Brewery Setup Blog

How long does beer fermentation take?

The brewing process of beer mainly includes three processes: saccharification, fermentation, and aging after storage. Beer fermentation generally takes 5 to 10 days as a cycle. The fermentation process is to add yeast to the cooled wort and send it to a fermenter or a cylindrical and conical bottom fermenter for fermentation, and use coils or jackets to cool and control the temperature. During the following fermentation, the maximum temperature is controlled at 8-13°C. The fermented beer is called tender beer, which has a rough taste and low CO2 content, so it is not suitable for drinking.

craft beer equipment can be divided into top fermentation and bottom fermentation in terms of fermentation methods, ale with yeast fermenting on the top of the fermenter, and lager with yeast fermenting at the bottom of the fermenter.

Primary Fermentation

The surface of the wort begins to bubble, this stage is called pre-fermentation. The pre-fermentation time varies with the inoculation temperature and inoculum size. The low temperature fermentation is about 16-20h, and the medium temperature fermentation is 12-14h. In the pre-fermentation stage, the yeast lowers sugar slowly, and the temperature of the fermentation liquid will naturally rise by 0.6-1.0°C due to the metabolism of the yeast. After the pre-fermentation is over, the fermentation liquid is poured into the main fermentation room.

Post-fermentation

Post-fermentation is also called wine storage. Its purpose is to complete the final fermentation of residual sugar, increase the stability of beer, fully fill with CO2, fully precipitate protein, and clarify the wine. Eliminate diacetyl, aldehydes, H2S and other tender wine smells to promote maturation; keep the wine in a reduced state as much as possible to reduce the oxygen content. After the main fermentation, the wine liquid is still not mature enough, and some extracts need to be fermented. Especially for the production of light beer, the content of fermentable sugar should be reduced as much as possible. In the main fermentation stage, carbon dioxide is exhausted or recovered, so that the carbon dioxide content in the liquor is insufficient, which requires post-fermentation to saturate the carbon dioxide contained in the beer. Volatile substances produced by the main fermentation such as diacetyl, hydrogen sulfide, etc. are also reduced to the specified range through post-fermentation and wine storage liquid. In addition, the yeast coagulation and sedimentation suspended in the wine liquid and the precipitation of the precipitated substances in the fermentation liquid are also completed in the post-fermentation and wine storage process.

Fermentation temperature and time

The upper fermentation temperature is higher at 10-20 degrees ,  while the lower fermentation temperature is lower than 10 degrees and the fermentation time is shorter. Most industrial lagers are 3-7 days .  After all, the shorter the fermentation time, the more conducive to large-scale industrial production. 

The fermentation time is about 7-20 days, In this way, the beer is fermented slowly at low temperature, the taste is softer, the aroma is longer, and the foam is richer. Craft beer is a kind of high-end beer, which is often sold in some high-end star-rated hotels. Craft beer equipment is a kind of equipment that integrates intelligent automatic operating system. The user only needs to prepare the wine quality in the wine barrel, and carry out the corresponding program design to complete the wine operation conveniently，can ensure the quality of the whole wine to a very high level.

If you are planning to open a brewery. TIANTAI BrewTech could help you answer your questions and supply the brewery equipment system. We supply 2-150bbl complete beer brewing brewery equipment system including malt milling equipment, brewhouse equipment, fermenters, brite beer tanks, beer bottling machine,beer canning machine, beer kegging machine, hopping machine, yeast propagation equipment. We also supply all auxiliary brewery systems like steam heating pipe and valves, water treatment, filter, air compressor etc. Everything in brewery are all in our list.

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