Gravity in the Brewhouse
- Feb 28, 2022
- 92
- tiantai
A lot should be considered when you open your brewery like craft brewing tech, brewery equipment cost and price,find a location for brewery, license and regulation of a brewery. This article column is specially to discuss Gravity in the Brewhouse.
A brewer may take samples of wort from just about any point in the process in order to keep track of the SG. Arvada Beer Company’s Dennis O’Harrow (right)dennis_cb starts taking readings as soon as his malt is mixed with hot water at his Colorado brewery. He does this, “to see that the OG remains consistent batch to batch,” said O’Harrow. “It lets us know that malt we receive is consistent [in quality].”
At Willoughby Brewing Company in Willoughby, Ohio, Rick Seibt begins taking gravity readings as he starts to separate the liquid wort from grain husks in the mash tun. “Our brewery doesn’t have much automation, so we probably take more [gravity readings] than normal to ensure the highest level of consistency we can,” said Seibt. “We start taking readings once mashing is complete and vorlauf (recirculation of wort) has begun, to see the gravity of the first runnings (concentrated initial runoff from the mash). This will usually tell us if we have any conversion problems.”
Both brewers periodically check the gravity throughout the boiling of the wort. O’Harrow uses a refractometer (a similar density measurement tool that employs the Brix scale), while Seibt employs a trio of saccharometers with varying scales, to ensure accuracy. During fermentation each brewer will take readings, generally every other day.
“Taking gravity readings during the brew and subsequently throughout the ferment allow you to know the alcohol by volume and maintain a consistent product,” explains O’Harrow. “Not only do you want to take readings consistently, but you also want to keep copious records of readings taken so that one can go back to previous brews to make again.”
Seibt echoes the need to take notes: “We also use it to keep track of brewhouse yield, which then allows us to better predict the outcomes of new recipes.”
Gravity LabelThe Importance of Gravity
Provided that gravity readings check out, or steps are taken to adjust inconsistencies, brewers then look for healthy and cooperative yeast to drop the beer’s gravity to a specific range decided upon by the brewer or to match the style, this gravity is called final gravity (FG). The difference between OG and FG will reveal the apparent attenuation—the percentage of fermentables that were successfully converted to sugars.
While gravity is important to a brewer, beer fans can benefit from understanding it too. As a beer enthusiast, an understanding of gravity will help you make informed decisions when choosing a beer if styles are not provided. You can infer that a stout with an OG of 1.080 likely has a stronger ABV than a stout at 1.044. A craft beer described as ‘high gravity’ is referring to the strength in alcohol, a detail that adds to the beer’s character.
A brewer may take samples of wort from just about any point in the process in order to keep track of the SG. Arvada Beer Company’s Dennis O’Harrow (right)dennis_cb starts taking readings as soon as his malt is mixed with hot water at his Colorado brewery. He does this, “to see that the OG remains consistent batch to batch,” said O’Harrow. “It lets us know that malt we receive is consistent [in quality].”
At Willoughby Brewing Company in Willoughby, Ohio, Rick Seibt begins taking gravity readings as he starts to separate the liquid wort from grain husks in the mash tun. “Our brewery doesn’t have much automation, so we probably take more [gravity readings] than normal to ensure the highest level of consistency we can,” said Seibt. “We start taking readings once mashing is complete and vorlauf (recirculation of wort) has begun, to see the gravity of the first runnings (concentrated initial runoff from the mash). This will usually tell us if we have any conversion problems.”
Both brewers periodically check the gravity throughout the boiling of the wort. O’Harrow uses a refractometer (a similar density measurement tool that employs the Brix scale), while Seibt employs a trio of saccharometers with varying scales, to ensure accuracy. During fermentation each brewer will take readings, generally every other day.
“Taking gravity readings during the brew and subsequently throughout the ferment allow you to know the alcohol by volume and maintain a consistent product,” explains O’Harrow. “Not only do you want to take readings consistently, but you also want to keep copious records of readings taken so that one can go back to previous brews to make again.”
Seibt echoes the need to take notes: “We also use it to keep track of brewhouse yield, which then allows us to better predict the outcomes of new recipes.”
Gravity LabelThe Importance of Gravity
Provided that gravity readings check out, or steps are taken to adjust inconsistencies, brewers then look for healthy and cooperative yeast to drop the beer’s gravity to a specific range decided upon by the brewer or to match the style, this gravity is called final gravity (FG). The difference between OG and FG will reveal the apparent attenuation—the percentage of fermentables that were successfully converted to sugars.
While gravity is important to a brewer, beer fans can benefit from understanding it too. As a beer enthusiast, an understanding of gravity will help you make informed decisions when choosing a beer if styles are not provided. You can infer that a stout with an OG of 1.080 likely has a stronger ABV than a stout at 1.044. A craft beer described as ‘high gravity’ is referring to the strength in alcohol, a detail that adds to the beer’s character.
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