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Lautering Back To Basics
Lautering Back To Basics
Lautering-Back to Basics
By Kent Christiansen, Steve Barsh, and Gary Luther
ABSTRACT SINTESIS
This paper will deal with the optimization and of milling and lautering Estc cstll(lio embarcam la optimizacion y las operaciones de molienda y
operations in the' hrewing process. The malt mllst be properly gr ollnd, Rltracion en el lal ltcr en el proceso eervczcro. La malta debe scI' Illolida
with the degree of "nne'ness" being dependent upon halancing desired de una forma apropiada, con el grado de "finura" depcl1 l liente del bal
yields and Hill-off tiITH:'s. The rate of I'1In-ofr d u rillg t.he various stages is ance de las enciencias dcscadas asi como los ciclos dC' filtracion.
the other critical variable. TllP principles hehind the steps mntTolling La otm variablc critiea es la rata cle filtraeion clurante las varias dapas
thes(' operations are not always eomplPlely understood hy the operators los operadores que trabajan en la planta no sierllprc mmprencien los
who work there. Periodic review of the IInit operations in each plant, prineipios pOI' clctms dc los pasos que controlan estas operaciollcs. EI
and rolltinely eondllcting practical semillars with the work teams in bacer revisiones en las plantas, a las IInidacies de operacioll pl'riodiea
volVl'd have proved invaluable in reinforcing the desired conclusions. mellte, y 01 lIevar a cabo sl'minarios practicos condllcidos con ('I grupo
de trabajo envuclto; han probado SCI' formas invailiahies de reenforzar
las conclusiones cleseadas.
INTRODUCTION
While separation of WOlt from mash is a physical process, it is
lautering process is to be optimized. By doing the least damage
not necessarily as simple as it looks when one first examines it.
possible to the berries before they meet the crllshing rolls of the
I I' anyone has any doubts about that statement, just take a look
mills, better milling is possible and control is en haneed over the
at the numhc'r of papers presented every year dealing with lau
processes further dowllstream.
tering. Today we will take a look at a group of factors that affect
this process, and an approach to assuring the brewing depart MILLING
ment that the operation is as near to the optimum track as it can
be, given the brewery's mix of resourcE's. When milling, the kernels should be split aJong the axis to
M iller currently operates seven larger brewerics. All of the e>:pose the endosperm. The endosperm itself shollid then be fur
brewhouses are equipped with six roller (three pass) mills to pre ther crushed to facilitate the easy infiltration of mash water to
pare the malt ffl!' mashing, and lauter tuns to clarify and separate begin the liheration of the enzyme systems. The husk should be
the wort from the mash. As a service to the plants, the corporate kept as intact as possible in order to prOvide the needed porosity
brewing staff routinely reviews their established practices, spec to the filter hed in the lallter tun. The amount of fines should be
ifications, and, process system capabilities. These reviews are limited to prevent the fimnation of too much dough which can
conductcd by a team of people drawn from the corporate tech impede the extraction and separation processes. Mill rolls shollid
nical staff: and the operating plants. An annual review plan is be parallel and the entire mill maintained in good operating con
developed in conjunction with each bre\ving manager's input so ditions. The rolls should not have excessive wear on their sllrf\Ce,
the travel schedule doesn't interfere with operations, and per and the feed rate shollid not exceed the manllflctlll'er'S recom
son nel are availablc when needed. The reviews can identi fy areas mendations for that mill.
requiring atteution, and then allow preparation and planning of The grist that is acceptable for one brand of beer, may not be
training programs that bctter meet the plant's needs. This paper correct for the other brands made in that brewhouse. Monitoring
is an outgrowth of the lalltering seminars which were developed of the grist produced by the mills is among the most critical con
as a result of the described reviews. trol responsibilities a brewer has. Milling sets the stage for good
A brewing industry axiom is that the best beer is proc.lllced extraction yi ,Ids, acceptable runoff times, good lautering prac
with highest quality malt. The lautering process really begins in tices, and wort quality standards. When the range of beny sizcs
the malthollse, whether the brewery's or those of a commercial hegins to spread out, the brewery will not prodllce the same mash
malster. It is essential that the malt IIsed is properly modified, as it did when the variability was smaller. One obvious thing
and that a standard berry size range, \vith limited variability comes to mind. If the berry size dropped conSiderably from what
within that range, be provided to the brewhouse. Gentle handling the plant had been receiving and no one tightelled the mill gaps
of malt, both by the maltster and by the brewery. is critical if the in response, the smaller berries may not be opened up to the
degree desired. I n the worst case of this scenario, the bcrries
have not been crushed at all. Of course if the kernel sizes get
largcr, you can over crush the kernels and damage the hllsk sec
Kent Christiansen received a Bachelor of Science degree in chem tions lIeeded in the lauter tun. III an effori to prOvide better
istry from Lakeland College, Sheboygan, WI and an MilA in Man reaction in this area, Miller operating teams are encouraged to
agement from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he is also a read the shipping analyses sent to them by the malt houses Sllp
1967 graduate of the Siebellnstitlde of Technology, lie is a 25- plying their plant.
