Method of fermenting wort

Abstract

The present invention relates to a continuous method of fermenting wort, said method comprising: -fermenting wort with a biologically active yeast to produce an alcohol containing fermented liquid; -introducing the fermented liquid containing at least 10 g/l of biologically active yeast into a maturation vessel; -separately removing yeast containing sediment and supernatant liquid from the vessel; and -optionally recirculating at least a part of the yeast containing sediment to the wort fermentation; wherein the residence time of the fermented liquid in the maturation vessel exceeds 6 hours. The present method offers the advantage that it combines maturation and yeast separation into one processing step, whereas conventional continuous processes require at least two separate processing steps, one for yeast separation and one for maturation. Secondly, the present method is very robust as the relatively high residence time that is needed for maturation ensures that effective sedimentation is achieved under virtually all conditions.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.