The Ingredients...
Malted Barley - the main ingredient of the brewing process. Barley
in its natural state is rock hard and contains 80 starch. By wetting the
barley kernels and allowing them to swell, they then begin to germinate
as if they were going to grow into mature plants. To make the starch reserve
available to the growing plants, at this point enzymes are developed which
begin to convert the starch to sugar.
Germination is then stopped by kilning - the process is known as
malting. The temperature of the kilning determines the type and flavour
of the resulting malt. When the malt (now coarsely ground for a quick
reaction) is mixed with water at approximately 65° C the enzymes react
rapidly and efficiently on the starch stores and convert them to sugar.
Hops - used to give the ale or lager both bitterness and aroma.
The bitterness is derived from the resins in the hop that differ from
one variety to another while the different hops also have different aroma
levels. The purpose of making beer with hops is that in conferring a bitterness
and dryness to the liquor the sweetness of the malt is balanced.
This happens at the stage when the beer is boiled in the kettle (or copper).
Hops added for a short period at the end of the boiling stage give the
distinctive aroma which all beers have, dependant on the type of hop used.
In some beer, additional hops are added after fermentation stage, giving
additional but different bitterness and aroma - known as dry hopping.
Yeast - not only converts the sugars in the liquid (called the Wort) into
alcohol but also contributes significantly to (he fruity aroma of most
beers. This is particularly noticeable in "Weisse" beers. The
conversion of the sugars to alcohol is called fermentation from the Latin
word "ferveo" meaning "boil" or "simmer".
The fermenting liquid is full of rising bubbles of C02 gas created in
the chemical reaction. We use top fermenting yeast which is the most traditional
method.Water - ultimately important and must be free of biological and
chemical contaminants. Our water is professionally analysed on a regular
basis to check its purity.
Finings - a natural additive to the beer which acts as a clearing
agent. By attaching itself to the suspended yeast it drops all precipitation
to the bottom of the fermenting tanks and thus gives beer its clarity.
However, there is still a considerable amount of minute sized yeast present
in the beer which continues to react very slowly. The beer is live as
evidenced by the slightly bubbly nature of the beer called the "bead".
Traditionally finings (or isinglass) have been made from the swim bladder
of the sturgeon but nowadays, with sturgeon an endangered species, the
swim bladder of the Threadfin is now commonly used. liquid, giving the
beer a clearer appearance.
Conditioning also gives the beer time to mature and develop a more rounded flavour. Trumpeter and Whooper are cask-conditioned, whilst Swan Blonde and Swan Weisse are tank-conditioned. The Black Swan Stout is conditioned in kegs.
