The Ironton Brewing Process
The brewing process is the process by which we convert the naturally occurring starch molecules in grain into simple sugars for fermentation. Ironton uses a mash/lauter system like you would find in a brewery. This allows us to separate the liquid and the grain for fermentation and distillation.
All the grain is added to the mash tun with hot water at around 150 degrees and steeped like tea for an hour. During this time, the starch is broken down into simple sugars. Barley produces an enzyme called alpha amylase. Amylase functions by severing the bonds between chains of glucose molecules (starch) resulting in maltose, or, as we know it, malt sugar. The maltose becomes food for the yeast to eat during fermentation. The maltose rich wort is then transferred from the mash tun to the boil kettle through the lautering process.
Lautering is when the clean wort is pulled through the grain bed leaving the solids behind. The grain bed acts as a natural filtration system and, as this is happening, hot water is sprayed over the top of the dry grain to capture any sugar that is left behind. This is called sparging.
The amount of grain and water used is dependent on the recipe made by the distiller.
Once all the liquid has drained from the mash tun and transferred to the boil kettle, we are left with spent grain. Spent grain just means that all the sugar has been extracted and there is nothing left for the brewing process. Ironton collects all the spent grain and gives the majority to a local rancher to feed his cattle. A portion of the grain also gets dried and goes straight to our kitchen to add to pizza dough and dog biscuits.
Meanwhile, over in the kettle, the wort is being boiled. The boiling process ensures that all foreign bacteria and yeast are killed off so that there is no potential of spoilage in the fermenter. If we were producing a beer this would be the moment in which hops are added.
Note: Hops are not used in a distillery because they impart an unpleasant flavor and mouthfeel into the distillate.
