Sectors:

Food & Beverage Basics

Beer production
Abstract
Beer is a product with a long
tradition and is produced
today by both artisanal operators and large breweries.
The malt needed for this
process is produced from
barley in the malthouse and
delivered to the brewery's
area for incoming raw materials. In the brewhouse the
malt is turned into wort by a
combination of mashing,
lautering, boiling, and cooling. In the fermenting cellar
the wort ferments as yeast is
added to the green beer,
which needs to mature in
the storage cellar before it
can finally be bottled after a
last filtering.

The tradition behind beer brewing

Beer brewing is a highly traditional form of craftsmanship
whose core processes have survived to the present day:
water, malt, and hops are mixed together, with the addition
of yeast bringing about certain biochemical changes. These
days, however, these processes are largely automated.
Given its long history (the Sumerians were brewing some
kind of "original" beer around 4000 BC), beer has become
something of a cultural artifact. Germany has a (Bavarian)
purity law dating back to 1516.
Who is involved in beer production?
The beer market is populated by both large industrial breweries and small artisanal operators. From the barley to the
time the beer is ready to drink, production is divided into
three main areas:
Malthouse
Beer manufacture (area for incoming raw materials,

brewhouse, fermenting and storage cellar)

Bottling and packaging

What happens in the malthouse?

In the malthouse, grains (mainly barley) are turned into
malt. This involves soaking the barley in water until it germinates and forms enzymes (green malt). Germination stops
once sufficient progress has been made and then the drying
process starts, which produces what is known as "kilned
malt". The kilned malt gives the malt, and therefore the
beer, much of its taste (the "beer's soul"), which explains the
particularly high quality demands placed upon it. Malthouses tend to be free-standing enterprises which operate independently of the breweries.

The most important points in brief

Industry Learning Program

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Industry Learning Program The most important points in brief

Sectors: Food & Beverage Basics Beer production

What happens at the area for incoming raw materials?

The kilned malt is eventually delivered to the area for incoming raw materials at the brewery and stored in large
malt silos. Depending on the type of beer and the analytical
values (including friability and water/protein content), the
amount of malt required for production purposes is taken
from the silos. The malt is ground before it reaches the
brewhouse, i.e. the cross-section of the grain is reduced so
a larger surface area is available to the enzymes.

What happens in the fermenting and storage cellar?

In the fermenting and storage cellar, the sugar content is
fermented into alcohol. The main fermentation process
starts when yeast is added (pitching) to the cold wort and
ends when the mixture is pumped into the storage cellar
(transferal). The sugar is broken down into alcohol and CO2
during fermentation, creating what is known as green beer.
The substances responsible for the smell and taste are
formed during this time, as well as various residues. These
are siphoned off before the transferal phase.

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What happens in the brewhouse?
In the brewhouse the wort is extracted from the ground
malt. This involves moving the malt or wort from the mash
tun, through the lauter tun and wort kettle, and eventually
into the whirlpool.
In the mash tun the barley grist is first mixed with water
(mashing in). The mixture is then heated in stages, pausing
at certain temperatures in order to activate the various enzymes. This causes maltose and amino acids to form, which
provide the basis for the later fermentation phase.
When it is ready, the mash is pumped into the lauter tun.
The 2-stage lautering process takes place here:
1. The brewer's grain is removed and the extra-rich first
wort is drawn off.
2. The caked, spent grain is broken up and watered
(sparging) so that the second wort, which is weaker in
extract, drains from the claryfying vat.
The wort gained as a result is then boiled in the wort kettle.
Bitter hops are added at the start of the boiling process,
giving the wort a bitter taste and helping it keep for longer.
The aromatic hops added at the end of the boiling process
further refine the taste of the wort. The cumulative effect of
boiling is to sterilize the wort, remove any unwanted aromatic material, and set the original wort level.

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The green beer is not yet ready to drink. It still needs to
mature for one to four weeks in the storage cellar. The unwanted taste associated with the green beer fades away
during this process. Secondary fermentation occurs at the
same time, i.e. the fermentation of the residual sugar in the
green beer. In addition, any excess yeast and turbid materials sediment are precipitated in the storage tank. More CO2
is generated, which both carbonates the drink and removes
any by-products.
Finally, the beer is filtered one last time to remove the remaining residues (mainly yeast), improve product life, and
make the taste more stable. Both Kieselguhr and PVPP
filtration can be used.

The next step separates the original wort from the hot (or
'coarse') trub. This hot trub is generated when the wort
kettle is heated and must be removed so it does not interfere with the subsequent fermentation. Removal occurs by
pumping the hot wort into the whirlpool. The centripetal
force causes the trub to settle on the floor of the pool.
Finally, the pure wort is cooled in the wort cellar using plate
coolers and tubular coolers.

Siemens AG 2012

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Industry Learning Program The most important points in brief

Sectors: Food & Beverage Basics Beer production

What can Siemens offer the sector?

Siemens is helping the sector make manufacturing processes more flexible and economical though a consistent
approach to automation: from incoming materials to outgoing products and from production up to the ERP level.
Our range includes standardized products, intelligent systems, and even customized services. As a long-standing
partner of the brewing industry over many years, we have
the right offer for any kind of brewing plant. One example is
our BRAUMAT process control system, specially designed
for beer manufacture.

Siemens AG 2012

For more information on our products, systems, and services, please visit
http://www.industry.siemens.com/verticals/global/en/foodbeverage/beverage-industry/Pages/Default.aspx

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