Generik's Tap: Virtual BreweryTour

Virtual Brewery Tour: Great Lakes Brewing

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:56:17 GMT

One of the last things we did on our way back from New Jersey was spend a night in Cleveland, OH and while there, tour Great Lakes Brewing. I really think I would trade every brewery in the metro Indy area if we could get Great Lakes moved in downtown. Amazing food at the brewpub and great beer available not only there, but bottled as well. That is not at all trying to take anything away from our local breweries. I just find myself disappointed that a city the size of Indianapolis does not have a large scale brewery that is nationally known and respected. One that gives tours. I know.. the grass is always greener and all that.. but let's take the virtual tour and see what you think.

So to start off, we ran into problems parking and then had trouble figuring out where we were supposed to go to get the tour. We literally ran into the tour group in the parking lot and were graciously allowed to join at that point. The first thing we checked out was the brewing area. Now if you have taken the Virtual Tour of Yuengling, you will notice a pretty big difference in the brewing areas. Where Yuengling was somewhat chaotic and old looking, this is pristinely clean and absolutely clutter-free. They were done brewing and we were able to look into all of the vats. So the first couple pictures are the vats where the grains are soaked in hot water to leach out flavor, color, and most importantly, sugars for fermentation. The third picture is of the brew kettle where, as you might guess, the beer is boiled and hops are added for bitterness and more flavoring. The thing in the middle of that kettle is where steam is pumped through to generate the heat required for the boil. The fourth photo is where the beer is cooled and separated from hops and grain sediment using a whirlpool technique. Then the beer filters through the bottom leaving behind much of the sediment. And lastly is a few shots of the actual brewing area.

From the brewing area we went into the sampling room. The sampling room also doubles as a guest hall and can be rented out for parties, wedding receptions, etc. With a full bar that can be stocked with any Great Lakes beer of your choosing, I think realized I probably got married in the wrong state.. (Just kidding honey) After some sampling we walked downstairs to the tank farm where the beer is fermented. The interesting thing to note here was the fact that Great Lakes beer is only fermented between 7-10 days total. Any homebrewers out there like myself may be wondering how they do that. I guess that's why they are in business and we brew at home though.

After the tank farm, we were taken to the bottling area. Again, if you compare this to the Yuengling tour, you will see some dramatic differences. For one thing, this was much much smaller in scale and the amount of product going buy as we watched was drastically less then Yuengling. The other interesting thing to me is that while the brewing area of Great Lakes seemed much more modern then Yuenglings, the reverse seemed to be true when comparing the bottling lines. Great Lakes seemed to be somewhat cobbled together. Also we weren't allowed to get very close to anything in the bottling area whereas at Yuengling we could literally have grabbed bottles off the line as they passed.

After leaving the bottling area, the tour was concluded and we walked across the street to the brewpub to do some more sampling on our own as well as eat. I have to say right now I had quite possibly the best burger I have ever eaten that night. Called the Olde World Burger is I recall correctly, it was served on a pretzel bun (Made with their own spent grains from the brewing process) with Amish smoked cheese and onion straws. Unbelievably tasty and filling. Also had some really awesome beers including a Belgian style wit bier flavored with lemongrass and ginger that screamed to be drank all summer long on hot days.

So maybe I exaggerate that I would trade all the Indy breweries for Great Lakes, but I think all beer fans can agree, it would make one helluva an addition to the city. Maybe down on the canal?

Virtual Brewery Tour: D.G. Yuengling Brewery

Tue, 06 May 2008 01:20:11 GMT

My birthday this year was spent mainly in the car driving from New Jersey into Pennsylvania. But we did make a number of very fun stops along the way starting with the 10AM tour of the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA. I am not going to post all of the pictures here or this post is going to be 20 pages long, so feel free to go find the photo album above named Yuengling Brewery Tour to get the complete experience.

Yuengling is the oldest brewery in America, founded in 1829. It is also the 6th largest brewery by volume in America as of 2007. Walking into this brewery really gives you a sense of how things used to be done compared to some of the other tours I have taken. It's kind of tough to explain, but this tour made you almost feel a part of the brewery. For one thing, you walk in and you are basically walking past the underside of the brewing equipment just to get to the gift shop area and the start of the tour. The first thing to greet you is this pretty awesome plaque, which right behind is where all the spent grains go that local farmers come to pick up for feed:

We started out in the sampling room and received a history lesson regarding the founding of the brewery and a quick guide to what beers they make including what grains and hops to expect in each variety. Unlike the majority of the breweries that are larger then them, they do not use adjuncts in the recipes for their beer. Which goes a long way to explaining why a Yuengling Lager looks and especially tastes so much better then anything coming out of BudMilCoors. There are those that think the German Purity Law is a bad thing.. but rice and corn really don't do alot of good for beer.. I'm just saying.

Back on tour, we left the sampling room and were taken up to the main brewing area. As we were looking around the brew kettle and mash tun area, they were brewing a batch of Yuengling Premium. We were allowed to literally look into the brew kettle as a fresh batch was boiling away. At one point it got pretty vigorous and the brewer kind of backed the tour away from the open hatch in the kettle to make sure nobody got burned. Unfortunately there is so much steam that you can't really tell from the photo below, but the beer is literally boiling about 3 feet or less from that hatch opening.

After leaving the brewing area we were taken to the bottling line. I have always found the bottling line to be an amazing thing to watch as it is mind boggling to believe it can all run so smoothly. But there in front of us, literally within reach of where we were standing, is thousands of bottles of Yuengling Lager streaming past. It was around this time that the 'thirst' really started hitting. This was finished product racing by and dropping into case boxes and getting ready for delivery.

After the bottling line, we were taken down into the Yuengling caves and shown the original location where the beer was stored and allowed to age. The caves were all man-made by local coal miners. Actually dug by hand over a hundred years ago. The other fascinating tidbit, the caves were required to be sealed by brick during Prohibition to ensure that no beer was being produced at that time. The pictures I took of the caves themselves really didn't come out too well, but they are pretty awesome.

More impressive though, was the stories of the kegging line that used to be run down there. At the time they were actually filling full barrel kegs, which weighed something along the lines of 220 pounds when full of beer. The process was explained that one guy would take an empty barrel and lower a filling arm into it, which would fill the keg. When the keg was full, the arm was removed, beer immediately started shooting out and that same guy had to ram a bung into the hole and with his other hand, hammer it into place. Then he kicked the keg forward to another guy who hoisted the now full keg onto a rack for storage. Remember when I mentioned the kegs weighed over 220 lbs? These guys worked 10 hours shifts and just rotated positions off and on throughout the day. Amazing! Down below you will see the old keg line, a normal sized keg is the one in the middle, the larger 220+ lb monster is on the right. Basically 30ish gallons. They do not use that style of keg any longer and use the industry standard Sanke kegs nowadays.

Well after all that, we were finally taken back to the sampling room where the tour started and mercifully given samples of fresh Yuengling beer to try. I had the Premium and the Black and Tan, while my wife tried the Lager and the Porter. All excellent beers which I fervently hope will someday be available in Indiana.

By the way, if you do make the trek to Pottsville and take the tour, I feel I should give a couple pieces of advice. One, sample the Premium while there as it doesn't travel very far from the brewery and is really an exceptional 'lighter' beer. Two, put at least two hours of time in the parking meter or you will get a parking ticket like me...