Ever wondered what goes into your
Little Big Dog beer?
Brew Day.
5-7 hours. Plus cleaning before and after.
This is where the starches in the malt grains are converted to sugars in the Mash Tun.
Wort is transferred from the Mash Tun to the Kettle for boiling – appx 60-75 minutes.
Hops are added here for bittering and for flavour.
Next stage is rapid chilling to the Fermentation Tank.
Fermentation.
7-10 days where the yeast is actively converting the sugars into alcohol and flavour compounds.
3-4 days more in the Fermentation Tank to chill and settle the yeast out of suspension.
Clarification & Carbonation.
Transfer to Brite Tanks for final settlement and carbonation.
2-3 days
Canning.
Every can is filled and sealed by hand.
Labels are applied by hand.
This is a labour intensive process.
We have begun filtering immediately prior to canning, to improve the shelf-life.
Kegs & Casks.
We supply in Kegs and Casks to trade outlets.
Kegs are 30 litre Stainless Steel reusable or 30 litre EcoKegs where the liner is one-trip but the outer is re-used. We do not filter or fine our kegs. Keg products will usually be vegan friendly except where we add lactose. Refer to the beer description for vegan friendly status.
Casks are 9 Gallon Stainless Steel reusable and will have Isinglass added as finings. Cask product will not be vegan friendly.
Quality Control.
Key checks are:
Density to monitor progress of fermentation and to establish the alcohol content.
Correct pH – essential for the mash enzymes to operate properly.
Temperature control in all phases to ensure the correct outcome and consistency.
Observation of the yeast health and numbers via microscopy to ensure problems are avoided.