Mashing consists of adding malt to warm water, stirring
it, and raising the temperature gradually, according to
our own unique formula. As we do so, the grain's naturally-occurring
enzymes turn starches in the malt into both fermentable
and unfermentable sugars and break down the complex proteins
in the malt into smaller fractions. After about 2½
hours, we "mash off" (a brewer's term for raising
the temperature to about 170°F), which renders the
enzymes inactive.
