What is the first wort? What is the operation essentials of the lautering for the first wort?



There are mainly two stages for the lautering of the wort. In the first stage, the grain bed paly the role of filter layer and separate the wort from mash, the wort now called “the first wort”. In the second stage, the soluble extractum in spent grain will be washed out with hot water, the wort we get here is called “ the second wort.

The operation essentials of lautering for the first wort as below:

(1)Injecting hot water from the bottom of lauter tun and filled in the hot water between the filter plate and the bottom of lauter tun ( the hot water temperate 76~78℃). In other words, makeing the hot water just exceed the filter plage, then the air in the bottom space will be fully discharged.
(2)Pumping the mash into lauter tun, and stiring the mash evenly by rake.
(3)Let stand 15 minutes for the grain descend to the filter plage and form filtering layter.
(4)Now the lautering should be started. Alternating opened or closed the wort valve, discharging the muddy wort and pumping them back to the lauter tun and lautering again, this process will be circulated until the wort is clarify. The circulating backflow will need about 5~10min.
(5)Lautering after a while. The lautering layter will be compressed, the resistance increases and speed of flowing slow down. Now should close the filter cock and start the rake to loosen the grain bed slowly.
(6)Restart lautering. Pumping the cloudy wort back to the lauter tun until we got the clarify wort. The lautering should be stopped when the grain bed just emerged. Now the lautering of the first wort was finished.