing for colder drinks to be served. In medieval times, ice houses dug into the ground were all the rage in Europe and Asia. Snow was also a commodity used in keeping beer and wine cold. Once the New World was discovered, Spain imposed a tax on snow imported from Mexico that lasted 300 years due to its value in cooling.

In the early colonization of North America, ice caves were essential to keeping beer at a stable temperature. Brewers would layer huge blocks of ice along cave walls, creating a freezer that lowered the air temperature of the cave. It’s said that the success of breweries in Wisconsin was only possible due to the nearby lakes that freeze over during the winter, providing breweries with a massive supply of ice to help with fermenting and storing. To this day, you can still tour the ice caves that used to house barrels of Miller beer. 

Beer Spoils

george washington
A recipe for beer written by George Washington

When beer isn’t chilled correctly, it often spoils. George Washington had a recipe he used to reclaim spoiled beer due to the difficulty of maintaining a stable temperature. Beer production in Germany from the 16th century to the 19th century was banned during the hot summer months. Overheated beer provides “ideal habitats for noxious airborne bacteria to proliferate and caused yeasts to produce undesirable fermentation flavors.” With few exceptions, most spoiled beer is deemed unusable and simply thrown out. 

The First Chiller

Mechanized temperature control wasn’t a thing until 1873, when German engineer Carl von Linde invented the first chiller machine. According to the Oxford Companion to Beer, von Linde saw a need for artificial refrigeration and found a solution using the basic principles of thermodynamics. 

Because cold is merely the absence of heat, to make things cold, one must withdraw heat. Compressing a medium generates heat; subsequently decompressing or evaporating it quickly absorbs heat from its environment. Devices based on this principle are now generally known as vapor-compression refrigeration systems; apply this to a fermenting or lagering vessel, and it becomes a beer-cooling system. 

-Oxford Companion to Beer
Carl von Linde, 1868

Dubbing his creation the “ammonia cold machine” due to the use of ammonia as a refrigerant, von Linde’s invention changed the world forever, allowing breweries to ditch the ice caves and produce beer year round. Today, von Linde’s ammonia cold machine has evolved into modern equipment. Commercial beer chillers allow yeast strains to be kept at their optimum temperature and reduce risk of overheating. They also provide beer with a stable storage temperature that works in nearly any environment. 

Keg Coolers

keg cooler

North Slope Chillers offers the best beer chilling equipment on the market. Our Keg Coolers bring peace of mind to large breweries and home brewers alike. With a white vinyl finish to repel heat from sunlight and insulated layering, Keg Coolers draw heat away from the container to ensure beer stays at a set temperature. Portable and easy to use, Keg Coolers are essential for every brewer. 

Temperature control in beer making is just as important in 2019 as it was in 3000 B.C. By using North Slope Chillers Keg Coolers, craft brewers can carry on the age-old tradition of using the best temperature control solution available. 

Cooling from North Slope Chillers

North Slope Chillers offers easy to install, portable chillers that won’t disrupt your current setup. If you would like to know more about our product offerings, give us a call at (866) 826-2993 .

The Rise of Craft and Microbreweries

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Visit any large city in the United States today, and you’ll discover an ever-increasing amount of craft and microbreweries. Microbreweries and craft breweries are similar in almost every way, with a few exceptions.

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The American Brewers Association says microbreweries are allowed to make only 15,000 barrels of beer (460,000 gallons) per year and must sell 75 percent of its inventory outside of its brewery location. Craft breweries can’t produce more than 2 million gallons of beer per year. In addition, craft beers must be made with 50 percent malt and are independently owned.

It’s easy to mix the two up. One thing they do have in common is that many craft and microbreweries begin with people creating new beer concoctions in their own homes, known as homebrewing.

Homemade beer was, at one point, more American than baseball. When they were not establishing new countries and fighting oppressive powers, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were home brewers.

George Washington Beer
George Washington’s homemade beer recipe, written in his journal.