year member of MBAA and has served the association as President The fine grind analysis on the report is always presentcd as a
of MIlAA district Milwaukee and Westem New York, and, is cur higher numerical valuc than that of the coarse grind. An inex
rently a member of the national by-laws committee. Mr. Christian
perienced operator wOllld naturally be led to belicve that the
sen has been in the brewing industry since 1964, working in several
plantH and the corporate brewing staff of anotller brewery before
highcst extract is made available to the process by tightening lip
joining Miller Brewing Company in 1975. lie WaH part of the start
the mills. This may be true far mash filters, but it has not been
lip team at Miller's Fulton New York plant and was the plant brew the ease for lallter tuns I have operated. This misconception,
ing manager prior to transferring to Miller's cO'7Jorate office as (grinding malt finer makes more extract available for the process)
Staff Ilrewing Manager. Jlis current responsibilities include both was difficllit to overcome. After all, it is hard to argue \.vith the
domestic and intemational brewing operations. "facts" printed out on the analytical reports. One result of this
MBAA T.Q., No.3, 1993 Christiansen et al.: L(llIterillg-Back to Basics 91
approach to malt Illilling can be a longer than desired I'11noff time ties or improvements they may be experiencing arc a resllit of a
due to tighter beds in the lauter tlln. In response, the opprating change ill the process and not the lauter tlln itself.
teams sometimes react to these conditions (slower !'Irllofh) by The grain-out doors/valves shollid be inspected for closure he
altering the lautering process from its original state into some fare eacll mash transfer to enslll'e one will not inadveltently he
thing slightly different. While the changes did not afrcel prodllct seneling the mash to the brewer's grains receiver before having
quality, they did negatively impact the schedlllilig window in the lautereel it. Gaskets on these doors/valves should be inspected
brewing process. aft('J' evel), CTP alld replaced whenever there are indications of
We installed some instnrnwntation on one of 0111' lallter tllns IIH-'ehanical damage or wort leakage. The positioning and fune
that allows observation of the process in numerical and graphical tiolling of the clOSing d(-'vices for these valves/doors :.tlso should
fashion. It has definitely helped this situation. A printollt of the Iw eheckcd to make sure that they aHO sealing properly. The sig
runoff pattern and the extracts obtaincd from a fine grind can nals sent to the control system from not only the doors, but from
now be dircctly compared to those from a coarser one. There all field devices (s\vitches, level indicators, etc.) should be rou
can no longcr be any seriolls doubt in the opprator's mind aimilt tinely checked to make sure they rf'f1ect what is actually happen
which method of milling is best. in an indllstrial extraction pro ing in the brewhouse.
cess slleh as lautering, tlw coarser grollnd mash produces Illore The rake height indication system is another of those things
predictahle and erfectiw resllits. Iweding verification on a scheduled hasis. The various rotational
speeds of the arms shollid be checked annllally to verify the (hive
SystelllS arc still performillg according to specifications. All me
The Lauter Tun
terillg devices involved in the lautering process shollid be rou
The lallter tlln manllflctllrer will usually recol1llllend a brew tinely calibrated and their acemacy verified. One indicator that
size based on the malt/adjllnct ratio of the heel'S to he made, and this hasn't been done all schedule would be a loss or gain in
the resultant weight which would be on the floor of the vesspl as norillal lautering effici(oncies, and/or a shift in kettle full volllmcs.
well as providing the expected depth of the grain bed. Brew sizes TIl(' meter at the WOlt cooler is sllbject to the same tendencies
that exceed these loadings can be detrimental to the opf'ration to cit-viate from calibration targcts. Since we use this meter read
of the lauter tlln in either reduced extraction efficiency or an illg as the volllille inpllt to both our lallteling effiCiency calcula
extended !'1m off time per brew, or both. tions and our beer accollnting system, its accuracy is critical to
Preserving the lalltering capabilities of the Illash is another the hrewing teams. An independent level indicating device in the
factor that shollid not be overlooked. The mash shollid not roll kettle has proved invaillable in identifjing these trends.
