Speights.
History of local brewing.
Here in Dunedin there used to be several brewery’s, competing for the accolade of “the best”. None can beat the one we visited last night, the only surviving one of the lot - over 100 years down the road! The company had its share of struggles but as the ales they produced won prize after prize at exhibitions, sales increased assuring them of a future. In fact, by the 1890s Speights had become the largest brewery in New Zealand. They even invested in a merchant ship to carry their beer weekly, up to the North Island! During prohibition the competitors formed closer ties with one another, ten of them merging to survive this powerful movement.
We were shown a display about coopers, the slats for the barrels being formed entirely by hand, the broad sides curved to the concave/convex shape needed, the outer edges left rough so they swell and meld to form a watertight seal. The sizes of barrels ranged from a hogshead to a firkin. The coopers used to be given a firkin of beer a day as part of their pay. This, to us, seemed a lot – a firkin being 5 gallons, but to them wasn’t enough as many whittled the inside of their personal barrels down, so they could hold an additional gallon or two! And still they worked!
The malting-barley they use is grown on the Canterbury Plains and the hops come from Nelson. The water comes from a spring, which bubbles up below the building. The general public, by means of a single outside tap can access it for nothing. People will queue for as long as it takes, to fill their bottles and as we arrived and left, cars were still drawing up with cases of empty bottles to be refilled!
The whole brewery is gravity fed. All the raw ingredients are taken to the very top floor and sent down through the various processes by means of a network of huge funnels. The hops are used in a concentrated pellet form, meaning that the bulk of the huge traditional bales are no longer required. Inside the walls, they keep certain areas as they were at the time the brewery was started, including a small office, where the hub of the industry was carefully monitored. Founded by James Speight, Charles Greenslade and William Dawson, the brewery has occupied the same site since 1876.
Step 1. The malted barley is milled.
Step 2. The grist (crushed malt) is mixed with water, warmed and stirred, releasing the fermentable sugars known as maltose.
Step 3. The whole brew so far goes through the lauter, a filter that removes the wort (dissolved sugars) from the malt husks. All of these tanks and vats are copper – amazing to see!
Step 4. The wort, from the lauter is boiled in a huge kettle, to increase colour, flavour and to extract the bitter compounds from the hop pellets which are added now.
Step 5. Once it has boiled for the correct time, the wort is pumped into a “whirlpool” where unwanted protein flocs formed in the heating settle out.
Step 6. The hot wort moves from the whirlpool to the wort cooler, where it cools to between 10 and 15 Celsius, prior to moving to the fermentation stage.
Step 7. Yeast is added to the cooled wort in the fermenting vessel. Here they use enormous wooden drums called gyles, made from native timber called kauri, one of only two breweries in the world known to still use this method. The yeast starts fermenting, converting the dissolved sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Step 8. Cold storage, also known as lagering, allows the raw product to clarify and smooth out flavours.
Step 9. Finally the beer is sent through filtration where the green beer is clarifies prior to being put into tankers, kegs, cans or bottles. It is recommended that, if a pub sells the beer, it is all used within 48 hours, so the turnover is regular and the beer enjoyed at its most flavoursome and best!
Step 10. This is the part I enjoyed! Tasting all the 6 types of beer they make AND an ice cream made from one of the by-products, also produced locally. (Based on the malt, it has a clean but rounded taste and was so good, Jo went for a second tub!) The beers were very different in flavour and colour depending on the ratios of malt used. They were all fresh and tasted amazing, particularly since I am not a beer drinker. For me, it truly was an education and now I have tried this, I know what I like best!