The production process of a craft beer
Live beer, raw beer, unfiltered, cold-filtered, and more: every so often a new term appears referring to some production step in a confusing way that messes with our heads. Almost all interesting beers, meaning those that can hold a place in our lives beyond casual drinking, commonly called craft beers in Italy, are produced following a fascinating and complex process.
In this article, you will discover how to make craft beer step by step, quickly, simply, understandably, and passionately: just the way we at Maltese like it. From malt to glass, every stage is essential to create the beer you love.
The Four Fundamental Ingredients
Before starting, let's remember the four basic ingredients of beer:
- Water: 90-95% of the beer, influences the final character
- Barley malt: Provides fermentable sugars, color, and flavor
- Hops: Provide bitterness, aroma, and preservative properties
- Yeast: Converts sugars into alcohol and CO₂
Some styles include additional ingredients: wheat, oats, spices, fruit, but the base always remains the same.
The 7 Stages of the Production Process
1. Milling
What happens: Barley malt is milled in a mill to break the grains and expose the starches inside.
Goal: Create a "grist" (malt flour) with the right granularity:
- Husk: Should remain as intact as possible (acts as a natural filter)
- Endosperm: Must be crushed to expose the starches
Technical details:
- Too fine milling: Filtration difficulties, cloudy wort
- Too coarse milling: Low sugar extraction efficiency
- Time: 10-30 minutes (depending on quantity)
Craft note: Many craft breweries mill the malt just before use to preserve freshness and aromas.
2. Mashing
What happens: The crushed malt is mixed with hot water in a mash tun. The enzymes in the malt break down starches into fermentable sugars.
Temperature: 62-72°C (different temperatures activate different enzymes)
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Detailed process:
Phase 1 - Protein Rest (50-55°C, optional):
- Protein breakdown
- Improves clarity and foam retention
- Duration: 15-20 minutes
Phase 2 - Saccharification Rest (62-72°C):
- 62-65°C: Beta-amylase enzymes produce fermentable sugars (dry beer, high attenuation)
- 68-72°C: Alpha-amylase enzymes produce non-fermentable sugars (sweet beer, full body)
- Duration: 60-90 minutes
Phase 3 - Mash Out (75-78°C):
- Enzyme deactivation
- Reduces wort viscosity
- Facilitates filtration
- Duration: 10 minutes
Result: A sweet liquid called "wort", rich in fermentable sugars.
Craft note: Craft brewers often use complex mash profiles (step mashing) to create beers with specific characteristics.
3. Filtering and Rinsing (Lautering and Sparging)
What happens: The liquid wort is separated from the spent grain (solid malt residues) and rinsed to extract all remaining sugars.
Process:
Lautering (Filtering):
- The wort flows through a false perforated bottom
- Malt husks form a natural "filter bed"
- The clear wort is collected in the boil kettle
- Duration: 30-60 minutes
Sparging (Rinsing):
- Hot water (75-78°C) is sprayed over the spent grain
- Extracts residual sugars
- Increases extraction efficiency (up to 75-85%)
- Duration: 30-60 minutes
Result: Clear, sugar-rich wort ready for boiling.
Byproduct: The spent grain is often donated to farms as animal feed or used to make bread and cookies.
4. Boiling
What happens: The wort is vigorously boiled for 60-120 minutes. Hops are added during the boil.
Temperature: 100°C (boiling)
Duration: 60-90 minutes (some beers require 120+ minutes)
Boiling objectives:
- Sterilization: Kills unwanted bacteria and microorganisms
- Alpha acid isomerization: Hops release bitterness
- Evaporation: Concentrates the wort, removes unwanted volatile compounds (DMS)
- Protein coagulation: Formation of "hot break" (coagulated proteins)
- Caramelization: Development of color and malty flavors
Hop additions (Hop Schedule):
Bittering Hops (60-90 min):
- Added at the start of the boil
- Provide bitterness
- Essential oils evaporate
Flavor Hops (15-30 min):
- Added mid-boil
- Provide flavor and moderate bitterness
Aroma Hops (0-10 min):
- Added at the end of the boil
- Provide intense aromas
- Minimum bitterness
Whirlpool Hops (post-boil):
- Added after boiling, at 80-90°C
- Maximum aromas, minimum bitterness
- Modern technique for IPA
Result: Sterile, bitter, aromatic wort ready for fermentation.
5. Cooling and Oxygenation
What happens: The boiling wort is rapidly cooled to fermentation temperature and oxygenated to promote yeast growth.
Cooling:
- Method: Plate heat exchanger or coil
- Final temperature: 18-22°C (Ale) or 8-12°C (Lager)
- Time: 20-60 minutes
- Importance: Rapid cooling prevents contamination and DMS formation
Oxygenation:
- Method: Injection of sterile air or pure oxygen
- Objective: Provide oxygen to yeast for the initial growth phase
- Note: This is the only phase where oxygen is desired (after fermentation it is the enemy of beer)
Result: Cold, oxygenated wort ready to receive yeast.
6. Fermentation
What happens: Yeast is added to the wort ("pitching") and begins consuming sugars, producing alcohol, CO₂, and aromatic compounds.
