In beer brewing, the boiling of wort is a crucial link. This process affects not only beer’s taste and flavor but also beer’s quality and safety. Wort boiling usually includes three stages: preheating, initial boiling, and boiling. The whole process takes about 70 to 90 minutes.
First, let’s take a look at the pre-heating stage. When the wort is pumped into the Brew Kettle, the steam flow rate is relatively low at the beginning. This is because the temperature of the wort will gradually drop during the pumping process. If we wait until the pumping is completely completed before starting to heat, we will need to spend more time to heat up before starting to boil. Therefore, the preheating stage can help us maintain the temperature of the wort, or let the temperature gradually rise in preparation for the next boiling.
Next is the primary boiling stage. In this stage, the wort begins to boil, but each boiling time will not exceed 30 minutes. At this time, the big steam has not been fully opened, and the start-up of the wort is still in progress. The initial boiling stage is to allow the wort to gradually adapt to the high temperature in preparation for the final boiling.
Finally, there is the boiling stage. This stage is the most important part of the entire boiling process. The boiling intensity mainly evaluates the quality of boiling. Generally speaking, the boiling intensity is between 8% and 12%.
In general, the boiling process of wort is an indispensable part of beer brewing, which is directly related to the taste, flavor, and quality of beer. Through the careful operation of the three stages of preheating, initial boiling, and boiling, we can get a perfect wort, laying a solid foundation for brewing delicious beer.
