--- title: "You've Drunk Plenty of Beer, but Do You Know How It's Made?" description: "Beer's nutritional value mainly comes from heat-generating carbohydrates, proteins and their breakdown products, vitamins, and inorganic salts. Moderate consumption can enhance liver detoxification. The rich carbon dioxide, acidity, and bitterness in beer help stimulate saliva, quench thirst, relieve heat, aid digestion, alleviate fatigue, and boost appetite. Modern beer brands are numerous with diverse flavors, influenced not only by raw materials but also by production processes (malting, mashing, fermentation, packaging). This article explores the evolution of beer fermentation technology, the role of yeast, open vs. closed fermentation, and the detailed fermentation process." author: "New Distribution" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2017-09-08" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/you-ve-drunk-plenty-of-beer-but-do-you-know-how-it-s-made-5a7d9b97/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/you-ve-drunk-plenty-of-beer-but-do-you-know-how-it-s-made-5a7d9b97.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LAtE3rk155mM3KFIRpskZw" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%96%9D%E4%BA%86%E9%82%A3%E4%B9%88%E5%A4%9A%E5%95%A4%E9%85%92-%E4%BD%A0%E7%9F%A5%E9%81%93%E5%AE%83%E6%98%AF%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E6%9D%A5%E7%9A%84%E5%90%97-5a7d9b97.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/you-ve-drunk-plenty-of-beer-but-do-you-know-how-it-s-made-5a7d9b97/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # You've Drunk Plenty of Beer, but Do You Know How It's Made? > Beer's nutritional value mainly comes from heat-generating carbohydrates, proteins and their breakdown products, vitamins, and inorganic salts. Moderate consumption can enhance liver detoxification. The rich carbon dioxide, acidity, and bitterness in beer help stimulate saliva, quench thirst, relieve heat, aid digestion, alleviate fatigue, and boost appetite. Modern beer brands are numerous with diverse flavors, influenced not only by raw materials but also by production processes (malting, mashing, fermentation, packaging). This article explores the evolution of beer fermentation technology, the role of yeast, open vs. closed fermentation, and the detailed fermentation process. Click the image for details. The nutritional value of beer mainly consists of heat-generating carbohydrates, proteins and their breakdown products, vitamins, and inorganic salts. Moderate consumption of beer can enhance the liver's detoxification function. **The rich carbon dioxide, acidity, and bitterness in beer have the functions of stimulating saliva, quenching thirst, relieving heat, aiding digestion, alleviating fatigue, and boosting appetite.** There are many modern beer brands with diverse flavors. Besides the influence of brewing raw materials, the production process (malting, mashing, fermentation, packaging) also determines the taste of beer. 1. **Advances in Beer Fermentation Technology** The fermentation process of beer is the normal life activity of yeast under certain conditions, utilizing fermentable substances in the wort. The metabolic products are the desired product—beer. Due to different yeast types, fermentation conditions, product requirements, and flavors, fermentation methods also differ. Generally, beer fermentation technology can be divided into traditional fermentation technology and modern fermentation technology. **(1) Traditional Fermentation Technology** Traditional fermentation uses a two-stage fermentation process. The primary fermentation uses open fermentation pools (tanks) with a fermentation time of 7-8 days at a temperature of about 8°C. After primary fermentation (the liquid at this stage is called green beer), the green beer is transferred to sealed storage tanks and kept at low temperature for about 60-90 days. This is called secondary fermentation (its purpose is to allow residual sugar to continue fermenting, promote flavor maturation, increase dissolved carbon dioxide, and promote clarification). This production method has slow equipment turnover, requires large cold storage, and consumes a lot of energy. **(2) Modern Fermentation Technology** Modern fermentation technology combines the traditional two-stage fermentation into a single-tank fermentation, with primary and secondary fermentation occurring in one fermentation tank. The tank wall is equipped with heat exchange tubes to control the temperature at various stages of fermentation, eliminating the need for large cold storage buildings and reducing energy consumption. It also facilitates controlling the temperature of the fermentation liquid at different stages, thus improving equipment utilization, shortening the brewing cycle, and producing beer of similar quality to traditional methods. 