Craft beer wort production（1）

The main process of beer production is fermentation, which converts the sugar contained in the wort into ethanol and carbon dioxide. In order to achieve the preconditions for fermentation, the water-insoluble components in the malt must first be converted into water-soluble components, especially fermentable sugars. The conversion and dissolution of these water-insoluble components is the purpose of wort preparation and also The basis for the fermentation of wort in the main leaven and after leaven. The preparation process of wort includes: crushing of raw materials, saccharification of raw materials, filtration of wort, boiling of wort with hops, wort treatment (clarification, cooling, oxygenation) and other processes. The following describes the preparation of wort through several aspects.

Malt crush

Malt crushing is a purely physical process. Through crushing raw materials, the contact area between the content and water can be increased, and the starch granules can absorb water to soften, swell and dissolve quickly. Increase the contact area between the content, the medium water and the biocatalyst enzyme, accelerate the dissolution and decomposition of the raw material content, accelerate the leaching of soluble substances, and promote the dissolution of insoluble substances.

Malt crushing is generally divided into four types: dry crushing, wet crushing, moisture regain crushing and continuous immersion wet crushing.

Saccharification

Saccharification refers to the use of various hydrolytic enzymes contained in the malt itself, as well as the action of water and heat, to decompose the insoluble high molecular substances (starch, protein, hemicellulose, phytate, etc.) in the malt into soluble low molecular substances. (such as sugars, dextrins, amino acids, peptides, etc.). The various dry substances dissolved in water are called "extracts", and the resulting clear solution is called wort or wort. The ratio of the extract content in the wort to all the dry matter in the raw material is called "anhydrous extraction rate". The purpose of saccharification is to decompose and extract the raw materials, so that the soluble substances in the raw materials can be dissolved as much as possible, and the insoluble substances can be dissolved into soluble substances under the action of enzymes, so as to obtain a certain amount of fermentable sugar and yeast nutrition. Wort with substances and beer flavor substances.

According to whether part of the mash is separated, the mashing method can be divided into cooking mashing method and leaching mashing method.

(1) Infusion mashing method

The Infusion mashing method is a saccharification method that uses both the biochemical action of enzymes and the physical action of heat. It is very effective for poorly dissolved malt, can increase the yield of extracts, and shorten the saccharification time.

(2) Decoction mashing method

TheDecoction mashing method is a saccharification method that purely utilizes the biochemical action of enzymes in the malt, adjusts the temperature of the mash by continuous heating or cooling, and extracts the soluble substances in the malt. Derived from boil-out saccharification, which removes part of the mash, the malt mash is unboiled and is the simplest saccharification method, suitable for well-dissolved, enzyme-rich malt. The extraction method requires that the malt quality must be good.