Beer production
Brewing
Beer in the New Town brewery is brewed using Ziemann equipment. Only Czech raw materials are used in the brewing process, i.e. Czech malt and Zatec hops. Brewing is carried out using the traditional brewing method - brewhouse, fermenting room and lager cellar. The malt is first ground and then poured - mashed into cold water while being constantly mixed.
Mashing
The so-called mashing process then follows with a gradual increase in temperature up to the level of 75°C. At these temperatures with the help of alpha and beta amylase enzymes the starchy substances are transformed into sugary material - maltose and dextrin. The test of perfect saccharification is carried out by means of an iodine reaction. Iodine colours starch blue and sugar yellow. When ascertaining the level of saccharification, part of the mash is boiled for approximately 20 minutes and then pumped into the remainder of the work in a lautering vat where the temperature must not exceed 75 - 76°C as a higher temperature would disturb the activity of the enzymes, which would affect the taste of the beer. The whole mashing process lasts approximately three hours.
Lautering
The malt wort is then lautered, a process where the malt (grain) is separated from the wort
Wort boiling
The lautered wort is then pumped into a brewing kettle where it is brewed with hops, the so-called wort boiling process. The hops are added to the wort in three doses. The whole process takes 8 -10 hours.
Fermentation
After brewing the beer i.e. 15 hl of hot hopped wort, the wort is pumped via a through-flow cooler, which cools it to 6°C into fermenting vats in the fermenting cellar. Here, a special type of brewing yeast is added to the hopped wort. The fermentation process turns the sugary substances into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide is formed at the same time. During fermentation, the young beer in the vats heats up and for this reason, its temperature must be checked every day to make sure it does not exceed 12°C. At higher temperatures the yeast fungus degenerates, the taste of the beer is impaired and more of the carbon dioxide escapes into the air. For this reason, the fermenting vats have a double casing and can be cooled using refrigerated water if necessary. Before the racking process, i.e. pumping the beer into the cellar the young beer is cooled to 6°C. The yeast, which settled on the bottom of the vats, is carefully collected - only healthy yeast slurry can be reused. The yeast must be thoroughly rinsed with fresh water free from impurities. The yeast can be used a total of six times.
The beer lagering (maturation) process
The beer remains in storage tanks in the lager cellar for 4-6 weeks. Part of the yeast settles here and the beer becomes carbonated by means of natural processes. The beer is then pumped into dispensing vats ready for consumption.
The New Town 11° light and dark lager is unfiltered beer with an alcohol content of 4.0 - 4.3 %. The yeast contained in this beer is a source of vitamin B and other minerals.
Brewery
