Brewery Setup Blog

Grist handling is a key aspect of breweries' brewing, including the management of malted grains (grist) to guarantee the excellence and uniformity in the brewing process.

This critical process involves several key elements:

Flexibility: Breweries frequently deal with diverse recipes and production scales. Therefore, a versatile grist handling system is essential, able to accommodate varying grain types, quantities, and brewing methods.

Quality Control: The integrity of the beer hinges on proper grist handling. Ensuring grist purity, devoid of contaminants, along with consistent milling, is critical to prevent irregularities in the mashing process.

The procedure entails a series of steps, starting with milling the malts and ending with spent grain handling:

Milling: Malted grains, typically barley, are ground to break husks and expose the starchy interior. This increased surface area helps enzymes convert starches into fermentable sugars during mashing.

Grist Hopper: A container known as a grist hopper holds the milled grains until they are introduced into the mash tun. The grist hopper ensures controlled loading, guaranteeing uniform distribution of the grist within the mash tun for consistent mixing with hot water.

Conveyor System: In large-scale breweries, a conveyor system is used to move the grist from the hopper to the mash tun. These systems, often pneumatic, assure efficient and precise grist transfer.

Mashing: Once in the mash tun, the grist is blended with hot water, resulting in a mixture referred to as the mash. This initiates enzyme activity, leading to the conversion of starches into sugars.

Lautering: Following the mashing process, lautering involves separating the sweet liquid (wort) from the spent grains. Lautering systems, like lauter tuns with false bottoms, facilitate this separation.

Spent Grain Handling: After lautering, the spent grains are removed from the mash tun. These grains often have other uses, such as animal feed or other sustainable applications.

Effective grist handling is indispensable for sustaining the efficiency, uniformity, and quality of the brewing process. It ensures a well-prepared and properly milled grist, resulting in a high-quality wort—a foundational element in crafting great beer.