What The Hell Is The Brewing Process?

Understanding the’ Brewing Process’ can intimidate even the biggest beer fans. And even after years of writing about beer we can get tripped up on the basic steps that go into making your favorite beer.

But as part of American Craft Beer’s ongoing effort to inform, entertain and make you an overnight beer genius, we’ve broken out the brewing process into five easy steps that even a 7-year old could understand.

So fasten your seat belts because Beer School is ON…

Beer consists of 4 primary ingrediants… grains, spices, yeast, and water. Anything else is basically window-dressing. Barley and wheat are the most utilized grains. And even though hops were first introduced into beer as a preservative, they serve as beer’s principal flavoring.

These four ingredients all play critical roles in what eventually ends up in your beer glass…But the five step Brewing Process is how and why the magic happens…

1) Malting

Malting is the process in which grain is made ready to become the MAIN INGREDIANT in the brewing process. This step allows for the controlled germination of the grain. The grain (usually, but not exclusively, barley) is steeped in water, then rested under precise conditions to encourage germination, and finally dried in a kiln and/or a roaster…

This is a key step, as germination helps break down stored starch into fermentable sugar — mainly maltose.

2) Mashing

Mashing is the process of roasting, milling, and soaking the germinated grains in hot water. Malted grain is crushed and mixed with boiling hot water at about 150 degrees F.

(Not rocket science)

At this temperature, enzymes that have been activated during the malting process spring into action and as All About Beer explains “snip the long starch molecules into smaller ones composed of variably fermentable sugars.”

The result is a sugar-containing liquid called wort.

3) The Boil

This is the introduction of key flavors into the sugar-rich wort.

During this step (which can range from 1-2 hours), hops or other spices are added. The wort is then briefly cooled and filtrated to eliminate plant residue and debris.

4) Fermentation

At this stage, yeast is added to the wort to ferment it, which converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. As the yeast ferments the wort, its sugar content decreases while its alcohol content increases.

Ales and lagers are different types of beers, and their main difference is the yeast strain used for brewing.

Ales are generally made with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, while lagers typically use Saccharomyces pastorianus which ferment at cooler temperatures.

5) Conditioning

This is the last step, during which beer is stored and left to age is pretty essential because without conditioning your beer would be flat.

CraftBeer.com explains…

“During primary fermentation, the yeast consumes sugars to create alcohol and emit CO2 which is allowed to escape. In order to reach an appropriate level of carbonation, brewers must facilitate higher pressures than those found after primary fermentation. To achieve this, brewers condition in airtight vessels where a required pressure can be maintained.”

So that’s the beer brewing process ‘boiled down’ to five basic steps.

But if your thirst for beer knowledge has not yet been quenched…There’s also this:

BEER SCHOOL – WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ABV AND IBU?

H/T Craft Beer & Brewing, Healthline and