Modern Beer Brewing—A Commercial Business

Modern Beer Brewing—A Commercial Business
By Alex
Have you ever wondered where the beer you are drinking comes from? Well, if you haven't made it yourself, it most likely comes from a place that does commercial beer brewing. Though there are many different kinds of businesses and companies that perform commercial beer brewing, they all complete basically the same processes. Learning about how commercial beer brewing is done will give you a greater appreciation for the beer you drink.

Breweries Around the World

There are so many different breweries that brew beer commercially. Some are large, some are small; some produce one hundred barrels a year, while others produce hundreds of millions of barrels every year. It really depends on the amount of resources available to the company.

A microbrewery, or craft brewery, is a name for a small business that performs commercial beer brewing. Up until the 21 century, it was referred to almost exclusively as a microbrewery, but later the term "craft brewery" became more popular. A brewpub is another type of commercial beer brewing business. This term means that the beer is brewed and sold to the public at the same location. A regional brewery distributes or produces beer for a specific region, and a macrobrewery or megabrewery is a large commercial beer brewing business.

Part

Of The Process

The process for brewing beer commercially is essentially the same no matter where you go; however, a smaller business might complete the process slightly different than a larger business with more money and more manpower. The seven steps involved in commercial beer brewing include: mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering, and filling.

Fermentation is probably the post important part of the brewing process. It involves adding yeast to the wort, which allows the sugar to be converted into alcohol. Today, commercial breweries typically use cylindroconical vessels for fermentation, although sometimes open fermentation vessels are used. Open fermentation vessels allow the process to be put on display, which is often an asset in public pubs, and they are helpful in the making of wheat beer.

Equipment, Then And Now

Today, they majority of the equipment used in commercial beer brewing is made from stainless steel. However, it used to be that wooden equipment was the only thing available. Some smaller businesses today still use wooden equipment. However, like most other aspects of commercial beer breweries, technology has provided a superior alternative to old fashioned wooden vats.

Appreciate The Good