Our Beer

The process of readying barley to be used in brewing.

• Barley cannot be used to create the wort in its normal state, because the starch in its floury kernel is insoluble.
• In preparation the grain is steeped in water, then spread out on racks until rootlets appear.
• The germination process produces enzymes which break down the starch.
• Once the plumule below the husk grows to three quarters the length of the grain, germination is halted by drying the green malt on metal racks in the kiln house.
• The temperature is then raised for a light malt or raised even higher for a dark malt. The malt shoots are removed for cattle feed, and the dried malt is stored in silos.
• Although malted barley is the primary ingredient, unmalted corn, rice or wheat are sometimes added, to produce different beer flavors.

Brewing is the process of turning the finely ground malt, the grist, into a sweetened liquid, the wort.

• The grist is mixed with warm water then gradually heated to around 75° C in large mash tuns to dissolve the starch and transform it into sugar mainly maltose.
• The spent grains are filtered out and the wort is then ready for boiling.
• Hops are added at this point to give a special bitter taste and aroma to the beer, and aid in preservation.
• The wort is boiled for one to two hours to sterilize and concentrate it, and extract the necessary essence from the hops.
• Cooling then follows, using a heat exchanger.
• The hopped wort is saturated with air which essential for the growth of the yeast in the next stage.

Yeast is a microorganism that turns the sugar in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

• This process of fermentation takes ten days until the wort finally becomes beer.
• Each brewery has its own strains of yeast, and it is these that largely determine the character of the beer.
• In some yeast varieties, the cells rise to the top at the end of fermentation, and are then skimmed off.
• This process is called top fermentation, & ales are brewed in this way.
• When at the end of fermentation the yeast cells sink to the bottom, the process is known as bottom fermentation, used for lager or pils.
• Some special Belgian beers, called lambic or gueuze, use a third method where fermentation relies on spontaneous action by airborne yeasts typical of the Zenne valley near Brussels.

At this stage the beer has now been brewed, but it can still be improved through maturation.

• The taste ripens. The liquid clarifies as yeast & other particles settles.
• Secondary fermentation saturates the beer with carbon dioxide.
• Further filtering gives the beer a sparkling clarity.
• Then the beer is ready for packaging in kegs, cans or bottles.
• Filling techniques ensure air does not come into contact with the beer, & cannot be trapped within the container.