Liquor
The 1000 gallon hot liquor (water) tank is preheated thermostatically and grain milled the day before brewing.

Mashing In
Grist (milled grain) and liquor are mixed together in the Mash Tun to form a mash bed which floats on the surface. The mash stands for one and a half to one and three quarter hours.

Wort production
The resulting liquid, called sweet wort, is then drained off from the bottom of the Mash Tun and fresh hot liquor (water) is sparged (sprayed) onto the surface of the mash bed to create a continuous process.


Copper boil
The sweet wort is then boiled in the coppers for up to two hours. At this stage the hops are charged (added) to impart characteristic aromas and bitterness. Three varieties of hops are used and recipes vary according to the beer being brewed.

Cooling
The copper break then occurs with the wort passing through the coolers prior to fermentation.

Fermentation
As soon as the worts arrive in the fermenting vessel, the ale yeast is pitched (added) to enable the fermentation to start. This takes between two and seven days according to the strength of the beer. During fermentation enough yeast is skimmed off for the next brew.

Conditioning
After fermentation, the beers are conditioned and matured in temperature controlled storage tanks to allow development of individual flavours and characteristics.

Racking
Barrels are racked (filled) direct from the conditioning tank prior to supply.