This is a photo of Matt setting up
the transfer of the wort to the
fermentation tank. This is where the yeast actually makes the
beer. During the transfer, oxygen
is bubbled through the wort and a proper
amount of yeast is added.
Well-prepared cool wort with a
healthy amount of oxygen is the
perfect food for yeast. They love
it. Within a day, the yeast has consumed
most of the oxygen and starts to make
beer with alcohol,
carbonation, and flavor.
Within about a week, we have raw
beer with a lot of yeast floating
around in it.
At that point, we cool the tank down
to about 32º F, which encourages the
yeast to clump together and fall to
the bottom of the tank.
At the end of the fermentation, we
collect yeast back into a special keg called a
"yeast brink." We use that yeast
to make our next batch of beer.
Depending on our brewing schedule
and the type of yeast,
we can re-use the same original
batch of yeast 10 or 15 times.
Just like with the grain, natural
re-cycling is a cool part of the
brewing process.
You have to be careful when you
brew. Its a pretty complicated
process and its not that hard to
make a mistake. But if you
don't do anything stupid, you can
make beer that is above and beyond
what people have come to expect.
Beer. Above and Beyond.
I like the sound of that.
<BACK
NEXT >
