During saccharification, beer brewing equipment mainly converts insoluble substances (starch, cellulose, some high molecular proteins, etc.) in malt into water-soluble substances (sugars, dextrins, minerals, and certain proteins), filters them to obtain clear wort, boils them, and swirls them to form formed wort.
So what is the process of the entire beer brewing equipment saccharification system?
The process of saccharification: Water is fully mixed with malt crushing materials, and under the action of various enzyme systems in malt, the soluble substances in malt are thoroughly extracted. The mixture of crushed malt and water is called mash.
"Saccharification" means that the liquefied starch is decomposed into maltose and dextrin through the action of amylase.
The concept of saccharification is the process of gradually decomposing insoluble high molecular substances in malt and excipients into soluble low molecular substances under appropriate conditions (temperature, pH value, time) using various hydrolytic enzymes (or added enzyme preparations) contained in malt.
The purpose of saccharification is to utilize the action of various enzymes to dissolve insoluble substances, in order to obtain as many high-quality (leached) soluble substances as possible, and to make the composition of wort suitable for wort fermentation.
The substances dissolved from malt and auxiliary materials are called extracts, which are mainly composed of various fermentative sugars (maltose, malt Santang, glucose), non fermentative dextrins, proteins, gluten substances and minerals.
Amylase converts starch into maltose, malt Santang, glucose and other sugars and dextrins, which is a biochemical reaction process.
During the saccharification process, important substances are broken down, including starch breakdown, protein breakdown β- Decomposition of dextran. The decomposition of these substances mainly relies on the action of enzymes, which are determined by temperature and pH value.
Simply put, saccharification is the process of raising the temperature of the mash to the optimal temperature for the enzyme to fully exert its function.
Rest temperature:
45-50 ℃ protein rest
62-65 ℃ maltose formation stop（ β- The optimal operating temperature for amylase)
70-75 ℃ saccharification rest（ α- The optimal operating temperature for amylase)
78 ℃ mashing, saccharification termination
According to different heating methods, beer brewing saccharification processes are divided into two categories:
One is the decoction method,
One is the leaching method.
The characteristic of the decoction method is to extract a portion of the saccharified mash, heat it in batches to the boiling point, and then mix it with the other unboiled mash to gradually raise the temperature of the entire mash to the temperature required by different enzyme actions, reaching the final saccharification temperature.
Previously, the quality of malt was average, requiring repeated boiling of mash to extract soluble substances from the malt. The cooking method is complex, time-consuming, energy consuming, and requires high equipment configuration. Nowadays, the quality of malt is good, and the saccharification process using the boiling method is less commonly used.
The leaching method is to heat the total mash to several temperature stages for rest, reaching the end temperature of mashing and saccharification, without the process of separate mashing and boiling.
The leaching method is relatively simple and time-saving. The characteristic is that the saccharification mash does not undergo boiling from beginning to end, relying solely on the action of enzymes to extract various substances. The wort still retains a certain amount of enzyme activity before boiling.
The leaching method can be roughly divided into two types:
One is the mashing method, and the other is the step by step heating method.
A. The method of mashing is simply to add hot water to make the mash reach the temperature required for mashing. Simply put, it means heating the mash to the desired saccharification temperature by adding hot water.
Heating up with hot water, due to the limited volume of the tank, the number of saccharification temperature stages for heating up with hot water is limited.
B. The step by step heating method is to directly heat the mash to reach the temperature required for saccharification. There is theoretically an infinite temperature range for saccharification.
(A) Operating steps of the mash leaching and saccharification method:
1. Prepare feed water. Heat hot water to the corresponding temperature in a boiling or hot water pot. Then pour it into the saccharification tank.
2. Feed at 50-55 ℃ (protein breakdown). After feeding, stir evenly and maintain the temperature at 50-55 ℃ for 50-80 minutes.
3. Preparation of mash water: Fill the boiling pot with water and heat up the hot water to 100 ° C.
4. Mixing mash at 65 ° (starch saccharification): Pour 100 ° hot water into a saccharification pot and mix mash at a temperature of 65 °. Hold for 80 minutes. Amylase decomposes the starch in the mash into dextrin and maltose.
(B) Step by step heating leaching saccharification method:
1. Step by step heating requires the saccharification pot to have an automatic heating function. Generally, it is steam heating or direct fire heating.
2. Generally, a 1:4 ratio of material to water is used for stage by stage heating and saccharification.
According to the requirements of malt quality and saccharification brewing process. Flexible setting of multiple temperature ranges for saccharification temperature. Reach the temperature required for saccharification step by step.
Large and medium-sized beer brewing equipment is considered to produce multiple batches 24 hours a day, and the saccharification function is achieved using a single tank called a saccharification pot.
The saccharification and filtration functions of small and medium-sized beer equipment are completed in one tank, which is called the saccharification filtration tank. There is also a saccharification and boiling function completed in one tank, which is called a saccharification boiling pot.
If the saccharification function, boiling function, and vortex sedimentation function share a single tank, this tank is called a saccharification boiling vortex sedimentation pot. This combination is mainly due to the lack of heating function in the filter tank and the use of stage by stage heating and saccharification method.
Suggestion: The saccharification process should be heated step by step. Step by step heating for saccharification, the saccharification system requires steam heating or direct fire heating.
