As soon as the wort is chilled, all equipment coming in contact with the product must be aseptically cleanable. Cooling the wort causes another, different fraction of the wort to precipitate. This is separated from the wort either before fermentation or before conditioning the beer. During this time the yeast uses up the available oxygen and increases in numbers by cell division. The yeast then begins fermentation where it metabolizes the available nutrient and chemically changes the wort into beer.
Fermentation can take up to several weeks depending on the style of beer to be produced.
The beer is chilled to near freezing and held there for several days to several weeks depending on the desired beer. Many chemical processes take place during this time which make a clean, good tasting, homogeneous beer. Extended conditioning time naturally clarifies the beer. The clarified beer is recovered into the brite beer tank from where it is pumped to a packaging line. Sterile filtration is one way to ensure microbiological stability.