Clarince Joyce L.

Doroy
Student Trainee SMBI Quality Assurance Department
BS Chemical Engineering
University of San Carlos

The Beer Making Process
Beer is an alcoholic beverage with low alcoholic content (2 to 7 % by volume) produced by the
saccharification of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar. Starch and enzymes used for
saccharification are derived from cereal grains most commonly barley, malted to develop essential
enzymes and produce the desired flavor, and adjuncts such as rice, sugar, cassava, and corn. Other basic
raw materials include hops, which is used mainly to impart a more or less bitter taste to the beer; water,
which comprises 90-95% of the product; and yeast, which is used in fermentation to produce ethanol and
CO
2
.

Raw Materials
Malt
Malt is germinated by steeping barley in cold water for several days until the enzymes are
formed. The husk layers gradually thin out as the germination proceeds. At the proper time, growth is
stopped by drying with hot air. During growth, enzymes required for the conversion of starch into
fermentable sugars are developed. Aside from providing sugars from which alcohol is formed, malt also
contributes in the color, flavor, and aroma to the final product. Several types of malt are available
depending on the roasting time and temperature used such as dark malt which produces dark beer. The
fibrous malt husk can be used in the sparging stage of brewing to aid in wort extraction and can later on
be sold to other companies to be converted into animal feed.
Adjunct
Adjuncts are unmalted grains used in brewing to support the main ingredient (malted barley).
These grains are employed mainly to lower production cost and to provide features like enhanced foam
retention, additional flavors and enhanced nutritional value. The most commonly used adjuncts by
brewing companies are corn and rice. However, yellow corn is preferred in order to avoid competition
with the food demand.
Hops
Hops are seed cones obtained from the vine Humulus lupulus and used primarily as flavoring
agent in beer. Hops contribute to the desirable flavors and aromas found in beer. It also acts as beer
preservative due to its acidity and provides an antibiotic effect which aids in the activity of yeast over
other microorganisms that may be present. Hops also aids in foam retention of beer. Several kinds of hops
may be used in brewing, one type may consist of only the seeds inside the fruit while other type may
include the entire fruit and these serve different purposes in the final product.
Yeast
Two principal types of yeast are found in the industry bakers yeast and brewers yeast. Their
main difference is that bakers yeast produces higher carbon dioxide while brewers yeast produces higher
alcohol. Yeast is used to ferment sugars extracted from the grains to alcohol and CO
2
. In other words it
turns wort, obtained from malt and adjuncts, into beer. Yeast also contributes to beer flavor. Two types of
yeast are employed in brewing, top-fermenting (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and bottom fermenting
(e.g. Saccharomyces carlsbergensis). After fermentation yeast is collected to be recycled for the next
brew.
Water
Water is the most important raw material in breweries. It not only comprises 90-95 % of the main
ingredients for beer but it has other important uses in the brewing process as well; such as cooling and
cleaning, pasteurization and general use. The quality of water to be used in beer making is highly
important. From the main source, water has to be treated in order to achieve the set standards. If it does
not have the required calcium and acidic content for optimum enzyme activity, steps must be taken to
achieve standards. Typical water treatment equipment used in a brewery include cation and/or anion
exchangers depending on the characteristics of the water source.
Process Flow Diagram
The process of making beer may be divided into three parts: (1) brewing of the mash to the
cooled hopped wort, (2) fermentation, and (3) storage, finishing and packaging. On the next page is a
schematic diagram of beer manufacture.
From the silos the grains pass through a grain classifier in order to remove foreign materials
unwanted in brewing. Grains are then milled to smaller sizes which is require for the subsequent steps. In
the cereal cooker, ground cereal is cooked in a cereal cooker along with some mashing water in order to
allow malt enzymes to act on the starch to produce gelatinized or liquefied starch which is combined in
the mashing kettle together with the malt mash. Mashing is the process of extracting valuable consituents
from malt, adjuncts and sugars and treating with water to prevent elevation in pH hence preventing the
formation of dark beer. After the ingredients are dissolved, the entire mash is transferred to the lauter tun
where the sugary liquid wort is separated from the solid remains of the grain. These remains act as a filter.
The spent grain is later on collected to be used for other purposes. In the lauter tun, wort flows through a
slotted base and sparging water is introduced to make sure all the extract is rinsed out. In the wort kettle
the wort is cooked for a certain period of time during which hops are added to impart bitterness and other
flavors together with sugar which contributes to color formation. For economic purposes, mashing water
can be used as heating medium for the wort kettle. Other reasons for boiling in a wort kettle are to
sterilize the wort, to allow color formation, and to expel unwanted smells and flavors. After the wort
kettle, wort enters a whirlpool where coagulated proteins during boiling and remains of hops are moved to
the center due to centripetal force. Bright wort is obtained from the whirlpool and is cooled in the wort
cooler which is a plate heat exchanger. Cold water is passed countercurrent to hot wort for cold wort to
emerge. The cooling water is then recycled to save energy and reduce wastewater. The purpose of cooling
the wort is to provide a suitable environment for yeast activity.
Yeast is then added to the wort for fermentation to occur. Fermentation happens in two stages
an aerobic and anaerobic stage. For the aerobic stage to proceed, sterilized air is also added at the
beginning. Initial fermentation takes place at a lower temperature, usually 4 to 6 C and rises to about 14
C since fermentation is an exothermic reaction. Therefore coolers are installed around the ferementers.
After a specific amount of time and after the desired amount of alcohol is reached, fermentation is halted
and the evolved carbon dioxide is collected from the top for other uses (e.g. carbonation of beer). From
the fermenter, a cloudy product called ruh beer is obtained. This is stored in ruh tanks where second
fermentation usually occurs. After storing in ruh tanks, the flavor and aroma are improved and tannins,
proteins, and hop remains are removed by settling. Beer then passes through beer filters to produce bright

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Classifier,
Destoner,
Weigher
Malt
Mill
Corn
Mill
Cereal
Cooker
Mash
Kettle
Lauter
Tun
Wort
Kettle
Whirl
pool
Wort
Cooler
F
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m
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R
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T
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k

Beer
Filter
Deaerator
Blender
Carbonator
Bright
Beer
Tank
Empty
Bottle
Inspector
Bottle Washer
Filler/Crowner
Uncaser
Case
Washer
Depalletizer
Pasteurizer
Filled Bottle
Inspector
Packer Palletizer
Malt
Corn Mashing Water Mashing Water Sparging Water
Hops and Sugar
Air and yeast
Brewing Water
Empties
Crowns
Figure 1. The
Brewing Process
beer. In the carbonator, carbon dioxide is added to impart fizz in the final product together with
deaerated brewing water which dilutes the concentrated beer. From here beer is bottled and pasteurized at
about 60 C. The final goods are then ready to be transported to the market.

References:
Austin, George (1984), Shreves Chemical Process Industries, 5
th
edition, McGraw-Hill Inc.
http://www.robinsonsbrewery.com/brewing-process
http://www.brewingschool.dk/uploads/Brewing2hoursvandmlst%20reduceret.pdf
http://www.flatlandersbeerfest.com/pdfs/brewing_process.pdf