Cicerone Certified Beer Server Practice Test

During which part of the brewing process would you expect to encounter the term "sparging"?

1. Before fermentation

2. During boiling

3. After mashing

4. In the fermentation stage

The correct answer is: After mashing

Sparging is a critical step in the brewing process that occurs after mashing. During mashing, the crushed malt is mixed with hot water, allowing enzymes to convert starches into sugars. Once this process is complete, sparging involves rinsing the solid grain bed with additional hot water to extract as much sugar as possible from the malt. This water washes down the sugars that were created during mashing into the collected wort, which will then be boiled and ultimately fermented into beer. This practice is essential as it maximizes the efficiency of the brewing process and ensures that the resulting wort contains the highest possible concentration of fermentable sugars. Without sparging, some of the sugars would remain trapped in the grain and not make it into the final product.