Step 1: Mash We blend crushed malted barley with hot water to create the mash. This procedure allows the starches in the mash to convert into fermentable sugars that will determine the flavor profile and alcohol content of the chosen beer style. This procedure takes between 60 and 90 minutes.
Step 2: Sparge Once the starches in the malt are fully converted, we separate the sugars in the mash from the grain husks by spraying hot water over the grain bed. This process is known as sparging, and allows the fermentable sugars to percolate through the grain bed and escape through a false bottom in the mash tun, much like a coffee filter. The liquid collected is called sweet "wort" (pronounced wert).
Step 3: Boiling and Hopping We boil the sweet wort to extract bitterness from hops that are added at intervals during the boil, which lasts for one hour. Hops that are added early in the boil provide the beer with bitterness, while hops added late in the boil provide aroma.
Step 4: Fermentation The bitter wort cools as we pump it from the kettle to the fermenter through two heat exchangers. We then "pitch" yeast to the cool wort to begin fermentation. During fermentation, the yeast ingests sugar and produces two major by-products: alcohol and carbon dioxide. Fermentation takes between 4 and 7 days.
Step 5: Storage Once fermentation is complete, we cool the beer to 36 degrees and filter it to a conditioning tank. The beer is allowed to condition for a week or more before it is kegged.
