Brewing process – Falkenkrone

Falkenkrone

BREW PROCESS

1st step is malting / malt silo

The first step in beer production is malting. Of course, everything starts in the malt silo.
Wheat and barley malt is stored here separately according to variety and origin.
This is because before the malt required for the brewing process goes into the grist mill or is conveyed for mashing, it is stored in one or more large malt silos. First, the fresh barley or wheat is soaked and made to germinate in the so-called germination boxes. In the process, the enzymes (amylase) required for starch breakdown are formed in the grain.
The germination process is interrupted at the optimum stage by drying (kilning).
The green malt is gently dried at about 80° Celsius and tastes slightly sweet after drying. The malt sugar later serves as food for the yeast cultures that form the alcohol.
The malt is stored in the so-called malt silos under constant control until the brewing process begins.

2nd step is milling / grist mill

The second step in the brewing process is milling with a grist mill. A distinction is made between different types of grist mills:

According to the number of rollers used in the grist mill.
According to grist mills with or without sifting.
After wetting the malt in wet and dry grist mills.

The finished malt is crushed or ground in a grist mill, similar to the production of flour, so that it can dissolve better in water. It is important that the husks of the grains remain intact. They serve as a filter layer during the lautering process. Grist mills produce various grades of grist with different degrees of fineness: husks, coarse semolina, fine semolina, semolina flour and powdered flour, etc.

3rd step is mashing / mash pan

The third step in brewing beer is mashing in a mash tun. It is also a working process in winemaking and the production of whiskey, grain, potato and fruit brandies and fruit wines. In this process, the raw material to be processed is mixed with suitable yeast fungi, usually pure culture yeasts. This is where the actual brewing process begins. The already milled malt is mixed in a brew kettle with brewing water heated to about 45° C. This is called mashing in. The resulting mash is kept at temperatures around 45° C with constant stirring. In the process, the starch from the malt dissolves in the water. The temperature in the brew kettle is then raised to just above 70° C. The brewer influences the mashing process primarily by controlling the temperature and inserting rests in which the temperature is kept constant for a certain time before it rises further. Meanwhile, the malt’s natural enzymes ensure that fermentable malt sugar (maltose) is produced from the cereal starch. This production step is decisive for the type of beer and is strongly influenced by the malt. This is because it determines the color, taste and character of the product. The quality of the brewing water is also very decisive for this. The soft and low-lime brewing water from our springs is particularly suitable for this. The mashing process takes about 1 hour.

4th step is lautering / lauter tun

The fourth step in beer production is lautering in the lauter tun. That about how to rid something of slag or impurities and clean it in this way meant. The so-called beer wort created in the mash tun, i.e. the liquid that is produced during the mashing process before the yeast is added, is separated from the solid components in the lauter tun. At the bottom of the lauter tun, a kind of malt cake is formed by the malt residues sinking to the bottom (primarily the husks of the grains), which also serves as a filter layer. Now let the liquid slowly run out of the lauter tun and catch it in the wort kettle. After all, this will later become our Falkenkrone beer. In the process, the brew flows through the malt cake or spent grains cake at the bottom of the lauter tun, which, as already explained, acts like a filter and filters out the suspended solids contained in the brew. All solids from the mash separate out as so-called spent malt grain, which is mostly used as sought-after cattle feed, but also for baking bread. The liquid thus obtained or created is the beer wort.

5th step is wort boiling / wort kettle

The fifth step in the brewing process is the wort boiling in the wort kettle where it gets really hot.
During wort boiling, the beer, as the name suggests, gets its certain spiciness and unique taste. Because even if the beer already has a sugar content after mashing and lautering, there are still small microorganisms in the mixture that would interfere with the enjoyment of the beer.

In this process, noble aroma hops and bitter hops in the form of pellets or extract are added via the hop dosing system and boiled along. The largest hop-growing regions are Tettnang in Baden-Württemberg and Hallertau in Bavaria. At 2,400 km², Hallertau is the largest contiguous hop-growing region in the world. Around 80% of the German hops and around 30% of the hops processed worldwide are produced here in top quality.

In addition, the hops have a sterile effect and very long shelf life, causing the extinction of bacteria. This allows the goodness from the hops, such as the stabilizing, bittering alpha acid and the pretty essential oils, to be released.
The hops are added in portions at different times during the wort boil. The taste of the beer depends on the variety and amount of hops, the more hops, the more tart or bitter the beer. Evaporation of the water concentrates the wort to the specific original wort, the malt enzymes are inactivated and tannins, protein and hop components then form the curd at the end.

6th step is wort clarification / whirlpool

The sixth step in the brewing process is wort clarification in the whirlpool. In the whirlpool method, very vigorous stirring of the hot wort separates the suspended solids (protein breakage and hops) from the wort in a simple physical way.

In this process, the wort is introduced tangentially into the whirlpool (formerly cooling vessel) and set in rotation. Undissolved hop components as well as precipitated protein, the so-called breakage, settle as cones in the center of the vessel; the clear wort can be drawn off at the sides. Then, during wort cooling, the bright wort is cooled to 10 to 20° Celsius in the wort cooler.

