TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION METHOD
The malt is made from malting barley. All our breweries have their own malt houses and produce their own malt. Malting barley, in addition to barley for the production of dark and semi-dark specialties, is purchased from nearby farmers.
The barley is soaked for 24 hours with utilization air breaks. Moisture content in soaked barley reaches around 45%. The soaked barley is soaked in threshing floor and germination takes place. Every 8 hours, the pile of malting barley is plowed trough to prevent the sprouts from growing, the temperature is regulated (up to 25 ° C) and the oxygen is supplied to the grain.
Germination lasts 4 to 5 days and breaks down the cell walls in the grain and activates technologically important enzymes. When the grain is properly germinated, this part of production ends. The pile is moved to the the kiln where drying takes place. The drying temperature ranges from 30 to 80 ° C. Applying the temperature, the grain produces melanoid substances, which give it a characteristic color and aroma. The kilning lasts twice 24 hours and the humidity drops to about 4% in dry malt. The last activity is removal of germ, where the roots are removed. The germinated malt remains lying for about 6 weeks.
Next step is the cooking of the yeast nutrient solution. The basic ingredients are malt, water and hops. The malt is first scrapped so that the petals of grain remains in large pieces. In the strainer, these grain portions are called draff and serve as a filtering layer. Boiling of wort is divided into 5 steps:
Soaking
The malt draff is mixed with 37 ° C water. At this temperature, the enzyme acydase acts to produce the right pH of the batch.
Steaming
Steaming is carried out with boiling water and the batch temperature is raised to 52 ° C (protein-cleavage temperature). At this temperature, proteases act to break down proteins.
Mashing
Mashing is the process by which starches are broken down into sugars with the aid of alpha and beta anylases. All of our lagers have a two-mash method. The first mashing, which is approximately 1/3 of the entire spread, is lowered into the mashing vessel, where the temperature is gradually raised to 63 ° C and 72 ° C, where starch breakdown occurs. After complete saccharification, the mash is boiled for 30 minutes and pumped back into the scrubbing vessel. The second mashing is made in a similar way. The final temperature of the mass after mashing is 72 ° C to 75 ° C. The whole mass is pumped into a separating tub, followed by rest (about 20 minutes) and the drainage itself.
Strained
At the beginning of the straining, the front part of the batch flows through, later the draff is malted with hot water, which together creates a wort. The draff is discarded and the drainage ends.
Chmeľovar (Wort Boiling)
The wort is mixed with hops in the wort vessel. Žatec hops are added to the wort boiling three times. The ratio of the quantity and type of hops to be added is different in each brewery. The first batch at the beginning, the second after approximately 20 to 30 minutes of brewing and the third 10 minutes before the end of the wort boiling. Each batch of hops has different proportions of bitter and aromatic substances, which is given to the beer, the first batch has the most bitter substances, the last one is „žatecký červeňák“, which contains the mostly aromatic and less bitter substances. The wort is sterilized by boiling, water is evaporated, some of the proteins that come from malt are precipitated and the wort's degree is determined. Next, the wort is pumped into a whirlpool tub, where the precipitated proteins are centrifuged as bitter sludge and cooled to a fermentation temperature of about 6-7 ° C. The chilled wort is pumped into open containers into fermentation vats.
Fermentation Vessel (open containers)
Brewer's yeast cultures are added to the cooled wort and the main fermentation begins. Yeast processes sugars and produces alcohol, carbon dioxide, trace elements and heat. The heat generated in process is controlled by cooling so that the fermentation temperature does not exceed 11 ° C. The main fermentation lasts 6-10 days (depending on which degree of beer we want to produced). During this time, yeast converts about ¾ of the sugar content. The rest of the leftovers (never quite everything) will be transformed in lager-cellars as it matures. Bottom fermentation yeasts are used and after washing in cold water they are able to perform this activity 5 to 8 times well. After the main fermentation, the “young beer“ is pumped into lager tanks in the cellars, where it is subsequently fermented and matured.
Lager Cellar
The young beer in the tanks continues to work, creating an overpressure in the first phase, which is controlled so that the value does not exceed 1atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide, which is produced under overpressure at low temperature, is bound in the beer to proteins, the beer is saturated and that is the basis of its foaming. The beer maturation period ranges from 1 month for draft beers up to 3 months for special craft beers. Properly aged beer is filtered and stabilized microbiologically. In the case of Ferdinand, Chodovar and Klášter, this is ensured only by microfiltration, which preserves the greatest amount of nutrients in beer, in the case of Herold the beer is stabilized by flow pasteurization, considerably more gentle than tunnel pasteurization. It is then filled into kegs, bottles and other packaging and the manufacturing process is complete.
There are many factors influencing beer production, although it is produced in a similar way, different water is used for production, which significantly contributes to the taste of the beer, the malt also has a different character in each area based on different groud in the locality and its preparation has slight variations, as well as individual differences in the production process, such as yeast culture, the proportion of the original wort extract in the batch, the exact times of the individual activities under well-defined environmental conditions, the ratio of bitter and aromatic hops, but this is, of course, a strictly kept secret of each brewmaster.
And now comparison with the production of concern beers. Any water can be used, because it is treated before use. In view of cost savings, malt replaced by maltose and hops by hop substitutes. The main fermentation and post-fermentation takes place in one CKT tank, at a temperature of 16 - 18 ° C, at which the yeasts, under the destructive pressure of the gigantic volume of the standing vessel, work like slaves and their products are of different proportions and quality corresponding to this rate. So called “beer“ is therefore made in a week (in better scenarion in two weeks), of course only high-degree beer and diluted by the HGB method (water-enriched CO2 siphon, which does not bind to the protein in the beer and therefore immediately leaks and does not create foam only if glued with Tetrahop) to the required degree and extracted under the name just required. Extracted beer is preserved by a tunnel pasteurization, which guarantees extra long date of consumption, but thewre is no life left in the beer whatsoever. The most important thing is not to produce beer that will taste great and support digestion, but which is neutral and do not offend people (mass production). The production price is minimal which creates a huge space for advertising and bribing pubs. We do not agree with this way of trade ! Frambor beer is top quality, tradition, inovation, bitter taste and time spent with families and friends! Frambor beer is different !