THE BREWERS STORY The Mash Mashing is the method of turning starch locked in the malted barley into

fermentable sugars. It is done by mixing the crushed malted grains (grist) with water (liquor) at a precise temperature, this temperature has to be correct to enable the correct level of conversion to take place. Once the mixing is complete it is left to stand in the mash tun for one and a half hours. It is during this stand that the starch to sugar conversion takes place. After this time the liquor, now full of fermentable sugars and called wort (pronounced wurt), is very slowy run into the copper, via a vessel call the underback. As the mash tun gradually drains, the grains are gently sprayed from above to make sure all the sugars are rinsed from them. This is called sparging - so if you hear brewers talking about sparging their worts, its part of their job and not a medical condition!. The Boil As the copper fills, this takes upto 2 hours, the wort is slowly brought to the boil. As it reaches boiling point, the first addition of bittering hops go in. Different varieties of hops are used (whole hop cones) for each type of beer, to create a wide range of flavours and bittering levels. It is during this boil time. lasting one and a quarter hours, that the hop resins and oils are infused by the wort. A second quantity of hops are added 30 minutes into the boil, with a quantity added just before the end of boil, these are the essential aroma hops. The heaters are switched off and the sterile wort is then, after an infusion time of 20 minutes, transferred to the fermenting vessel, During its journey to the fermenting vessel the wort passes throughout a heat exchanger which drastically cools the wort from boiling point to a temperature that the yeast will be able to work in (20 degrees c). The proportion of fermentable solids to water is measured (original gravity) and recorded for excise purposes. The yeast is added and the next stage is ready to take place. Fermentation Fermentation begins now when the yeast is pitched into the cooled wort. Brown Cow's yeast strain is carefully looked after as it plays an important part in giving the beers their individuality, yeast easily sulks and goes on strike if it doesn't get what it wants!. The yeast starts to work converting the fermentable sugars into alcohol. For the next three to four days the fermentation continues, the brewer controls the timing and temperature carefully as this pays a critical part in the nature of the final product, until the fermentation is judged complete. The yeast head is skimmed and stored for the next brew. The beer is now chilled to 9 degrees c to condition for a further 3 days. The final gravity is measured and the ABV (alcohol by volume) calculated. Racking and Conditioning The Beer is now run (racked) into nine or eighteen gallon sterile casks, sealed and placed in the brewery's cold room at 10 degrees for a minimum of one week. During this time the beer undergoes essential secondary fermentation to enable the full flavour of the beer to develop. It is now ready for delivery to the pub, the brewers job is done and cellarmanship takes over in the chain of events. The above process, from mashing-in the malted barley to delivery to the pub, takes a minimum of two weeks.