stick this in your mash tun

The Brewing Process

The malts used at the MBC come from France, Germany, and England. The hops come from Germany, England, and the USA, and the yeasts we use originate from Germany, Switzerland, Irland, and England.

All the malted barley, malted wheat, roasted malts, and speciality malts used in a recipe to create a beer are selected, milled, and prepared the day before brew day. Brew day commences by mixing the prepared grains with hot water in the mash tun, where malt enzymes convert grain starches into fermentable and unfermentable sugars. This step is called ‘the mash’.

Depending on the particular beer being made, the mashing process is completed in 1-2 hours. The darker sweetened water, now called ‘wort’, is then slowly transferred to the boiler. The mash is sprayed with hot water from the top, while the sweet wort is collected from the bottom.

A perforated false bottom in the mash tun retains the grains but allows the sweet wort to flow through a series of pipes and a pump to the boiler. The wort is collected until the desired quantity and sugar density is reached.

The wort is then boiled for 1 to 2 hours. During the boil, impurities are boiled off, proteins are separated and removed, the wort is sterilized, and the specific gravity is adjusted. Quantities of hops are also added at timed intervals during the boil to achieve desired hop bitterness, flavour, and aroma.

After the boil, the hopped wort is then pumped through a heat exchanger to a fermentation tank. During the transfer, oxygen and yeast are added. The hopped wort and yeast are then left in the temperature controlled tank to ferment and become beer. During fermentation, sugars are converted by the yeast into mainly alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Ales (top fermenting yeasts) generally take 3-6 days to ferment, and lagers (bottom fermenting yeasts) take 1-2 weeks. After the fermentation, all beers then need additional time for the yeast to settle out, and for the beer to develop flavour characteristics.

When the beer is ready to be served, the beer is then transferred to a temperature controlled serving tank. There, additional carbon dioxde (CO2) is added to adjust the carbonation level. All MBC beers are served fresh on tap, directly from one of our seven serving tanks.