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90 % of beer is water and that water contains a variety of minerals and salts which influence its flavor , aroma , and appearance .
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doesn ’ t take much , a concentration of 1 to 4 % in water is all you need to get a pH of 10 to 13 . It will dissolve your skin , so don ’ t get it on you ! If you do you ’ ll need to neutralize it immediately with a mild acid like vinegar or , as it just so happens , beer ! With a pH around 4 to 5 and a lot of it around , it ’ s yet another way beer can save the day .
Caustic cleaning is then followed by acid cleaning , using a 1 % solution of phosphoric or nitric acid and water . Acid cleaning does two things , first , it neutralizes any caustic that ’ s been left behind into a harmless salt , and second , it dissolves any mineral soils that caustic doesn ’ t get . After this there ’ s a sanitizing round using , again , more water ! Much of the system can be sanitized by running hot water over 180 ° F through it for an adequate amount of time , but some equipment cannot take the heat and must be sanitized chemically . Peracetic acid is a common sanitizer used in breweries as it is very beer-friendly : it kills a broad spectrum of contaminants at low concentration , it doesn ’ t affect the head retention ( beer foam ) or cause oxidation , and it breaks down very quickly into harmless acetic acid which is the stuff that makes vinegar sour . When concentrated the stuff will burn you , so don ’ t get it on you . Beer won ’ t help you here , except later on when you share your story of pain with your fellow brewers while drinking one .
Deaerated water is another great tool to have in a tank . Used for preparing equipment like filters , centrifuges , and holding tanks . Deaerated water is water that has had a majority of gasses removed and then sanitized with UV light . This ensures that while using it you ’ re not adding any extra oxygen to the system and it will help remove oxygen from it as well . In a business where a 20 parts per billion difference in dissolved oxygen can double the shelf life , that ’ s money .
The water that doesn ’ t get to leave the brewery as beer has to leave by drain . Drainage in a brewery is essential to efficient production . Inadequate sewer access and drain capacity can slow production and invite contaminants . A brewery can turn into a swamp pretty quick . Most breweries will have trench drains that run the length of the building . Whenever a fermentation gets extra active , you can just hose the big yeast puddle to the drain . Brewers will often “ dry hop ” which involves dropping tens to hundreds of pounds of hops through a two to three inch hole on top of a fermenting beer . This can result in a geyser of beer that will require a total hose down . In the brewhouse the kettle can have a boil over and you have a literal hot mess that will turn into a sticky mess if not hosed down quickly enough . If a beer goes wrong and must be dumped , it too must go down the drain … along with some tears ( and dollars ).
It could be said that water is the most important ingredient in beer . At a time when water sanitation was questionable at best and deadly at worst , the act of brewing beer purified and sanitized water into something healthy for people to drink . Your favorite place to have a beer can also be considered your “ watering hole .” Next time you decide to wet your whistle with a pint of beer , remember the spirit of that beer is the water that it was made with . Five pints worth .
Chris Keller has worked in beer sales for a distributor , as a brewer for Saint Arnold Brewing Co . in Houston , and is the owner of Pint and Barrel Drafthouse in Palestine , Texas .
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