Milling
We put clean malt into a mill. The output of milling is grist - a blend of husk, flour, coarse and fine particles of grain. Properly ground malt allows extract substances to dissolve in water, helps with filtration and clarification of wort.
Mashing
We put warm water into ground malt thus obtaining mash. At this time the special enzymes in mash start to convert starches into sugars and dextrines. Sugars are essential for fermentation, and dextrines are responsible for a good head.
There are two ways of mashing malt. For top-fermenting beers we use infusion mashing. Decoction method of mashing is required for bottom-fermented beers.
At this stage part of malt can be replaced with other grain products such as rice, corn, wheat or barley. These adjuncts alter the taste of beer.
Separation
At this stage we separate spent grain and send it to farmers as cattle food. The remaining sweet liquid - wort - is piped into a boiling kettle.
Boiling
Boiling usually continues for an hour or more. At this time we add hops to wort. If we put hops in at the beginning of boiling, the wort will receive characteristic bitterness. Hops that are added at the end bring more flavour and soften bitterness.
Clarifying and cooling
After boiling we separate hops and trub from wort in a special machine - whirlpool. Then we cool cleared wort to 14-25°C. At this temperature we can pitch yeast for top-fermenting beers. For bottom-fermenting beers we cool wort more - to 6-10°C.
This is how we receive the original wort - bitter-sweet liquid with amber colour. Original wort content or original gravity is marked on the beer package. (Gravity is density of a solution as compared to water.)