The brewing process begins when the malted barley grains are cracked in the malt mill and then mixed with hot water in the mash tun. As hot water rinses the milled grains, the enzymes naturally present in the barley malt help convert the starches to sugars. Theses sugars are later fermented, creating alcohol and carbon dioxide. The mixture of grains, starches, sugars, and water is called the "sweet wort". This mixture is then drained and transferred into the brew kettle.