The Grain
Room
Pale Malt, the main ingredient
in ales, is stored here along with the specialty malts that give
beers their distinctive colors and flavors. Our large Grain
Silo allows us to purchase and store a large quantity of
Pale Malt. The machine with the tube coming out
of it (the Auger) mills the grain and transports
it into the main room of the brewery where it is placed inside the
Lauter Tun.
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Glycol
Chiller and Hot Liquor Back
The Liquor
Back (center) provides hot water for the mashing and lautering
processes. The Boiler (right) ensures that we always
have a ample supply of hot water. The Glycol Chiller
(left) is used to cool the beer once the fermentation process is
complete.
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Lauter Tun
This is the vessel that stores the "Mash".
Mashing is the process of converting grain starches
to fermentable sugars by carefully sustaining a water and grain
"soup" at temperatures ranging from 140-160 degrees Fahrenheit
for one and a half hours. After the mash rest, Lautering
begins, separating the grains from the sweet Wort
by a natural straining process.
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Brew Kettle
The Wort, Lautered from the grains,
is boiled in this vessel. During the boil the hops
are added and the all-important protein break occurs.
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7-Barrel
Fermenters
The Wort is quickly
cooled by using a Heat Exchanger and put into the
Fermenter, at which time the Yeast
is added. The Yeast converts the sugars produced
in the Mash into alcohol and CO2, therefore
creating beer! When the Yeast has done its job
the Glycol Chiller is used to cool the beer to
40 degrees or cooler. We have 4 of the 7-Barrel Fermenters.
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14-Barrel
Fermenter
This one works just like the 7-Barrel
Fermenters but with twice the capacity. It allows us to
brew a larger batch in order to keep up with the demand for our
more popular ales. Like almost all of our brewing equipment, it
was supplied by Cross Brewing Equipment, Inc. of Springville,
California, USA.
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Conditioning/Serving
Tanks
Once the beer has been chilled
in the Fermenter for 24 or more hours it is transferred
to the Conditioning/Serving Tanks. The beer is
carbonated and aged here for 14 days before it is served. We have
10 tanks that hold 7 barrels and one that holds 14 barrels of beer.
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Keg Washer
We originally purchased a commercial Keg
Washer, but when it failed to perform to our satisfaction,
we returned it and built this one ourselves. Most of our beer is
sold at the bar, but we do sell a small quantity of kegs to our
customers. We also use kegs for ageing our Cask-Conditioned
ales.
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Serving
up a pint
Our tap lines run under the floor directly
from the Conditioning/Serving Tanks to the taps
at the bar where the beer is finally poured with loving hands into
a HUGE 20 Ounce Pint with just the right amount
of head. Cheers!
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