The difference between grain beer and wort concentrate beer

Beer remains one of the most popular drinks all over the world. Its pleasant bitterness, velvety flavour, rich aftertaste and subtle aroma combine perfectly with traditional snacks and make the evening especially warm and hearty. As the rate of beer consumption grows, new brewing trends are emerging that differ from the traditional method. In this article we will compare the classic beer production technology and the production of a drink from malt wort concentrate.

How beer is produced in the traditional way

Let’s take a look at how beer is brewed in the authentic way.

1. Malting. Harvested grain (barley, wheat, oats, rye) is soaked in water and spread out on the floor in a thin layer: after a few days, the grain germinates. After that, the sprouted grain is dried in a dryer or roasted, then crushed in a special crusher. The opening of the grain shell is required in order to extract the starch to produce a nutrient mass.
2. The milled malt (coarser than the flour fraction) is loaded into a mash pot, where the crushed grain is mixed with water and the resulting mixture is heated to 40 degrees Celsius. The mashing ensures the release of natural enzymes from the malt, which accelerate the breakdown of starch into sugars. This stage takes a couple of hours. Important: mashing is done by infusion or decoction. In the first case, the grain is heated in one tank with water, in the second – part of the mash mixture is boiled separately and then added to the main mass. The output is a liquid of sugar and water – wort.
3. Wort filtration in three stages – mash-out (heating), recirculation (separation of solids) and washing the pellet with warm water.
4. Boiling for up to two hours.
5. Adding hops – at the beginning or end of the brew.
6. Vortex stirring, necessary to separate hop particles and protein compounds.
7. Fermentation with the addition of yeast. How long does grain beer ferment? It all depends on the temperature: at 16-18 degrees, slow fermentation takes place for up to three weeks. If the fermentation temperature reaches 26 degrees, the wort ferments in a few days.
8. Maturation – ageing of the product to develop a harmonious flavour and aroma. Dry hops may be performed during maturation.

After maturation, the beer is bottled and carbonated – either naturally or forcibly.

Technology of beer production from beer concentrate

The method of brewing beer from beer extract is often resorted to by beginners as well as homebrewers. Despite the differences from the classic technology, the use of beer concentrates makes it possible to prepare a tasty drink that is not inferior to good shop or craft beers.

In fact, the method is a simplified classical method, with the only condition that you can bypass a number of stages and do without expensive brewing equipment.

Concentrate is beer wort that has been hoped or not hoped. As a rule, the substance has a dark, rich colour and is dense. It is the same malt prepared at the factory and evaporated to a thick consistency. The viscous product is easier to transport and store. When you buy extract, it comes with yeast, hops (if the wort is not hoped) and brewing instructions. In this way the brewer does not need to calculate and select yeast. The technology includes the following steps:

• Disinfecting the container;
• Yeast Preparation;
• Varku;
• Fermentation;
• Carbonation and aging.

The end result is a flavourful and tasty beer, not unlike that brewed using the classic method. In our blog you will find a lot of useful information: What is the best equipment for brewing grain beer? How to choose fermentation tanks.