INTRODUCTION

Cleaning and sanitation are an integral part of a brewery and should be taken into
consideration at every phase of the beer brewing process. Cleaning proceeds sanitation
and prepares the way for sanitation treatment by removing organic/inorganic residues and
microorganisms from the brewery equipment. Sanitation reduces the surface population
of viable microorganisms after cleaning and prevents microbial growth on the brewery
equipment.
It is important to note that the power of sanitizing agents (disinfectants) is reduced by the
presence of dirt. This is why cleaning always precedes sanitation. Generally cleaning
should be done before and after the use of all equipment. It is important to rinse all
equipment with clean water after the use of sanitizing agents to avoid traces of detergents
in the wort which can reduce foaming of the final beer not to talk of the bad taste which
may result.
Beer is a fermented beverage made from barley, hops, water and yeast and sometimes
other ingredients. There are three major beer types which are ales, lagers and specialty
beers.
1.2 THE BREWING PROCESS

Brewing is aimed at obtaining quality liquid extraction (wort) in order to produce

beer. It aims at dissolving components preformed during malting, using enzymes
produced in this process to transform starch of malt and adjuncts into fermentable sugars
and unfermentable components.
The brewing process involves the following steps;
- Milling
- Mashing
- Wort separation
- Wort boiling
- Wort cooling
- Fermentation
- Maturation
- Filtration and
- Conditioning
 Reception malt

Weighing

Storage

Sorting and Foreign particles and

Screening dust

Weighing

Storage

Reception of
Milling Gritz
Transfer of
mash
Correction Mashing Mash Tun Mashing-in
Adjunct
Cooker
Filtration of mash Spent Grains

Buffering in Tank

Additives
Additives
Boiling in kettle Boiling in Kettle
(Hops)
(Hops)

Clarification of Hot break or

cast wort Trubs

Cooling of Wort

Aeration of Clear
Wort

Yeast Fermentation CO2

Maturation Yeast

Filtration of Green Beer

Diagram 1: Block Diagram of the Brewing Process
Conditionning
RECEPTION
At reception the malt is sorted from foreign substances like stones, metallic
objects or even different cereals with the help of a destoner and a magnet. It is then
screened according to size and weight in order to eliminate sizes and weights that may
hinder milling. There is removal of dust particles with the use of an aspiratory system.
This is to avoid blockage of the filter during separation of wort and also explosion at
certain quantities in the silos.
MILLING
In order to obtain maximum extract, the malt must be reduced to smaller particle
that will permit maximum enzyme action during the mashing process. Thus the objectives
of grinding the malt are
- to split the husk (remain whole) in order to expose the inner portion of the
grains known as the endosperm.
- To control particle size to ease wort recovery.

MASHING
This is the of converting the starch of milled malt and solid or liquid adjuncts into
fermentable sugars to produce wort of desired composition. The composition of wort will
vary according to the mashing method. Mashing involves mixing milled malt and solid
adjunct, with water at a set temperature and volume to continue the biochemical changes
initiated during malting. The principal enzymes responsible the conversion are α and β–
amylases.
The objective of mashing is to obtain the best solid/ liquid extraction. The extract
here represents the quantity of dissolved matter measured in saccharose equivalents.
There exist different methods of mashing, which will determine the composition of the
wort obtained. Some of these method are listed below;
• Infusion mashing
• Decoction mashing
• Temperature controlled mashing
.
WORT SEPARATION
After mashing, when all the starch has been broken down, it is necessary to
separate the liquid extract from the solids (spent grain particles and adjuncts). Wort
separation important because the solids contain large amounts of protein, poorly modified
starch, fatty matter, silicates and polyphenols (tannin).
The objective of wort separation (lautering) include the following
- To produce clear wort
- To obtain good extract recovery
- To operate within the acceptable cycle time.
It should be emphasised that the quality of the grist from the mill can greatly affect wort
clarity, extraction recovery and overall lauter time. This separation can be carried out
using a
- Lauter tun
- Filter press
- Strain master
- The 2001 MEURA filter

WORT BOILING
The principal objectives of wort boiling are
- To stabilize the wort
- Arrest of enzyme action
- To cause coagulation of proteins and tannins (Hot-break)
- To precipitate calcium phosphate which leads to a consequent fall in pH
- Distilled volatile materials (H2S) and Dimethyl Sulphite etc.
- Evaporation of water and therefore concentration of wort
Since hops are present in the wort, boiling will also lead to the wort being filtered by hop
resins and essential oils and some tannins also being added to it. Coagulation of proteins
usually known as trub or hot break is actually a biochemical reaction between proteins
and polyphenols. This reaction tends to reduce the amount of α-acid in the wort.
WORT CLARIFICATION
This clarification is carried out using a decanter or whirlpool tank. A whirlpool is
more efficient. In the whirlpool, a batch of wort is pumped at high speed (2-10m/s)
through a pipe tangential to the tank. As the suspended parties move along the sides of
the tank, frictional force will reduce momentum to almost zero. The inclined nature of the
base of the tank helps these particles to be collected at the base. Clear wort can then be
withdrawn.

WORT COOLING
Plate heat exchangers, are the most common devices used for wort cooling. They
comprise many stainless steel plates, with a shallow cavity between each plate. The wort
comes in at a higher temperature of ≈ 80-85°C and goes off the last plate at 15°C, water
enters at about 10°C and come out at first plate at 75-80°C. If the brewer requires wort at
temperature s<10°C, then they either use water at a much lower temperature, or the heat
exchanger may have a second section, chilled with refrigerated water, alcohol or brine.

FERMENTATION

BEER CONDITIONING
Following primary fermentation, the "green" or immature beer is far from finished
because it contains suspended particles, lacks sufficient carbonation, lacks taste and
aroma, and it is physically and microbiologically unstable. Conditioning reduces the
levels of these undesirable compounds to produce a more finished product. The
component processes of conditioning are:
• maturation,
• clarification, and
• stabilization