Injection of steam into the mashing process as alternative method for the temperature control and low-cost of production

Steam may offer several advantages for commercial brewers as well. For thos e mashing in unheated tuns, direct steam injection might be a low-cost meth od of adding heating capability to the tuns for stepped mashes. This might be especially economical for those breweries that already use steam as a so urce of heat for the kettle. Furthermore, direct injection of steam offers certain advantages over steam jacketed tuns. The heat transfer rate will be higher, because of the absence of an intervening wall between the steam an d the mash. Also, because the steam is injected directly into the bulk of t he mash rather than at the periphery, the heat distribution will tend to be more even and require less stirring. This method was tested and the result s are reported in this paper. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.