Summer time Brewing

Fermentation, the temperature of waters, the nature of yeasts, the timing of hopping, these have been the new thoughts accompanying my "apprenticeship" with some local brewers here in Seoul. The brewery is 4 stories high in the middle of the city, outside mainly, and under the summer sun. The process is multi-stepped and the results have an exciting final tasting that can only be approximated at in controlling all the differing factors along the way. This new hobby has me thinking about the science involved in brewing beer. I look forward to having my own set up some day as I absorb all I can from the rare duo making microbrews here in Korea. A brief photographic overview is as follows:

the grain bill...barley is chosen and weighed out to make the 20 gallon batch (4 kegs). At this stage, adding various degrees of roasted barley will affect the color of the final product.

The grain is milled down and water is brought to between 60-70 degrees centigrade.

Left here to soak, the sugar is extracted from the grain making the barley tea, or wort.

The wort is then put into the giant brew kettle to boil for an hour. At this point, different types of hops are used according to a schedule. The hops added in the beginning counteract the sugar with bitterness while also acting as a preservative. Hops added at the end leave the taste and smell and Irish moss is added for clarity.

Next, the beer is ready to be added to sterilized fermentors. A hose and a tube from the pot are added to a heat transfer which cools the beer as it fills the fermentors. At this point, the yeast is pitched. Although the same barley and hops are used to make all four kegs, the yeast will determine the taste of each barrel. The differences can be drastic!

after the fermentation process is complete, it is time to rack the beer. The yeast has fed on the sugar and converted it to alcohol. The final steps are to transfer the beer to kegs, get it chilled to stop any further changes, and add carbonation.

It is amazing to start becoming aware of all the factors that go into what gives a beer its flavor. The process has been very creative with a bit of mad scientist thrown in! I love the primordial feelings of working with the raw ingredients, the aesthetics of watching the grain cyclone down to the mill and the mash stirring its unique patterns. The spent grain can be used for animal feed, and I know exactly what is (or more importantly, what is not) added to my beer. To think that this process is done in the middle of one of the biggest cities on the planet on a porch is also satisfying. The yeast especially captivates my imagination. It is the yeast which really does the work. These living micro organisms are well over a thousand in number, each with different capacities for reacting to temperatures and with differing potency. I can't help but to think about how we as humans are as unique and similar to yeast in how we react to our surroundings. I am looking forward to a deeper understanding of the process and am enjoying some great beer in the process!