Changes

''Mashing'' is a step in the [[Processes|brewing process]] that combines crushed [[Malts]] with hot water in a [[Mash Tun|mash tun]] to convert complex starches into simple sugars that are more readily fermented. There are many variations of mashing, but the ''single infusion mash'' described below is easily done with home equipment, and suitable for most popular beer styles. During the [[Malting Process|malting process]] barley grains develop many enzymes that are needed for mashing. These enzymes, when heated with water in the ''mash'', react with the starches in the malt and produce ''maltose''. Maltose is a favorite food for yeast during fermentation. A related After the mashing process called ''lautering'' runs , hot water through the grain bed after the mash is used to extract the sugars and from the grain in a process called [[sparging]] to produce a sweet liquid called ''[[wort]]'' for brewing.

After the mash process is complete, the grains, water and sugar are still in suspension in the mash container, called the ''[[Mash Tun|mash tun]]''. The sugars are separated from the grains in a process called ''[[sparging]]'' (alternately called ''[[lautering]]''). The mash tun typically has a false bottom or screen at the bottom with a spigot that allows the brewer to draw run-off from the bottom of the grain bed. Hot water at approximately 178 F is slowly added to the top of the grain bed, run through the bed, and drawn off the bottom through the false bottom and out the spigot to the boiling vessel. This extracts sugars from the grains and produces produce [[wort|sweet liquid wort for boiling]]. The initial runnings (first few quarts) drawn during the sparge process are recirculated back through the grain bed, as the early runnings often contain grain husks, crushed material and other undesirable elements. After the initial runnings, the grain bed will act as a filter and reduce the cloudiness of the runnings. Sparging is best done slowly so that a maximum amount of sugar can be extracted from the spent grains. The sparged wort is transferred to a boiler where hops is added then [[Boiling|boiled]] and the mixture boiled before cooling for fermentation[[Fermentation|fermented]] to produce beer.