2. **The Power of Yeast Is Beyond Your Imagination** Yeast is a microorganism belonging to the fungi kingdom. In the brewing process, yeast acts as a magician, fermenting the sugars from malt and rice into beer, producing alcohol, carbon dioxide, and other trace fermentation products. These trace but diverse fermentation products, along with flavor compounds directly from malt and hops, form the attractive and unique sensory characteristics of finished beer. There are two main types of brewer's yeast: "top-fermenting yeast" and "bottom-fermenting yeast." Under a microscope, top-fermenting yeast appears slightly more oval than bottom-fermenting yeast. The name "top-fermenting yeast" comes from the fact that during fermentation, the yeast rises to the surface of the beer and can be skimmed off the top. The beer produced is called **"top-fermented beer"**, such as Ale, Pale Ale, Stout, etc. Bottom-fermenting yeast remains in the beer throughout fermentation and eventually settles at the bottom of the fermentation vessel. The beer produced is called **"bottom-fermented beer"**, such as Lager, Dortmunder, etc. Temperature does not control whether yeast rises or falls; the decisive factor is **yeast type**. Top fermentation typically uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae, while bottom fermentation uses Saccharomyces pastorianus. 3. **Open Fermentation or Closed Fermentation?** **(1) Open Fermentation** Open fermentation is typically conducted in open pools, and the fermentation room must maintain a high level of cleanliness and hygiene. Open fermentation is more like traditional fermentation technology, which emphasizes careful nurturing to ensure quality but lacks high yield. **The advantages of open fermentation are that it is easy to inspect and test the fermentation liquid, facilitating management and control of the fermentation process** (additional ingredients may be added during fermentation), and it provides necessary oxygen to the yeast in the early stages. Its disadvantages are **difficulty in controlling fermentation temperature and the risk of contamination by other bacteria or microorganisms**. Some modern breweries (especially in the UK, Belgium, Germany, and the US) still use open fermentation and regard it as a heritage of traditional brewing techniques. **(2) Closed Fermentation** Closed fermentation commonly uses cylindroconical fermentation tanks, which have a cylindrical body, a domed top, and a conical bottom, with considerable height (height greater than diameter). The tank is equipped with cooling and insulation systems. The advantages of using cylindroconical tanks are mainly fivefold: First, the conical bottom facilitates the discharge of yeast at any time during production. Second, the tank has a built-in cooling system, making it easy to control fermentation temperature, thus ensuring consistent production and stable beer quality. Third, the tank is insulated, allowing it to be placed outdoors, reducing building investment. Fourth, it can serve as both a fermentation tank and a storage tank, or combine fermentation and storage in one. Fifth, the fermentation liquid inside the tank creates a carbon dioxide gradient due to the liquid height (forming a density gradient), and through cooling control, natural convection can be induced. Due to strong convection, yeast fermentation capacity increases, fermentation speeds up, and the fermentation cycle shortens. **Although closed fermentation tanks prevent contamination from unfavorable factors in the air, they also block air circulation, and yeast under high pressure is prone to natural carbonation.** 4. **In-Depth Understanding of the Beer Fermentation Process** During fermentation, cultivated yeast converts fermentable sugars in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide, producing beer. Taking bottom-fermented beer as an example, fermentation typically begins within 8 hours and proceeds at an accelerating rate, accumulating a dense foam known as "krausen." This foam reaches its peak on the 3rd or 4th day. From the 5th day, fermentation slows down, and the krausen begins to spread over the surface of the wort and must be skimmed off. After the yeast has fermented all fermentable substances in the wort, it begins to form a thick sediment at the bottom of the vessel. Throughout the process, temperature and pressure must be strictly controlled. Of course, different beers and different production processes result in different fermentation times. Typically, lager fermentation takes about 6 days, while pale ale takes about 5 days. After fermentation is complete, most of the yeast settles at the bottom of the tank. Brewers recover this yeast for reuse in the next batch. After removing the yeast, the resulting "green beer" is pumped into secondary fermentation tanks (or maturation tanks). Here, remaining yeast and insoluble proteins further precipitate, allowing the beer's character to mature gradually. Maturation time varies with beer type, generally ranging from 7 to 21 days. **After secondary fermentation, the matured beer is filtered to remove all remaining yeast and insoluble proteins, resulting in bright beer ready for packaging.** Click the image for details. The **Third (CFIC) China FMCG + Internet Conference** will be held in Chongqing in October 2017. 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