All of Stoudt’s Flagship beers are brewed using just four ingredients, water, malt, hops and yeast. The Big beers are brewed with the same four ingredients as well as a small amount of dextrose to increase the amount of fermentable sugar without making the beers overly sweet with malt flavors.
WATER
Water is the single most important ingredient in any beer brewed throughout the world. Fortunately for us, Adamstown has soft and slightly acidic water that flows from a small aquifer on a rolling Pennsylvania hill behind the brewery. This type of water is extremely vital to traditional lager brewing. We remain cognizant of this valuable resource as well as our community, and continue to be proactive in protecting this resource.
MALTED BARLEY
This ingredient begins as the barley plant. After harvesting the barley, the kernels are delivered to a maltster for processing. This process begins by steeping the barley kernels in water to encourage germination. When germination has reached a desired point, the barley is then heated and dried to stop the germination process. It is then kilned or roasted at different temperatures and for different periods of time. These different malted barleys give the malted barley its color, and various flavors, which in turn lead to the different colors and complex malty flavors in all of our beers.
HOPS
These cone like flowers are a member of the cannabis family and grow in different regions throughout the world. The cone of the female hop plant contains resins that contribute to the aroma and bitterness of the beer. These flowers can be used in whole form or processed into a much more stable form, the hop pellet. In the brewing process, hops are added to both the kettle and whirlpool to impart bitterness, flavor, and aroma to the beer.
YEAST
This single cell microorganism has the job of actually making the beer by converting the sugars that the brewers produce to alcohol and CO2. For the most part we use 2 strains yeast, a lager and an ale, with exceptions of course for styles such as the Triple, and the Weizen, or any other fun beer that requires a different strain. These tiny organisms are propagated and maintained at the brewery with strict laboratory control.
BREWING PROCESS
BREWHOUSE
The brewing process begins by milling the malted barley that comes from our silo and 50 lb. bags. Milling is a process that cracks open the malted barley kernels creating what we call a grist. This grist is mixed with water in the mash mixer at different temperatures for different periods of time. By mixing the “malt” with water at these temperatures, the enzymes that are present in the “malt” from the malting process convert the starch of the grain into fermentable and non fermentable sugars, depending upon the temperatures.
When conversion is complete, the mash is transferred from the mash mixer to the lauter tun. The lauter tun is where we separate the sweet sugary liquid from the grain. This sweet liquid is known as wort, and it is transferred to the brew kettle by draining slowly from the bottom of the vessel, while rinsing with 170 degree water (sparging) until we have reached a desired volume with a desired amount of sugars present that we measure in degrees plato.
When the kettle has a desired amount of wort with the desired degrees plato, we begin to boil it. During the boil, a few things happen; carmelization of the sugars, coagulation of proteins, and the addition of hops. The earlier hops are added in the boil. It leaves more bitterness in the beer, because the softer aromatic resins of the hops are driven away, while the harder alpha acids are isomerized, becoming soluble in the wort. Then they are carried over as the primary bittering ingredient in the finished product.
When the boil is finished, the hopped wort is transferred to the whirlpool where more hops are added, contributing aroma and flavor to the finished product. When the transfer is complete, it is allowed to settle so the hops and kettle trub can form a compact pile on the bottom of the vessel, leaving clarified, sweet, hopped wort. This nutrient rich environment is just what the yeast needs to make beer.
FERMENTATION
This is where the yeast consumes all of the fermentable sugars, using them as an energy source to reproduce. They leave behind alcohol and CO2. At the end of fermentation the yeast clump together in a process known as flocculation, and they settle to the bottom of the tank. It is then harvested and re-pitched into the next batch of beer.
FILTRATION
After the beer has gone through its primary fermentation, and secondary fermentation or conditioning stage (aging), it is then ready for filtration. Filtering the beer removes any solids, yeast and sediment from the beer. The beer is then referred to as "bright" beer.
PACKAGING
"Bright" beer is ready for bottles or to be racked into kegs. Our bottling and kegging lines feature state of the art double pre-evacuation systems to all but eliminate dreaded oxygen from our bottles and kegs, and ensure quality product going to our consumers. Prior to bottling and kegging the beers carbonation is checked and carefully adjusted to produce a consistent product.
