The Brewing Process
Ale is a natural drink made from hops, malt barley, yeast and water. From these simple raw materials, ale is brewed to many different recipes
Malting
Barley is steeped in water and encouraged to germinate. At this critical time it is heated (“kilned”) to prevent further growth, which also produces the malt flavours and colours. Barley malt is the main source of fermentable sugar in brewing
Milling
At GWB our malt is supplied pre milled by Muntons Malt based in Suffolk. Maris Otter malt is widely accepted as the best brewing malt in the world and is predominantly used in all GWB ales. Once milled it produces a fine mixture of flour and husks called grist.
Mashing
The grist is mixed with hot water (about 65°C) and left to stand for about 60 minutes. The enzymes in the malt break down the starch to release soluble sugars (glucose and maltose). At the end of mashing, the clear sugary solution (“wort”) is “run off” into an underback leaving the insoluble “spent grains” in the mash tun. The spent grains being collected by local farmers for animal feed.
Boiling
The sweet wort is pumped from the underback into the copper and boiled (for 30-90 minutes) with hops to release the hop bitterness and hoppy flavours. The bitter wort is then cooled and aerated to dissolve the oxygen that the yeast will need at the start of fermentation
Fermenting
Yeast strain and fermentation are as critical to brewing as grape variety is to wine. Yeast is added to the cooled wort in a fermenting vessel. It feeds off the sugars and nutrients extracted from the malt, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. When most of the sugars have been used up, the yeast becomes inactive and the fermentation is complete.
Conditioning
The final process takes place in the cask. The ale is “Racked” into casks with the addition of finings, which sink to the bottom along with any solids in the ale once the container is at rest. This results in a clear, bright “cask conditioned” ale. The secondary fermentation that takes place in the cask produces CO2, and this is what gives real ale its natural bubbles and fizz on the end of your tongue.
Ale is a natural drink made from hops, malt barley, yeast and water. From these simple raw materials, ale is brewed to many different recipes
Malting
Barley is steeped in water and encouraged to germinate. At this critical time it is heated (“kilned”) to prevent further growth, which also produces the malt flavours and colours. Barley malt is the main source of fermentable sugar in brewing
Milling
At GWB our malt is supplied pre milled by Muntons Malt based in Suffolk. Maris Otter malt is widely accepted as the best brewing malt in the world and is predominantly used in all GWB ales. Once milled it produces a fine mixture of flour and husks called grist.
Mashing
The grist is mixed with hot water (about 65°C) and left to stand for about 60 minutes. The enzymes in the malt break down the starch to release soluble sugars (glucose and maltose). At the end of mashing, the clear sugary solution (“wort”) is “run off” into an underback leaving the insoluble “spent grains” in the mash tun. The spent grains being collected by local farmers for animal feed.
Boiling
The sweet wort is pumped from the underback into the copper and boiled (for 30-90 minutes) with hops to release the hop bitterness and hoppy flavours. The bitter wort is then cooled and aerated to dissolve the oxygen that the yeast will need at the start of fermentation
Fermenting
Yeast strain and fermentation are as critical to brewing as grape variety is to wine. Yeast is added to the cooled wort in a fermenting vessel. It feeds off the sugars and nutrients extracted from the malt, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. When most of the sugars have been used up, the yeast becomes inactive and the fermentation is complete.
Conditioning
The final process takes place in the cask. The ale is “Racked” into casks with the addition of finings, which sink to the bottom along with any solids in the ale once the container is at rest. This results in a clear, bright “cask conditioned” ale. The secondary fermentation that takes place in the cask produces CO2, and this is what gives real ale its natural bubbles and fizz on the end of your tongue.