The Brewing Process At Sab Newlands
According to Stuart (2012) Newlands was home to be the foremost brewery in South Africa, and a South African brewery has since ran successful brewing operations on the same grounds. It is now classified as a “medium sized brewery”, with the capability to produce 435 million litres of beer per year for distribution in the Western Cape, Stuart. The beer making process is an art. It takes time, patience and quite a bit of experimentation to find that perfect flavour. Once you have found the right mix, you can reproduce it again and again to ensure that you are always delivering the same quality product that consumers come to expect from you Moyo (2015).
According to Karim (2018) , fermentation is the process by which yeast changes the glucose in the wort to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas -- giving the beer both its alcohol content and its carbonation. To begin the fermentation process, the cooled wort is transferred into a fermentation vessel to which the yeast has already been added. If the beer being made is an ale, the wort will be sustained at a constant temperature of 68 F (20 C) for about two weeks. If the beer is a lager, the temperature will be conserved at 48 F (9 C) for about six weeks.
Since fermentation produces a considerable amount of heat, the tanks must be ventilated constantly to withstand the appropriate temperature. He said that these fermentation tanks hold approximately 2,400 gallons (9,085 L), which means that it takes four batches of wort to fill one tank. Since fermentation takes at least 14-21 days , the volume of the brewery is restricted by how many tanks they have. Karim also said that the specific gravity of the mixture is determined when the wort is added to the yeast. Later, the specific gravity is measured again to determine how much alcohol is in the beer, and to know when to stop the fermentation process.
According to Karin the fermenter is closed off from the air except for a long thin vent pipe, which allows carbon dioxide to move out from the fermenter. Since there is a continuous flow of carbon dioxide through the pipe, outside air is disallowed from entering the fermenter, which decreases the threat of pollution by stray yeasts. Stuart (2012), says when fermentation is nearly complete, most of the yeast will settle to the bottom of the fermenter. The bottom of the fermenter is cone shaped, which makes it easy to capture and remove the yeast, which is saved and used in the next batch of beer. The yeast can be reused a number of times before it needs to be replaced. It is replaced when it has mutated and produces a different taste -- remember, commercial brewing is all about consistency.
Moyo (2015) added that while fermentation is still happening, and when the specific gravity has got a predetermined level, the carbon dioxide vent tube is covered. Now the vessel is sealed; so as fermentation continues, pressure forms as CO2 continues to be formed. This is how the beer gets most of its carbonation, and the rest will be added by hand later in the process. From this point on, the beer will remain under pressure (except for a short time during bottling).
Moyo also said that When fermentation has over, the beer is cooled to about 273 K. This helps the remaining yeast settle to the bottom of the fermenter, along with other undesirable proteins that come out of solution at this lower temperature. When most of the solids have settled to the bottom, the beer is gradually pumped from the fermenter and strained to remove any left over solids. From the filter, the beer goes into another tank, called a bright beer tank. This is its last stop before bottling. Here, the level of carbon dioxide is adjusted by bubbling a little extra carbon dioxide into the beer through a permeable stone. Fermentation is very much important in the production of beer or in beer making, without fermentation there would be no beer production.
