Principles of wort treatment

J. Gloetzl

Abstract
This paper reviews some of the basic principles to be observed in the production of wort which will give a high quality beer with good flavor, color, foam characteristics, and shelf-life. In recent years, brewing technology has been particularly concerned with the techniques of wort treat insofar as they affect the course and speed of fermentation. The design of wort cooling systems has progressed from the old coolship with an open trickle cooler, through the cooling and settling vat, to the modern finishing vessels with heat-exchange closed coolers. The cooling wort should take up a certain amount of air. Spontaneous hot aeration in the coolship promotes trub separation by oxidation, but, with closed cooling systems, the degree of aeration necessary for a fast fermentation is achieved with mechanical devices, such as a separator plate disc or a compressed-air candle. The primary aim of wort treatment is to obtain complete elimination of the coarse (hot) break and as complete separation as possible of the fine (cold) trub. The choice of equipment and the process employed for the production of finished wort will depend on the initial composition of the wort.