|
Mashing and Straining Today, Budweiser is brewed using the same exacting standards as those used by Adolphus Busch more than 100 years ago. These are the stainless steel mash tanks where the brewing process begins as we mix ground barley malt with water. Milled rice is mixed with water in a cooker. The rice is boiled and combined with the malt in the mash tank. There, natural enzymes in the malt break down the grain's starch into fermentable sugars. The mixture from the mash tanks is strained, separating a clear, sweet amber liquid called wort from the spent grain husks. Brew Kettles and Cooling After the mixture from the mash tanks is strained, the wort is transferred into brew kettles and brought to a boil. Natural hops are added and the boil continues. Hops are the spice of beer, lending their special flavor, aroma, and character. Before fermentation, the wort is pumped through a vessel called a wort receiver. Now, the wort is cooled to a proper temperature for receiving yeast. Fermentation Yeast (Budweiser yeast is a lager yeast) is added to the cooled wort in the primary fermentation tanks. It can take up to 6 days for the yeast to convert the fermentable sugars to carbon dioxide and alcohol. During this stage of the brewing process, the wort becomes beer. Beechwood Aging After a layer of beechwood chips is spread on the bottom of the lager tanks, the beer is transferred into the tanks. A portion of freshly yeasted wort called Kraeusen is added. Beechwood Aging is part of secondary fermentation in which the yeast settles on the beechwood chips and works until the beer is completely fermented. As secondary fermentation occurs, the beer is naturally carbonated and its final flavor develops — resulting in a smooth-tasting beer. Filtering, Tasting, and Filling After the Beechwood Aging process, the beer is chilled, stabilized, and filtered. Following the chillproofing, the beer is stored in settling tanks at 32° for 2 days to complete settling. It is then given a final filtering. At each step in the process the beer is tasted by a brewmaster to ensure consistency and drinkability. After the final filtration, the beer is held in a filtered beer tank for a final quality control check and brewmaster tasting. It is then packaged. The packaging process begins with the bottle rinser. Here, bottles are rinsed inside and out, emerging clean and ready for the filler. The filler is a large, round, stainless steel machine where 1,100 bottles per minute are filled and instantly crowned to retain their natural carbonation. The bottles then pass by an electronic inspection device, which checks each bottle and rejects any that have not been filled properly or crowned correctly. The bottles go next to the pasteurizers. Adolphus Busch introduced pasteurization to Anheuser-Busch brewing in the 1870s, two decades before milk was pasteurized in this country. Pasteurization allows our packaged beer to be shipped and stored without refrigeration. It takes approximately 30 to 35 minutes for the bottles to pass through. After the bottles emerge from the pasteurizers, they continue to the labelers, where the distinctive Anheuser-Busch labels are applied. Draught beer is refrigerated at all times and does not have to be pasteurized. Our canning process follows similar steps. Note: Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation is the world's largest recycler of used aluminum cans, and Metal Container Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary) supplies us with more than 50% of our aluminum can and lid needs. Packaging and Shipping The finished beer is packaged into bottles, cans and draft kegs. Packaging lines are capable of filling up to 2.6 million 12 oz. cans or 1.4 million 12 oz. bottles per day. The draft beer line is capable of producing the equivalent of 2.3 million 12 oz. containers per day. Our packaging and shipping departments run to meet demand. During packaging, each container is date coded to ensure that only the freshest beer is available to you, the consumer. Each packaging line requires approximately 1/3 acre of warehouse space. The filled containers are put into cartons and conveyed to the warehouse where they are stacked on pallets for shipment. Beer is transported from one of our twelve regional breweries to an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler for distribution to local markets. |