So, today I had my first micro-brew tour experience. With nothing to expect I can only say that Craig and Dan from Six Points when far above and beyond what I could have imagined. Being the same age as these guys it almost makes me feel like I've been wasting my life watching TV. These guys were a plethora of knowledge above beer and beer like things. Not in the sense of the idiotic college student who likes to get drunk on bud light. (notice the lower case letters) However, they were true artisans. These guys knew every aspect of their personal art and were obviously deeply passionate in learning what others around them were doing and how they can incorporate it into their own product. Craig was clearly on his way to being quite business savvy and Dan was an obvious beer connoisseur. Anyways, on to the good stuff!
The tour start up in the "greenhouse" with Craig. The large bags seen in the bottom left of the picture (above) were one of the various types of barley used in the process. While explaining the history of brewing, the company, and himself we were able to taste various types of barley, both raw and malted. Malt basically means that the barley has been allowed to germinate for a very short period of time. Generally the malted barley or "malt" is roasted or dried in various ways to produce many different flavor profiles. I equate this to coffee beens at different temperature roasts. We tasted six varietals ranging in flavor from a light cereal to a smokey burnt barley which I promptly cringed at and shouted that it tasted like cigarette water.There are many types of barley, many types of malting methods, many types of roasts, or raw, etc. etc. etc. The flavor combinations are seamingly endless.
After determining the combination of various types of barley for your desired flavor profile, the barley is dumped into this vessel. It is then combined with very hot water and stirred (see below picture for a full view) by hand. This process is continued for a predetermined length of time. I might add, each step in the process effects the final flavor. Everything from the type of ingredients to how long they sit at different stages changes how your beer will taste.
After this inital period it is piped into another tank where it is heated or boiled at which time the hops are added. At this point the mixture is called a wort. The wort is held at a temperature that will produce the desired flavor.
The wort goes through some slight processing to adjust temperature and it is now introduced to the yeast. In case you didn't know, yeast is a single celled organism whose sole purpose in life is to create alcohol. They literally eat sugar and crap CO2 and alcohol. They also are an integral part of the flavor of beer. The beer is than allowed to ferment before it is bottled or forced into a pressurized (or pressurised if your British) keg. Chloe and I were there for a little over three hours. These two artists went into great detail about the process and I only wish I could convey it all to you because it was incredibly interesting. I will leave you with this, if you ever have a chance to either track down the Six Point Brewery guys and ask for a tour, totally worth it, if you ever have a chance to take a tour at an artisinal brewery I'm sure it will be worth your while. Amazing experience.
Nothing like some beers to make you miss the ones you love :) Get home safe babe.
Please Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGpm2YKrdDA for a quick video clip about Six Point Craft Stein Beer - Dr. Klankenstein.
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