Beer: Quenches the Mind

A traveler’s list of plans around the world would not be complete without the brewery tours. It is not about going from one pub or club to another to taste the local beer. This is about traveling across states or countries where can get a glimpse of how beer is made. A brewery tour would enlighten the curious one on the actual beer making process. There’s usually a treat at the end that beer drinkers would certainly enjoy.

A tour of the brewery or the actual facility in which beer is made, gives the consumers a little background on the beer and how the brewery works in order to give such great end product. Most brewery tours would take about 20 minutes, others about an hour. This tour is frees in most breweries but there are some in the United States and other countries that charge a small fee (about $10). This gives people easy and affordable access to the facility as well as to the secrets of beer making. Generally, people go to such tours because of the free beer tasting session at the end.

As the guide would show one in such tour, the facility not only offers its finest beer at the end of the tour, but also a lot of information not usually found in papers, articles or internet researches. What do people really get out of such tours?

At the beginning of this great adventure a brewery owner or a guide would introduce the brewery to the crowd. This section includes the actually getting-to-know-our-brewery’s-history speech. They would talk about the rich culture in the facility and how their company affects the area and people around it.

The next part of the tour will take the guests to the step-by-step process of beer making. There are six sections. One section comprises the mashing process where malted grains are milled mixed with water to produce the extract called wort. Next process is the lautering or the separation of the extract from its grain with the use of the vessel called the lauter tun. The third section involves the boiling process to make the mixture bacteria–free and safe for consumption. In this process, big skillet-like kettles are used.

The fourth process is fermenting which is accomplished by mixing yeast with the wort and letting this mixture settle in the fermentation tanks of different sizes. Conditioning is the long process to further ferment the mixture. The last part would be the filtering process, which makes use of pre-made filters such as sheets or candles to provide the pure and clean end product that is beer. Last is the actual filling and packaging of the drink in different cans, kegs or bottles.

After the long process, the people get a chance to unwind with the free beer tasting of the best selling products offered by the brewery. Such end puts people to a great understanding and appreciation of beer and would not simply disregard it as a simple drink.