The Process...
The Mash tun - the first stage of the brewing process is called mashing. Here the ground malt is mixed with water at the proper temperature (approximately 65 C) and the enzymes convert all the starch to soluble sugars. The resultant liquor is called the 'wort'.
The underback - after mashing, the wort is strained through a filter at the bottom of the mash tun into the hop back where it is more finely filtered to ensure that no barley husks reach the next stage. During this stage of filtering the remaining spent grain is 'sparged' or sprinkled with hot water to wash off any residual sugars.
The copper - when the copper is full of wort, bittering or flavouring hops are added and the wort is then boiled for one hour. This sterilises the beer, extracts the hot flavours and boils off unwanted flavours. Aromatic, or finishing, hops are added at the end of the boil.
Fermentation - the wort is then cooled while being pumped to the fermentation tanks. At a temperature of between 20 & 22 C the liquor now has the yeast added to it. The yeast has already been pitched, or started (as in making bread) and with a day you should start to see the bubbles of carbon dioxide at the top of the liquid which is a bi-product of the conversion of sugars to alcohol.
Conditioning - the beer is then left to stand so that more yeast drops out of the 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.