tinely be allowed to reside in the mash tun fCll' periods which rlln
flr beyond the normal process parameters. A "hold" in this vessel
can lead to hreakdown of the hllsk particles and enc!osIwnll. pre Lautering Process
senting YOll ,vith a runoff tlrat is longer than desired alld also one Moving forward into t11l' lalltering operation itself, we would
which produces less extract than one handled nonIIally. rccollllllend that enollgh hot (170 Fahrenheit) water be put into
The lauter tun shollid be properly maintaincd in good Ille the vpssel to cover the fdse bottom, and at least partially prevent
chanical and electrical condition. The lauter tllll itself, and the the intrusion of mash particles into the area IInder the false hot
fllse bottom shollid be level. it should he inspected evel)' week t01l1 during Illash transk'r. This water also helps cushion the
to see that the fllse bottom plates have not beell hent or moved plates from the weight of the mash being transferred into the
out of position. No less than once per year, the plates shollid be lalltpr tlln.
lifted and the slots cleaned mechanically to remove the sillall TIl(' transfer sequence is initiated and the mash is transferred
stones and other extraneous matf'rial which routine CIP will not with tlHo kllives in the Iautering position and the arms tllrning at
remove. The plates shollid be straight(-'ned if neeessar)', and I(,v mediulll speed. The initial rake height is not critical, but a rec
clcd again dllring reinstallation. ommenclpd pIaC(O to start is at four (4) inches off the bottom. The
The rake SUppOlt anns should he straight and level. I f the arllls rakes arc then raised as the height of the grain bed increases so
are not level, grain can be len behind in SOllIe areas during graill that a 'spi n' is not imparted to the mash. When Illash transfer is
out, callsing undesirable new flow patterns to appear which will completed, the line should be pllshed lilt -,vith brewing water to
negatively affect extract rccover)', extract qllality, and proc('ss get all of that brew into the lallter tlln. The rakes are slowed to
times. The alignment of the knives shollid also be at a right angle lautering speed and left in the filII up position.
to the arms so that they are in fact parallel to the tangelll of the An underlet and vorlauf are the next recommended steps. \,Ve
circle at the vessel walls. The knives shollid not be worn thill, as have found that Ilsing approximately thrce f'olllihs of the volume
this \vill allow them to vibrate, bend, or wobble while rakillg. The used as fOllndation water is sufficient to accomplish our pllrposes.
rake positioning device(s) should also Iw ch('ekecl rolltillcly to We want to help clear the area IInder the false bottom of the
ensure that the knives arc not allowed to change their rakillg mash particles and dough which were depOSited there dming
angle to the hed, which cOllld lead to pllshing tl)(' grain towards mash transfer, and prepare thc entire filter bed far rllnning off
either the center or the walls of the vessels. the wOli.
The WOlt drawoff lines have to he checked after CTP to ensl11'(' After the IInderiet vollime is nwtpred in, we begin the vorlauf
that they arc clean and 1I0t illipeding the flow of wort. We think PI'OC('ss. The first step reqlliJ'(od is the estahlishmellt of walt flow
they shollkl be cleaned :.llllllially with a high presslIl'(o device to fronl the area IIncier th(-' false bottom to the grant while di recting
augment the rOlltilw CIP's dUling the year. The lurdcrvlate f1l1sh the How from the gralll to the slIction of the vorlauf pllmp. This
ing systems have to be calibrated and tilll(od so that the alnOllllt pUlllping of the ullderlet water/wort mixtlll'e from heneath the
of flushing water sllpplied is sufficient to do the job, bllt not so Ldsl' bottom hack 011 top of the Iwd mlllpletcs the clearing out
milch that it can't drain away with its organiC loading hefcJI'(' the of the area under the false hottolll and establishes the filter bed
next sequence begins. for lallterillg while beginning to clarify the wort.
Visllal inspection of the area IInder the plates must hl' a IIlatter The ideal vorlauf' pUlllping spef'd and length of time should
of routine to check fur the effectiveness of both Yolll' CI P and he detc'rmill(,d for each lallter tUII. We have fOllnd that .500-600
underplate flushing systems. This and the myriad of othl'r checks harrels per hour far 0111' thirty-folll' foot diameter lauter tuns
perform d are required to assure the operator that any dif'ficul- works very wcll. Our brews arc ready to send to the kettle after
92 Christiansen et al.: Lallierillg-Back to Basics MBAA T.Q., Vol. 30
a vorlallf period of ten minlltes. \Vhen the wort has reached the recommended. This keeps the pressure over the grain heel more
desi red c1 ali t level, t he vorlauI' process is stopped and the col
y
uniform and allows better tlll1ing of the process by the operators.
lection or first WOlt is beglln by directing the wOli flow to the After 25-30 minlltes of running to the kettle, anotl H'r lI1ash up
kettle. and vorlauf cycle \vill probably have to be initiated. The sparge
The collection or nrst wort is complicated by the interrelation flow shollid automatically shut down IIntil vorlauf is complete and
ships b tween the specific gravity of the wort, its relatively high rllnoff'to the kettle has resumed. Upon completion of' tlris step,
viscosity, and the weight of the WOlt above the grain bed. WI tire lIew wort flow setpoint should be around 1250 barrels per
have fOllnd that ollr brands lauter Wf'1I if we do not rake the bed hOllr IIntil completion of the runoff. Kettle full volllll1(,s slrollid
during the collection of first wort, although we do have them bc arollnd 1220 barrels ('or a brew size of 1100 barrels of cooled
rotating at lalltering speed. We begin plllling harder on the bed wort. Tlw time f'rom Irere to kettle full should be arollnd 22
almost illlmediately. In general, the harder we pull first wort minutes.