At that time, beer was consumed more than water. According to the American Homebrewers Association, “Beer has long been a beverage brewed as a source of potable water in areas with disease- and famine-stricken resources, as was the case in some instances in America.”

Revolutionary War-era brews were not flavorful, nor did they provide a “buzz”. These early American beers were often referred to as “soft” or “weak” due to their low alcohol content, but were popular enough that they led to the creation of craft and microbreweries, which populated many American cities until Prohibition began in 1920.

They virtually disappeared until the 1980s, when craft and microbreweries began making a comeback. During that decade, a new community of craft brewers started expanding out of their garage homebrewing hobby into commercial opportunities, giving Americans back the tradition of flavored ales and lagers. It was a revolution in its own right. 

Since then, craft brewing has exploded into its own industry in the United States, with California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon boasting the most craft breweries. Compared to just eight craft brewers in 1980, there were more than 6,000 in 2018. Frankenmuth Brewery, a craft brewery based in Michigan and the oldest operating craft brewery in America, claims most Americans live no farther than 10 miles from a craft brewery. The culture of small, independent breweries has become something that drinkers can connect to, and participate in. 

Craft and microbrews today are rich in flavor and are considered an art. These artisan brews contrast greatly  with what some beer critics call “buzz beers,” such as Budweiser or Miller Light, which people drink more for the buzz they get instead of deep flavor. Whether you prefer sour ales or a rich lager or a stout IPA, there’s something for all beer drinkers so long as craft and microbreweries continue to thrive. 

 

 

 

Craft Brews: What Determines Alcohol Content?

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How much alcohol is in the last beer you drank? Do you know how to determine the amount of alcohol, and why it’s in your brew? Read on to find out.

Craft brewing is an incredibly diverse industry. Brewers have a touch of artistry at how they craft their beers, with fermentation times, yeasts and temperatures varying to get the precise flavor desired. All of these things have an impact on alcohol content, which is one of the most important aspects of craft brewing.

Glass of beer on a wooden bar

Alcohol content in beer begins with a specific key ingredient: fermenting yeast. Rachel Bell, Director of Operations for Kiitos Brewing says the process of creating alcohol in beer was discovered thousands of years ago.

“Alcohol only really exists because of fermentation,” she said. Fermenting yeast extracts sugars from grains, creating alcohol. The type of yeast and method of fermentation will result in varying alcohol levels.

“If you leave some sweet liquid outside long enough, wild microorganisms will find it and you’ll see it start to bubble slightly,” Bell said. “Some beers are even made this way via ‘wild fermentation.’”

Juilia Herz, a writer for craftbeer.com, says wild fermentation is a result of spontaneous fermentation, “an age-old practice, first by accident and then by intention, that truly puts Mother Nature at the helm of brewing magic. This type of fermentation takes place when ales are fermented with wild yeasts—from an open window, for instance, or already residing in a barrel—rather than cultivated ones”

Any kind of fermentation using the right yeast will result in alcohol.

“This yeast has been carefully bred and developed into a huge variety of strains over thousands of years, and much larger amounts are added to commercial beers than one would find wild in nature,” Bell said. “Otherwise it would be impossible to get consistent flavor or amount of alcohol.”

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a specific species of yeast that has been in use by brewers for thousands of years.

Temperature is critical to yeast fermentation. Different yeasts will result in different temperatures needed to achieve ideal alcohol content. Thus the key to controlling alcohol content is dialing in your process cooling and knowing your yeasts. Bell explained that most yeasts “are typically more active in slightly warmer temperatures, but not always. Lager yeasts (which are a different species) prefer very cold temperatures, but they take much longer to finish the fermentation chilling process.”

But not all yeasts need to be cooled down, Bell says.

“Different temperatures can also impact what flavorful by products the yeast will give off. Esters, which are a different type of alcohol, give the beer an additional fruity flavor and are typically activated at higher fermentation temperatures.”

If you want total control over alcohol levels in your beer, you’ll need to master your yeast and the temperature it best ferments at.