Types of fermentation:
High Fermentation (Ale):
- Yeast:Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- Temperature: 18-22°C
- Duration: 5-10 days
- Characteristics: Fruity esters, spicy phenols
Low Fermentation (Lager):
- Yeast:Saccharomyces pastorianus
- Temperature: 8-12°C
- Duration: 10-21 days
- Characteristics: Clean, malty profile
Fermentation stages:
Lag Phase (0-24 hours):
- Yeast adapts to the environment
- No visible activity
Exponential Phase (1-4 days):
- Vigorous fermentation
- Maximum CO₂ and alcohol production
- Abundant foam (krausen)
Stationary Phase (4-7 days):
- Fermentation slows down
- Yeast begins to flocculate (settle)
Conditioning Phase (7+ days):
- Yeast "cleans" unwanted compounds (diacetyl, acetaldehyde)
- Flavor maturation
Dry Hopping (optional):
- Addition of hops cold during or after fermentation
- Explosive aromas without bitterness
- Fundamental technique for modern IPA
Result: Young beer ("green beer"), alcoholic but not yet mature.
7. Maturation and Conditioning
What happens: The beer rests at a low temperature to refine flavors, clarify, and carbonate.
Ale Maturation:
- Temperature: 10-15°C
- Duration: 1-4 weeks
- Objective: Flavor refinement, clarification
Lagering (Lager):
- Temperature: 0-4°C
- Duration: 3-8 weeks (or more)
- Goal: Deep maturation, cleansing, clarity
Carbonation:
Natural Carbonation (Bottle/Keg Conditioning):
- Addition of sugar (priming) before bottling
- Bottle/Keg refermentation
- Natural CO₂
- Duration: 2-4 weeks
- Typical of traditional craft beers
Forced Carbonation:
- CO₂ injection under pressure
- Precise carbonation control
- Duration: 1-3 days
- Typical of modern breweries
Result: Mature, carbonated beer, ready for packaging.
Optional Stages: Filtration and Pasteurization
Filtration
What happens: Beer is passed through filters to remove yeast and suspended particles.
Types of filtration:
- Coarse filtration: Removes large particles
- Fine filtration: Removes yeast and proteins
- Sterile filtration: Also removes bacteria (rare in craft)
Pros: Clear beer, stable, longer shelf life
Cons: Removes yeast (nutrients, flavors), reduces body and foam
Craft note: Many craft breweries prefer unfiltered beers to preserve flavors and nutrients.
Pasteurization
What happens: Beer is heated to 60-72°C for 15-30 minutes to kill yeast and bacteria.
Pros: Microbiological stability, very long shelf life
Cons: Alters flavors, reduces freshness
Craft note: Most craft beers are unpasteurized ("raw beer") to preserve freshness and complexity.
Packaging: Bottle, Can, or Keg
Bottling
- Process: Filling, capping, labeling
- Sizes: 33cl, 50cl, 75cl
- Advantages: Traditional, ageable, collectible
- Disadvantages: Sensitive to light and oxygen
Can
- Process: Filling, sealing
- Sizes: 33cl, 44cl, 50cl
- Advantages: Protects from light and oxygen, lightweight, recyclable
- Disadvantages: "Industrial" perception (declining)
Keg
- Sizes: 20L, 30L, 50L
- Use: Pubs, restaurants, events
- Advantages: Maximum freshness, less packaging
Differences between Craft and Industrial Beer
Craft Beer
- Ingredients: Malt, hops, yeast, water (100% natural)
- Process: Traditional, artisanal, attention to detail
- Filtration: Often unfiltered or coarsely filtered
- Pasteurization: Rarely pasteurized ("raw beer")
- Production: Small batches, variety, experimentation
- Shelf-life: 3-12 months (consume fresh)
Industrial Beer
- Ingredients: Malt, hops, yeast, water + additions (corn, rice, syrups)
- Process: Automated, standardized, efficient
- Filtration: Always filtered (maximum clarity)
- Pasteurization: Always pasteurized (stability)
- Production: Large volumes, standardization
- Shelf-life: 12-24 months
Total Production Times
Ale (top fermentation):
- Production: 1 day
- Fermentation: 5-10 days
- Maturation: 1-4 weeks
- Total: 2-6 weeks
Lager (bottom fermentation):
- Production: 1 day
- Fermentation: 10-21 days
- Lagering: 3-8 weeks
- Total: 6-12 weeks
Special beers (Barley Wine, Imperial Stout, Sour):
- Fermentation: 2-4 weeks
- Maturation/Aging: 3-12 months (or years)
- Total: 4-18 months+
Glossary of Technical Terms
- Live beer: Unpasteurized, contains active yeast
- Raw beer: Unpasteurized
- Unfiltered: Contains yeast and particles (cloudy)
- Cold filtered: Filtered without heating
- Bottle conditioned: Natural carbonation in the bottle
- Dry hopping: Cold hopping
- Krausen: Fermentation foam
- Attenuation: Percentage of sugars fermented
- OG (Original Gravity): Initial density of the wort
- FG (Final Gravity): Final density of the beer
Conclusion: The Art and Science of Craft Beer
The craft beer production process is a perfect balance between art and science. Every stage - from malt grinding to final maturation - requires technical expertise, attention to detail, and passion. Craft brewers dedicate weeks (or months) to create unique, complex, and memorable beers.
The next time you drink a craft beer, remember the journey it took: from the barley field to your glass, through skilled hands, precise temperatures, and patient time. Every sip is the result of an ancient process perfected by generations of brewers.
Discover our selection of craft beers on Maltese.beer and savor the result of this fascinating process! 🍺✨
