Brewing Process

From the Hop Cone to the Glass

Our beers are pure natural products. Only water, malt, and hops belong in the beer glass. And for this, the Bavarian Purity Law, the oldest still valid consumer protection law in the world, has ensured for over 500 years. Since 1906, the Purity Law, supplemented by the ingredient yeast, has applied throughout Germany.

It is a long journey before fresh Hofbräu beer sparkles in the glass. For the high quality of our beers, we pay attention to the best, controlled quality of regional suppliers already when purchasing our raw materials, or we rely on our own production.

Bierglas

Water

In beer brewing, water of excellent quality is the most important ingredient. For our beers, we exclusively use brewing water from our own 150-meter-deep well. This water originates from the Pleistocene era. It was left in the foothills of the Alps about 15,000 years ago when glaciers during the Ice Age extended as far north as Munich. It is untouched by humans and thus absolutely free from modern environmental influences.

Malt

Malt is the soul of beer. Malt is germinated grain that gives beer its body and fullness of flavor. At Hofbräu Munich, approximately 4,000 tons of malt are processed annually. We purchase light and dark barley malt, light and dark wheat malt, as well as caramel malt from eight different, mostly Bavarian, malt houses. Besides its impact on flavor, malt also significantly influences the color of the beer.

Hops

The "Green Gold" from the nearby Hallertau region gives our beers their characteristic aroma. During the harvest in late summer, the valuable cones are plucked from the hop vines and dried. They contain lupulin, yellow, sticky granules that contain the hop-typical bitter and aromatic substances. For our brews, we use the bitter hop variety "Herkules" as well as the aroma hops "Hallertauer Perle" and "Select," each in pellet form.

Yeast

The most industrious worker in the brewery is the yeast, a single-celled fungus that reproduces itself. It transforms the short-chain sugars dissolved from the malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process turns the wort into beer. At Hofbräu Munich, we ensure the consistently high quality of our two strains of bottom-fermenting and top-fermenting yeast with our own pure yeast cultivation facility. The modern bottom-fermenting beer yeast, used to brew about 80% of all lager beers worldwide, originated in the Munich Hofbräuhaus.

The Hofbräu Brewing Process:
11 Steps to Beer

Discover at the golden stations in our diagram how fine Hofbräu beer is made from the ingredients water, malt, hops, and yeast.

  • 1

    Wet mill

    In a wet mill, the malt grains are first soaked, crushed, mixed with water, and then pumped from below into the mash tun.
  • 2

    Mash tun

    This mash (a mixture of water and brewing malt) is gradually heated in the mash tun during the infusion process. During this process, the malt starch is broken down into fermentable sugars.
  • 3

    Mash kettle

    In the decoction process, partial mashes are taken from the mash tun and boiled in the mash kettle. During this, the starch components of the malt are physically broken down. After boiling, the partial mash is pumped back into the mash tun. This intermediate step not only enzymatically but also physically breaks down the malt components, resulting in a characteristic full-bodied flavor.
  • 4

    Lautering tun

    In the lautering tun, the husks of the barley grains (hulls) and other insoluble components are left behind, and the clarified wort is further processed.
  • 5

    Wort kettle

    After the addition of hops, the wort and hops are circulated through the external boiler in the wort kettle and boiled for about an hour. During this process, the bitterness and aromas of the hops are transferred to the wort, excess water is evaporated, and undesirable flavors are expelled. This process also sterilizes the wort, inactivates enzymes, and causes the proteins to coagulate (protein precipitation/coagulation).
  • 6

    Whirlpool

    The boiled wort is channeled into the whirlpool through a lateral inlet. The resulting rotational movement forms a compact cone of hot break in the center. This consists of the solid parts of the hops and precipitated protein. After about 30 minutes, the so-called knockout wort is drawn off towards the wort cooler. The hot break remains in the whirlpool.
  • 7

    Wort cooler

    Depending on the type of beer, the wort is then cooled to cellar temperature in the wort cooler.
  • 8

    Fermentation tank

    With the addition of yeast, the wort is transferred to the fermentation tank and the fermentation process begins. The fermentable sugars in the wort are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Bottom-fermenting yeast prefers temperatures between 7 and 9 degrees Celsius. After about six to seven days, the yeast settles at the bottom of the tank. Top-fermenting yeast ferments the wort in 4-5 days at 18 to 22 degrees Celsius and rises to the surface.
  • 9

    Storage tank

    After fermentation is complete, the yeast is removed from the tank. The so-called "young beer" is stored at 0 degrees Celsius in the storage tank for several weeks until it reaches full maturity.
  • 10

    Beer filter

    Using a beer filter, the bottom-fermented beer is filtered and prepared for bottling in pressure tanks.
  • 11

    Filling plant

    In the filling plant, the finished beer undergoes thorough quality control before being filled into kegs and bottles. Now our beer is ready for transport to be enjoyed in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and around the world!
1
Wet mill
In a wet mill, the malt grains are first soaked, crushed, mixed with water, and then pumped from below into the mash tun.
2
Mash tun
This mash (a mixture of water and brewing malt) is gradually heated in the mash tun during the infusion process. During this process, the malt starch is broken down into fermentable sugars.
3
Mash kettle
In the decoction process, partial mashes are taken from the mash tun and boiled in the mash kettle. During this, the starch components of the malt are physically broken down. After boiling, the partial mash is pumped back into the mash tun. This intermediate step not only enzymatically but also physically breaks down the malt components, resulting in a characteristic full-bodied flavor.
4
Lautering tun
In the lautering tun, the husks of the barley grains (hulls) and other insoluble components are left behind, and the clarified wort is further processed.
5
Wort kettle
After the addition of hops, the wort and hops are circulated through the external boiler in the wort kettle and boiled for about an hour. During this process, the bitterness and aromas of the hops are transferred to the wort, excess water is evaporated, and undesirable flavors are expelled. This process also sterilizes the wort, inactivates enzymes, and causes the proteins to coagulate (protein precipitation/coagulation).
6
Whirlpool
The boiled wort is channeled into the whirlpool through a lateral inlet. The resulting rotational movement forms a compact cone of hot break in the center. This consists of the solid parts of the hops and precipitated protein. After about 30 minutes, the so-called knockout wort is drawn off towards the wort cooler. The hot break remains in the whirlpool.
7
Wort cooler
Depending on the type of beer, the wort is then cooled to cellar temperature in the wort cooler.
8
Fermentation tank
With the addition of yeast, the wort is transferred to the fermentation tank and the fermentation process begins. The fermentable sugars in the wort are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Bottom-fermenting yeast prefers temperatures between 7 and 9 degrees Celsius. After about six to seven days, the yeast settles at the bottom of the tank. Top-fermenting yeast ferments the wort in 4-5 days at 18 to 22 degrees Celsius and rises to the surface.
9
Storage tank
After fermentation is complete, the yeast is removed from the tank. The so-called "young beer" is stored at 0 degrees Celsius in the storage tank for several weeks until it reaches full maturity.
10
Beer filter
Using a beer filter, the bottom-fermented beer is filtered and prepared for bottling in pressure tanks.
11
Filling plant
In the filling plant, the finished beer undergoes thorough quality control before being filled into kegs and bottles. Now our beer is ready for transport to be enjoyed in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and around the world!
Hofbraeu bottle cap
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