From A Pile Of Hopps To A Full Glass Of Beer:
This Is How We Get There

Water from the boiling kettle is pumped over to the mash tun where it is mixed with ground malted barley. This mixture is called the mash and should be around 153-155 degrees.

By holding the mash at this temperature in the insulated mash tun, enzymes in the husk of the barely will naturally convert starch into sugar. The conversion rest is about 1 to 2 hours.

After conversion takes place we drain the liquid (wort) from the mash tun and it is pumped into the boiling kettle. We fill the kettle to about 8 barrels or 248 gallons. We boil the wort for three reasons: to reduce the volume by about 10%, to sterilize the liquid, and to isomerize the hop oils. The kettle remains closed for the majority of the boil except during hop additions. The kettle is turned off and the wort is cooled with cold tap water.

We connect a flex hose between the heat exchanger port and the fermenter and begin to fill the fermenter. While the fermenter is being filled we pitch a liquid yeast strain into the cooled wort. The final volume of a batch of beer for our brewery should be 7 barrels or 217 gallons. The yeast goes through a 4-6 hour respiration period after which it begins to ferment the sugar in the wort, creating alcohol and CO2. Fermentations may take several days or weeks depending on the style of beer and the fermentation temperature. The alcohol is dependent upon how much grain is used and how far out the fermentation goes. The Northstar’s beers may range from 3.2% ABV to 15%ABV.

When fermentation is complete the beer is chilled and transferred through a centrifugal pump into a serving vessel where it is carbonated to 2.5 volumes of CO2 in solution. The beer is served directly to the bar, from the serving vessel, and finally to your glass.

Kyle Carstens
Brewmaster, MBAA
Owner, Northstar Restaurant & Brewery