High Gravity Brewing

Increase capacity and process flexibility

Traditionally, standard brewing gravity is taken as approximately 11˚P. However, more brewers produce their beers by high gravity brewing and fermentation. These high gravities typically fall anywhere in the range of 12˚P to 20˚P.

The advantages or reasons for switching to high gravity brewing are many, varied and well-documented.

These include:

  • Insufficient brewhouse/fermentation or storage capacity to cope with rising production demands

  • Brewhouse design and capacity

  • Raw material type and availability

  • Energy, labour and cleaning savings due to handling of less volume (wort/beer) in process

  • Increasing gravity by use of adjuncts

  • Process flexibility, i.e. the number of products being produced from a ‘standard’ high gravity wort or beer

 

The high gravity brewing process involves the production of a high gravity extract by mashing in at a high grist-to-liquor ratio or through the addition of suitable solid or liquid adjuncts to the initial extract. High gravity extract can be diluted with properly treated or calibrated process water at the beginning or end of fermentation to the original gravity of 7-11°P.

The production of beer by high gravity brewing can be perceived as a compromise between efficiency and quality.

Kerry has specific high gravity brewing ingredients for the resulting issues, which can help a brewer achieve quality, while still benefiting from the efficiencies of the high gravity brewing process.

Typical High Gravity Brewing Problem Kerry's Solution
Thick/set mashes and poor extract yields Hitempase, Bioamylase D, Promalt, Bioferm
Poor lautering/mash filtration Bioglucanase
Reduced free amino nitrogen Bioprotease, Yeastex
Poor trub compaction and wort clarity Whirlfloc
Poor/incomplete fermentation Bioferm, Yeastex
Excess foaming in copper or fermenter FermCap
High yeast cell counts and poor filtration performance Biofine
Poor foam stability Biofoam K, Biofoam AT