1. Malt is germinated barley dried in a kiln. It gives color and flavor to beer. Malted barley is milled to a course flour called 'grist'.
	2. The traditional circular mash tuns made from copper, brass, gun metal and wood are fed with the grist and mixed with hot liquor (the brewer’s term for water). This process is called mashing. The sweet liquid that forms is called wort and this is separated from the spent grains.
3. The wort is then transferred into large cylindrical vessels called coppers, and hops are added before boiling to add bitterness and aroma to the beer. Each different beer has its own special recipe of ingredients. The wort is boiled until the full flavour of the hops has been released.
	4. After cooling, the wort is pumped into fermentation vessels - square shaped for cask-conditioned ales and cylindrical with a conical base for lagers.
5. Yeast is then added and fermentation begins. The yeast begins to multiply rapidly as it feeds on the sweet wort, converting the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
	6. When fermentation is complete the yeast is drawn off for re-use and the beer is allowed to mature in maturation vessels. The beer is chilled and stored to allow a more rounded flavour to develop.
7. Our ale brands are live products and are racked into casks, where secondary fermentation takes place, in time to deliver you a perfect pint.

The 'Brewing Liquor' used at the Brewery is pure spring water, filtered naturally through the chalk down lands of Dorset and drawn from a 50m well. This crystal clear, sweet tasting water is ideal for the brewing of ales.
The delicate balance of bitterness and sweetness so characteristic of our ales is derived from a blend of English aromatic and bitter hops - we normally use the varieties North down and Challenger. These varieties, rich in hop oils, impart a unique identity to our ales
The best barley provides the finest malt - the major raw material in brewing - and our barley comes from the chalk down lands that can filter the spring water. We have always selected only malt from the finest maltsters to secure the quality we require for our range of ales.
All breweries are fiercely protective of their yeast strains - their longevity provides continuity to the character of each ale. The current Brewery yeast was changed in 1934; it has been pitched from brew to brew for well over 60 years. The unique character of our ales is primarily due to this distinct ale yeast.