Varnish Summit 2016

1. Beer brewing
@
Varnish Software
Beer brewing
@
Varnish Software

2. Motivation
• Who doesn’t like beer? (Answer: about 15% or so)
• Cost are reasonable (~$1000 for basic equipment)
• Craft beer is very expensive in Norway
• People seem to think it is fun

3. What is beer?

4. CC-BY-SA 2.0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley#/media/File:Barley_(Hordeum_vulgare)_-_United_States_National_Arboretum_-_24_May_2009

5. BY-SA 2.0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Water_drop_impact_on_a_water-surface_-_(1).jpg

6. CC-BY-SA 2.5 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer#/media/File:Hopfendolde-mit-hopfengarten.jpg

7. CC BY-SA 3.0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker%27s_yeast#/media/File:20100911_232323_Yeast_Live.jpg

8. Short overview of
the brewing process

9. Step 0: Recipe formulation
• We started off with kits with
malt, hops and yeast
• The we modified the kits
• Then we made our own
recipes

10. Step 1 - Mashing
• Take crushed grains and
steep them in warm (~55-69°
C) water for an hour
• The warm water activates
enzymes in the grains
• The enzymes break down
starches to sugar
• The result is sweet wort

11. Step 2 - boiling
• We take the wort and boil it
• This will sanitize the beer
• Hops are added - these turn
bitter when boiled

12. Step 3 - cooling
• The wort needs to cool down
to around 8°-18° celsius
• This should happen quickly

13. Step 4 - fermentation
• Yeast is added to the wort
(pitching)
• wort —> beer
• The most critical step
• You make lager or ale - depends
on the yeast strain and the
fermentation temperature
• We use a slightly modified fridge
for temperature control
• Hops can be added - “dry
hopping”

14. Step 5 - bottling
• Beer is transferred to bottles
• Sugar is added to the beer
• The bottles are capped
• CO2 is caught inside the bottle
and carbonates the beer
• Beer is ready after ~two weeks

16. Step 6: Drinking beer
• At all company internal parties
we serve our own beer

17. Lessons learned

18. Eat while brewing
• Brewing takes quite a few
hours
• We order pizza :)

19. Move if necessary
• Make sure you can brew at
the office
• If not possible: Move to a
new place!

20. Lessons learned
• Success rate is 90% or so
• We’ve dumped one batch (50 liters) of beer - we have no idea what
went wrong - software is easier to deal with
• As we progress - beer quality seems stagnant
• Electricity is a risk factor - 32A @ 230V currents are not to be
frowned upon
• Building physical equipment is fun!
• Beer brewing is mostly about washing up
• Brewing on carpet is …. not that smart.
• All in all - it’s been a lot of fun

21. Q & A
https://www.varnish-software.com/about-us/beer-brewing