The Brewing Process and Craft in Making a Great Pint

Head Brewer, John Bexon talks about the ingredients and processes from the Brewery at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

The art of brewing goes back many hundreds of years in Britain, yet the basic raw materials used to make our national drink haven't changed a bit.

Watch videos about the brewing process

As our Red Tractor accreditation certifies, we use English ingredients including locally sourced barley malted just two miles from the brewery; water from the chalk wells sunk deep beneath Bury St Edmunds; hops from Kent and Worcestershire; and yeast strains descended from those used by our founder in 1799.

John and Brewing and Distribution Director Steve Magnall looking at the barley crop	Malted barley The sunny climate and the fertile soils of Suffolk and the nearby East Anglian countryside produce the best malting barley in the world - and we take full advantage of having it right here on our doorstep. There are a huge range of malts, and these are responsible for some of the many flavours of different beers.
Water – pure, natural and essential for brewing	Water We draw our water from the artesian chalk wells sunk 200 feet deep below our brew house here in Bury St Edmunds. We are lucky to have our own supply of water, the same supply used for brewing by the monks of the town's great Abbey over 900 years ago.
Yeast – an amazing living organism	Yeast This marvellous form of life turns the sugars from the malted barley into alcohol and carbon dioxide. It also contributes to the character of the ale.
Hops – we use only the best hops from Kent and Worcestershire	Hops Hops work as an antiseptic and a preservative and provide much of the character of beer - all those fantastic bitter flavours and wonderful aromas.

Greencore Maltings, Bury St Edmunds	John explains the Brewing Process Once the barley is harvested, the grain is taken to a maltings for treatment. First it is soaked for around two days until it begins to germinate. Once shoots have begun to grow, the enzymes are best able to turn the starch in the grain into sugars. It is at this point that the maltster transfers the grains of barley to kilns (large ovens) for drying and heating. The process lasts for around two days. Pale malts are those that are dried in the kilns. Crystal malts have been roasted for longer or at a higher temperature and are golden-coloured and have a crispier texture and toasted biscuit-like flavour. Chocolate and black malts have spent even longer being cooked, have strong roasted aromas and are bitter to eat.
Different malts are used in different combinations for different beers	The choice of malts determines the colour and much of the flavour of the beer. If you want to produce a great ale, it is crucial to buy the best: I refuse to compromise on ingredients - it's just not worth it. I might sometimes seem to the farmers and maltsters to be over-demanding, but I can live with that because the most important thing is to get the same best quality ingredients whatever the harvest has been like. I need to be sure of producing consistent brews of Abbot Ale, Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen year after year as well as week after week, and it's the ingredients and the skills of my team that matter.
Mash Tun	In the final stage of preparation the malt is crushed to become 'grist', which is mixed with what we brewers call hot "liquor" (but which is in reality just hot water with natural salts! The resulting porridge-like 'mash' acts in a similar way to a bed of tea leaves. Hot 'liquor' is passed through the mash over a period of hours, dissolving the sugars in the grist and coming out as a hot, sweet liquid known as 'sweet wort'. It is this that will be turned into ale. It is these sugars that will be fermented into beer.
Our remaining mash, which is highly nutritious, is used as animal feed	The remaining mash is extremely nutritious as animal feed- and that's exactly what ours is used for.
Sweet wort is piped to a ‘copper’ – a vessel where the hops are added	Meanwhile, the sweet wort is piped to a 'copper', a vessel where the hops are added. They are boiled for around an hour to produce the marvellous bitter flavours and floral aromas that characterise real ale. We 'late hop' some of our beers for added aroma.
Fermenting vessels and a close up of the yeast in the vessels fermenting	Finally the now 'bitter wort' spends time in the fermenting vessels. It is here where the yeast is added once the wort has cooled, and does its magic, turning the sugars in the liquid into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide gives a slight sparkle - the famous "tingle on the tongue" for which cask ale is famous. It's totally different from the gassiness of a lager or smooth beer, where, in the absence of natural CO2, further CO2 and nitrogen has to be added to give the drink some life! We mature Abbot Ale in the fermenters for longer - providing a massive explosion of fruity flavours.
Casks being racked - kept cool throughout the process	At last, we have magnificent ale! We rack ours into the casks here at the brewery, making sure that it is kept cool throughout the process. It is not yet ready to drink, but it is ready to go to the pubs.
The pub cellar where the secondary fermentation takes place in the cask, where the beer becomes true “cask-conditioned” or “real” ale	It is now in the final stages of the brewing process - and it is the licensee who has now taken on the mantle of the brewer! It is he or she who will determine the quality of the pint you are about to drink! For it is in the pub cellar where the secondary fermentation takes place in the cask, where the beer becomes true 'cask-conditioned' or 'real' ale. There is still live yeast in the liquid, and, once the licensee has stillaged, tapped and vented the cask, the ale continues to condition and mature, to be polished and sparkled!
John raising a perfect pint	As a fresh, live product, it has a shelf life of only three days. It's natural and wholesome and marvellous and.. ...and I hope you need no further incentive to get down to the pub to greet your pint of real ale in the last stage of its triumphant journey. John Bexon Head Brewer