The Business of Brewing

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 951, 19 April 1930, Page 6

The Business of Brewing

This is the eleventh of a series of informative articles that are being published in THE SUN iceekly throughout 1930, describing many of New Zealand's most important industries.

INTERESTING TRIP THROUGH WELLKNOWN AUCKLAND BREWERY

A BUSINESS which employs so many men and which uses so much of the agricultural products of New Zealand as the brewery business is surely important enough to be included in The Sun’s feature of describing important industries. A tour through the “Lion” Brewery in Khyber Pass Road provides a fascinating example of the immense development of technique and equipment necessary to turn products such as barley and hops into beer, which is the equal of any made in the world.

Before commencing an inspection of the brewery it may be stated that the manufacture of beer is divided into seven processes, as follows: Malting, grinding, mashing, boiling, cooling, fermenting and cleansing. The first process is the conversion of the best New Zealand-brown barley into malt, which is carried out ir. “malt houses.” It may be explained that the barley is steeped in water, then spread on the floors and allowed to germinate, after which it is removed to a kiln, where the germination is stopped by the gradual and increasing application of heat, until the malt is dry. It will be readily understood that

the varieties of beer will be influenced by the quality of the materials used, and that skill and care are demanded of the brewer in selecting and blending barleys that will give the best results. Equal efficiency is necessary in regard to hops, and considerable experience is required before judgment can be formed on these matters. On the way to the mills to witness the grinding or crushing of the malt, which is the next process in brewing, the visitor is shown the huge storerooms for hops and barley, cool, fresh-smelling compartments full of sacks recently arrived from the farms. The visitor is speedily impressed by the measures adopted to secure the purity of the beverage. The malt is crushed in the mill into what is known as “grist” in order to make it amenable to the action

of hot water iu the mash tun. The malt is cleaned and winnowed to remove every grain of dust. The mashing is a highly important operation. It takes place in a large vessel, and, mixed with hot water, the grist undergoes a revolutionary change, the malt sugars are dissolved, resulting in a sweet liquor, known as “wort. - ” In this process of conversion temperatures have to be Sarefully studied, according to the quality and condition of the malt, and the variety of beer required. The masll stands for a while, when the extract termed “wort” is allowed to run off. The grains remain in the tun and are widely known as a food

for cattle for dairy farmers, and in turn produces the highest gjfcde of cream. - The wort from the mash tun is rua into a monster copper, where the next brewing process, that of boiling, takes place. The coppers are of different sizes, one of those at the Eion Brewery hai ing a capacity of 160 hogsheads (each hogshead is about 54 gallons). It is at this stage, when the wort is boiling, that the hops are added. They have a purifying influence and also give flavour and aroma to the finished beer. *k,. blending of different kinds of hops *o secure the right flavour, also demands the highest skill. The boiling process having - been completed, the wort has next to be cooled and therefore passes over relniterators, consisting of a series of copper tubes through which run cold

water, while the hot liquor circulates outside. As the Auckland water supply is too warm to cool the wort sufficiently, a huge ice-making plant is employed which cools the water to an exceptionally low temperature before passing through the coolers. The next process, that of fermentation, is the most important and critical operation in the whole scheme of brewing. The huge fermenting rooms, one of which is illustrated on this page, are a particular source of interest. to visitors. The controlling of the fermentation requires special skill and constant attention, and temperatures, especially at the initial stage, have to be studied in relation to the variety of beer required. The wort is run from the refrigerators in great copper pipes and collected in huge vats. The yeast is added to start fermentation, and in a few hours a brownish cream rises to the surface and is skimmed off. Covers are placed over the vats to collect and lead away the CO2 gas which is used for carbonating. On the completion of the fermentation the beer is lowered fr*m the gyles to the cellar, where it is “cleansed” ready for consumption. This takes the visitor to- the brewery cellars —long, electrically-lit rooms where rows of casks stand for days quietly "cleansing” or working out the yeast, After this the beverage is ready. There are numbers of other departments not yet visited-—the cooperage the up-to-date and efficient bottling department, the testing laboratory and so on. Practically every product used in the hrew r ery business comes from within New Zealand, thus providing ■work for farmers and others as well as the employees at the brewery.