The Malt Room
Our malt is made from an out of date barley! Maris Otter reached
its peak about 25 years ago and has since been superseded by higher
yielding, easier to grow varieties. However nothing has ever matched
Maris Otter for the quality of the cask beer it produces. Farmers
who are expert in growing this variety are paid a premium by brewers
who have an eye for quality, and the grain is then expertly malted
by J P Simpson of Alnwick.
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 The
Mash
Science tells us how much liquor (water) to mix with a set quantity
of grist (milled malt) and at what specific temperature and for
how long. After this the smell, feel, texture, sound and the skill
of the brewer take over to provide the perfect conditions for extracting
all the goodness from the malt into the mashing liquor to make the
wort.
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 The
Hops
Good English hops make good English beer, but like all good English
chefs use a little soupcon of continental ingredients to enhance
flavour, our English brewer uses the lightest touch of German and
Czechoslovakian hops to enhance the flavours of our home grown products
when we boil the wort with the hops in the copper.
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 The
Fermenting Vessels
Our tenderly boiled, hopped wort is gently cooled on its way to
the scrupulously clean fermenting vessels where it is introduced
to the yeast. Our yeast has been with us since the brewery's inception
14 years ago having been "adopted" from the strain used
at Daniel Thwaites' at that time. One of the great tutors of brewing
is accorded to have said, "Nurture your yeast, feed it well
and treat it gently and it will produce that wonderful by-product
of its existence, perfect beer". We treat our yeast with the
greatest respect and lots of TLC; we hope its response is self-evident
in our beers!
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 Racking
into Cask
After 3 days fermenting and three days resting the beer is racked
into casks which have been scrupulously cleaned and sterilised.
Best quality piscine isinglass finings is added to clear the remaining
yeast and the full casks are put into store for about a week to
allow the beer to mature. After this (if we've resisted the temptation
to drink it ourselves!) it is despatched to the publican for you
to enjoy.
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| Best Respects and Good Health.
Mike and Arthur (The Hesket Brewers)
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