What does wort yield in beer brewing mean?

I believe that many friends who have a certain understanding of beer brewing have heard of the word "wort yield". First of all, let's talk about the definition of wort yield: that is, every 100KG of wort after saccharification of raw materials, obtain leaching the mass fraction of the substance. So do you know what are the factors that affect the wort yield?

The effect of crushing degree

1. The control of the pulverization degree is the basic condition to meet the particle size requirements. The degree of crushing refers to the proportion of coarse and fine powders after the malt or auxiliary materials are crushed. Malt also includes the percentage of husk or the degree to which the husk is broken. A reasonable degree of pulverization can first be reflected in the good gelatinization and saccharification effect. It should have a short enzyme action time and a high leaching rate.

2. Reasonable crushing degree control. For malt, the first thing to do is to ensure that the husk is not broken, and try to keep the husk intact. For the equipment filtered by the filter tank, the proportion of the weight of the wheat husk plus the residual particles in the shell (it should be noted that the less residual particles attached to the wheat husk, the better) is controlled at 35-45%. Poorly dissolved malt should not exceed 30%; fine powder content is 15%-20% for well-dissolved malt, and 25%-30% for poorly dissolved malt.

DEGONG 500L beer brewery equipment

The influence of material-water ratio

1. The material-water ratio refers to the ratio of the volume of the input material to the volume of water, also known as the water consumption for saccharification. It is an important technical parameter in the design of the saccharification process, and is generally based on the concentration of the extract and the first wort.

2. Different material-water ratios will affect the stability of various enzymes, including the degree of contact between the enzyme and the substrate, and the degree of dispersion between the substrate and the product of the enzyme. A relatively small ratio of material to water, that is, the mash is thicker, although the heat resistance and stability of the enzyme are better, but it will affect the dispersion and function of the enzyme and the substrate. Larger ratio of material to water, low viscosity of mash, which is beneficial to the dispersion and action of enzymes, the dispersion of enzyme action substrates and action products, and the leaching of malt and excipient extractables, resulting in better gelatinization , saccharification effect. But at the same time, it should be noted that the heat resistance and stability of the enzyme are relatively poor, and the proportion of inactivation after increasing the temperature is high. At the same time, the ratio of total material to water is too large or too small, that is, the concentration of mash or too thin, will have an impact on the yield of extract during the washing process. If the mash is too thick, the residual sugar in the grains will be high; if the mash is too thin, the difference between the concentration of saccharified wort and the concentration of mixed wort is small, and the amount of water used for washing grains is small, which will also affect the yield of extract.

The influence of saccharification process

A suitable saccharification process can provide the most suitable action conditions for various enzymes in the saccharification process, which is beneficial to the action of enzymes, achieves the best saccharification effect, and improves the yield of saccharified wort.

1. Saccharification temperature: various enzymes in the saccharification process have the most suitable action temperature and inactivation temperature. In order to prevent the destruction of enzymes by high temperature, the temperature change during saccharification generally gradually increases from low temperature to high temperature. The change is divided into several different stages, each creating the optimum conditions for the enzymes to function fully.

2. PH value: various enzymes in malt have the optimum PH value. Controlling the PH value is conducive to saccharification, so that the effect of amylase in decomposing starch is faster and more complete, and the yield of wort is relatively high.

The impact of washing operation

1. The water temperature for washing grains: generally controlled between 76-78 degrees, if the water temperature is too low (lower than the temperature of the grains in the filter tank), the grains layer will shrink, which will not only increase the filtration resistance, but also make the residual sugar unclean. Reduced wort yield. If the water temperature is too high, exceeding 80 degrees, it will adversely affect the quality of the wort.

2. The number of times of washing and the amount of water: the number of times of washing is generally 3-4 times. The first washing is the largest amount of water, generally accounting for about 50% of the total amount of washing. The second and third washing can be based on the amount of water. Depends on the decrease in the concentration of the bottom layer. The amount of water in the last wort washing is always the least, which is often called regulated wort washing, that is, the process of controlling the final wort concentration according to the boiling time and evaporation intensity. Therefore, the last wort water should be used up as much as possible, otherwise, the remaining wort water will contain high residual sugar, resulting in a lower wort yield.

3. Grains and top water: The operation of grains in the washing process is necessary, because when the first wort is basically filtered out, the tightness of the grains layer is far from that at the beginning of filtration. , not only loosens the bad layer, but more importantly, allows the washing water to flow through all the bad layers evenly to improve the cleaning effect. In the case of difficult filtration, the top water method is often used to reorganize the wort layer. When the top water is used, a large amount of water penetrates into the wort layer and dilutes the unfiltered wort. However, when the top water is used, the water cannot be uniform in the wort layer like washing the wort. Distribution, the top water can dilute the concentration of the wort layer and the unfiltered wort to a certain extent, but it cannot be reduced as much as the washed wort, which affects the number of times and water consumption of the wort that can be washed, and it is easy to cause residual sugar. high. Therefore, when the first wort is filtered, try not to top the water, and the first wort filtration should be completed by adjusting the wort flow rate appropriately according to the experience and the wort filtration situation in actual operation. However, it is best to top the water for the first time washing the grains, because the wheat grains layer has been basically compacted during the first grain washing, and the top water can loosen the grains layer, which is beneficial to the subsequent washing of the grains. layer, so as not to cause excessive residual sugar. However, it should be noted that there should be a certain backflow time after the top water, and the water that is not fully mixed with the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom is sent back to the upper part of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the bottom. Washing effect.