7th step is wort / plate cooling

Since the yeast dies at temperatures above 50 °C, the wort must be cooled down to lower temperatures after boiling. So that it can later be fed into the fermentation tank. This is done in a so-called heat exchanger called a plate cooler, similar to the way the radiator in a car engine works.

By means of the wort cooler, the wort is cooled down to 7-20 °C degrees in a relatively short time in countercurrent with cold water. This temperature is safe for the yeast, these are perfect conditions for the yeast to ferment. The transition from hot to cold area during cooling is a very crucial point, especially from a hygienic point of view. If no excessive hygienic measures were necessary beforehand in the hot state, in the cold state all equipment that has come into contact with the wort must be scrupulously clean and disinfected. Which, of course, requires a lot of extra work.

8th step is fermentation / fermentation tank

The eighth step in brewing beer is alcoholic fermentation. In brewing beer, fermentation is as important as the brewing itself.

This is done in a fermentation tank by adding special ale yeast. The yeast converts the sugar in the malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Once the malt sugar is fermented, the yeast sinks or rises to the top and is harvested. Depending on the type of yeast and wort preparation, a top-fermented or bottom-fermented beer is produced. Top-fermented beers such as wheat beer, Altbier, Kölsch, Berliner Weiße use top-fermented yeast that requires higher temperatures between 16° degrees to 20° degrees, where the yeast can be skimmed off the top at the end of the fermentation process. Bottom-fermented beers such as Pils, Lager, Helles, Export and Schwarzbier use bottom-fermenting yeast, which requires low temperatures between 8° and 12°, and the yeast is skimmed off at the bottom at the end of the fermentation process. The required dosage per 100 liters of wort is approx. 7 liters of pure yeast from our yeast strain.

9th step is storage / storage tank

The ninth step of beer production is storage, which should not be underestimated. The storage tanks are usually pressurized with a storage temperature of 1° to 2° so that the carbon dioxide produced no longer escapes but is bound in the beer as fine bubbles of carbonic acid. The secondary fermentation of the young beer can last from one week to two months, depending on the type of beer. Storage gives the beer its maturity and the final, desired beer flavor. We have a special cold storage tank which is used to provide the supply of the required cooling liquid, especially for the fermentation and storage tanks. By evenly cooling the tanks, the fermentation process is controlled and managed, thus decisively influencing the taste of the future beer. Here the beer can ferment, the last yeast residues and protein tannins sink, the beer rests and clarifies and acquires its characteristic beer color.

10th step is the seperator

The separator is used in the brewery to remove a large part of the yeast even before filtration. Separators operate on the principle of separation by means of centrifugal forces.

11. step is the pressure tank

The finished beer is stored in the pressure tanks until final filtration.

12th step is filtration

The twelfth step in the brewing process is filtration. During filtration, the last substances not settled during the fermentation process or secondary fermentation, such as yeast residues, hop resins and protein-tannin compounds, are thoroughly filtered out for the last time. The beer gets its final clarity and color. In the case of naturally cloudy beers, there is no filtration, so all the typical beer substances and thus the original taste are retained. It is thus very palatable

13. step is the short time heating

Flash pasteurizers (flash pasteurizers) are used for pasteurizing beer and other beverages. The product is heated to pasteurization temperature in a countercurrent process.

14th step is cleaning of barrel and bottle

The equipment for rinsing, disinfecting and filling is located on the stainless steel rack. The beer kegs are inserted into the inlet and removed from the outlet of the machine, or they can be transported in and out by conveyors. The multifunction heads are pressed onto the drums with pneumatic cylinders. Washing, disinfection and filling programs are carried out fully automatically. The process is controlled by an industrial PC with text display.

Washing head

Checking the residue and pressure , removing beer residue with sterile air , pulse spraying with water / removing residual water by sterilized air / pulse spraying the inner surface tube with hydroxide, / removing residual water by sterilized air,/ pulse spraying with acid. Injection of acid with sterile air / Pulse spraying with hot water / Displacement of water by steam Pressurization of the barrel and pressure control / Active clean steam sterilization Pressure control expansion and pressurization by hot steam.

Filling head

Active sterilization with hot steam under pressure / blowing residues with steam with co2.pressurize with co2 to required pressure / fill with beer.

15th step is filling

The fifteenth step in brewing beer is bottling. After filtration, the beer is filled into environmentally friendly bottles or reusable barrels from the storage tank. Today, filling is carried out using the counterpressure process, so that the carbon dioxide is retained. It is important to avoid the absorption of oxygen, which would affect the quality. The beer is now ready and drinkable. It is bottled at Falkenkrone in KEG barrels with flat fitting in 10 liters, 20 liters, 30 liters and 50 liters types of containers. The bottles and crates are also cleaned, meticulously checked and then bottled, labeled and put back into crates. During filling, the bottles are inspected for damage and checked for cleanliness, hygiene and exact filling.