The Hudgens Nanobrewery Brewing Process

The Brewing Process

Water Filtration Water is the essence of life, and the very foundation of a beer. At the Hudgens Nanobrewery, we take water quality very seriously. We use a Watts' brand reverse osmosis system for all brewing water. This eliminates nearly all chlorine and chloramine compounds that negatively affect taste.
Measuring After I devise a recipe, the first step is measuring the ingredients. I use a cheap WalMart postal scale to measure out my specialty grains and hops. Since the scale only weighs up to 3 pounds, I use an old plastic pretzel container which holds around 8 pounds for my base grains.
Milling To use grains in the brewing process, they must first be milled, or lightly crushed. The goal is to crack the grain enough to remove the husk without pulverizing the endosperm. In doing this, we seek to minimize the amount of dust (flour) created. An excess amount of flour in our grist can lead to the dreaded stuck sparge. My Crankenstein mill is crank operated, but I would like to motorize it some day.
Mashing The mash is performed in a keggle with false bottom between 148F and 156F degrees. While in this temperature range, enzymes on the grain convert starches into sugar. The goal of mashing is to create a matrix of sugars within the grain bed that can be removed during the lautering process.
Lautering Once the starches have been converted, we have a mixture of grain, water, and sugar. In the lautering process we repeatedly rinse hot water (170F) over the grain bed. We continue doing this until 70-80% of the sugars have been extracted.
Boiling Once the wort has been separated from the grain, we begin the boiling process. We boil for 60 to 180 minutes, depending on the level of caramelization desired. Hops are added during the boil to provide bitterness and hop aroma to the beer.
Chilling Wort After the boil we cool the wort to room temperature. There a number of ways to achieve this including plate chillers, counterflow chillers, ice baths, or simply leaving the beer to cool. While each have their advantages, I use a copper counterflow chiller.
Pitching Once the wort is at room temperature, the yeast can be added.
Fermentation / Lagering Ales are fermented at room temperature, while lager beers are fermented in a temperature-controlled chest freezer. Most of my lagers are fermented at 48F for two weeks. Both ales and lagers are cold conditioned for two weeks prior to serving or bottling. Some beers are aged even longer depending on the style.