(withollt plllling more than 20 IInits differential pressure by King After tcn minlltes of running to the kettle, the loop seal hypass
Gallge) the higher ollr extraction efficiency is and 01lJ' tillle of valve can be opened. At this time the sparge water is all in, the
nrnofr is sholtened. Tire rate or flow increase is predicated on hed is being drained to the kettle, and the rakes can he dropped
several factors, witlr total barrels rllno 1'1', differential pressure to their bottom position for the remainder of rllnoff. As soon as
across the bcd, ancl elapsed time being the most Significant ones. the kettle is Riled, and during the time the bed is thying out,
The flow rate shollid now increase from the lower vorlauf rate to grain-ollt shollid be started. The removal of the brewer's grain
arollnd 700-750 barrels per hour Ii)r tlw critical process of col from the lauter tlln and the Rllshing of the area IInder thf' false
lectillg first wort. hottom can happen simllitaneously.
Our brews are norninally J 100 barr e ls of cooled wort. With
this brew size, we collect somewhere between 280 and 350 bar Grain-Out
rels of first wOli. This will take 22-30 minlltes to run off. Towards The rakes arc raised out of the grain bed, and the knife allgles
the end of the first wort colleetioll period the Row will begin changed to the grain-ollt position. This angle change frolll the
slmvillg, and it will be time for a procpss referred to as "mash up lalltering position to an offset from it (approXimately 22Y20) will
and vorlau1'." now push the grain from the center of the vessel towards the
Mash lip and vorlallf arc nothing more than a repeat of the outside where the grain out doors have opened. Tire outside sev
process initiated at the end of mash transfer to the lauter tun eral flights of knives ar set into an opposing angle to take the
with the addition of lowering the rakes to the bottom and making grain away from the p rimeter of the vessel and pllsh it towards
one revoilltion with the rakes. The introdllction of water IrndH the grain-out doors. The grain-out process should proceed
the false hottom clears Ollt most of the dough that is present, and smoothly and completely from the top position of the rakes to
lifts and separates the palticles whi 'h then refonn tire bed. their lowest position. The rakes are allowed a period of time on
As soon as the rakes have made one complete revoilltion in the bottom to c1car out residllal grains that have piled lip on the
the full down pOSition, they arc raised back to 1'1111 lip alld a three false bottom and need more time to remove. vVe Irave (lime! that
minute vorlallf period is initiated. The vorlauf removes the water three minutes after reaching bottom is sllfficient.
from IInder the false bottoll1 and puts it baek above the bed While the grain-out is proceeding, the hottom flushing sc
where it will be used for extract recovelY from the grain hed. qllcnce is also timing Ollt. The clearing of this area IInder the
pon completion of the vorlall 1', it is again time to runofT to the fllse bottom does mllclr to help the brewer complete rllnoffs on
kettle. There is a temptation to skip this vorlauf pelion. There time and within blldgt>t. The manllfacturer's recommendations
are times when it is handled hy IItilizing the NFL coverage have done the job for liS once the initial timings were completed.
method called the "bump and mn." It may appear to save some
time initially, bllt generally a longer runoff with a loss of extract CONCLUSION
reslllts from emplOying this technique. We have found that an annual r view of the basic operating
For recovery of second WOlt, 900 harrels per hour is tire rec principles of lautering is something that is ve l)' wOlthwhile. The
ommended rate of rlllloff. The collection of a second wort qllan innovations and improvements developed in each plant arc then
tity of around 420 barrels would be expected. A rake position of fresh in everyone's minds and are easily docllmf'nted and shared
seven inches off the floor is set by slowly dropping the rak s while ,vitlr tlw other breWing teams. Calling attention to the hasic prin
running off. At this time (start of second wort recovelY) initiation Ciples behind the milling, mashing and la uteli ng operations, and
of sparging is recommended. The spf'f'd shollid he ranlpillg up presenting seminars highlighting these prillciples and their prac
at this time from the setpoint of 900 harrels per Irour lip towards tical application on an annllal basis, Irave been vel)' valuable con
1000 barrels per hour. A sparge water flow controller slaved to tlibutors to the quality of our beers and the operating efficiencies
the WOlt runoff meter and set to match the WOlt flow rate is of our plants.