The art of making beer is one of the oldest endeavors of man. Beer is made up of four basic ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops and Yeast.
The first step in brewing is to run the malt through a malt mill which crushes the grain. This exposes the inside of the barley kernel and partially removes the husk. The crushed grain is then transferred by a grain elevator to the grain hopper above the mash tun and mixed with hot water which produces “mash.” (The mash tun is a double-walled vessel crafted from copper.) After approximately an hour and a half, a sweet, clear liquid called “wort” is filtered out of the mash and transferred to the brewkettle. The wort in the kettle is then brought to a boil for 90 minutes at which time hops are added to provide bitterness and aroma. Other hops (finishing hops) are added later to give a fine aroma.
After boiling, the hot wort is then pumped through a heat exchanger to drop its temperature from 210° to 75°. While cooling, the wort is transferred to the fermenter. Yeast is then added to the fermentation tank and fermentation begins. After fermentation, the beer is cooled and transferred to holding tanks where it ages for 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the style of beer and the demand for that beer. Generally, the darker or more alcoholic the beer, the more complex it is and therefore requires more aging time.
Once the beer is aged properly, it is transferred to a serving tank in the walk-in cooler until it is ready to be served. At this point, a small amount of carbonation is added depending on the style of beer. After carbonation, the beer is sent to the tap and ready for serving. It is now at the height of its freshness and full of flavor.
Overall, the brewing process takes around 9 hours followed by a 6 or 7 day fermentation period for ales and finally a 1 to 3 week aging. The lighter beers, like our cream ale or honey wheat, take the least amount of time, while the stout and IPA take the longest.
