QUALITY is our priority!
No doubt you have heard about the Bavarian law “On the cleanliness of beer” of 1516 (Das Reinheitsgebot) which already 5 centuries ago regulated the use of ingredients in “real” honest beer. Thus, in the production of beer only hops, barley malt and water should be used. Unfortunately, many brewing companies today for various reasons refuse to follow this unwritten law and violate the traditional technology of beer production.
JSC "BRYANSKPIVO"» respects its consumers and our specialists even today, in the 21st century continue to really brew beer observing the classical brewing technology of natural fermentation and without adding any preservatives, special additives or taste improvers as different from other beer brewing companies.
Beer produced at JSC "BRYANSKPIVO" is high-quality lager beer!
Lager beers are produced using bottom fermentation with a bottom fermenting lager yeast, at lower temperatures (from +9 to +14°C) when the yeast settles to the bottom of the fermenter. This method of fermentation is used to make lagers (“Lager” - from the German word “basement”, “place where it is cold”).
Maturation of young beer takes place in maturation lager tanks in cold cellars at a temperature of + 2°C for 30 days or more.
Brewed from traditional high-quality light malt using Czech and German hops, the beer has rich flavor balanced with low, but perceptible, hop bitterness and a refreshing aftertaste.
In addition to excellent taste, lager beer has two more remarkable qualities: it can be transported without any problems and has the longest shelf-life!
To highlight beers’ taste and make flavor specific we have developed beers based on classic, Soviet recipes (according to GOST), taking into account current trends. For example, to make the beer “Biker” have pronounced, full and specific flavor we used corn grits. To make the Belgian Alter beer amber in color we used caramel malt. To make “Rye CRAFT BEER” have a special note, color, spicy taste and characteristic flavor we used the fermented rye malt «RUMALT», also produced by our company in-house.
As known the typical beer is comprised of 90 percent water so carefullypurified and prepared water is the most important ingredient of a foamy drink. Thus, «JSC “BRYANSKPIVO» pays special attention to its quality and composition: after preparation the water’s chemical and microbiological indicators meet the highest European standards.
At JSC "BRYANSKPIVO" water preparation is carried out in a system of multilayer sand, charcoal and cation-exchange filters. These filters help to remove substances having unpleasant odor and taste. After passing through the filter system, the water is crystal clear and harmless.
Beer has a variety of flavors depending on water quality. Some beer types are best brewed with hard water while others with soft water. The degree of water hardness is due to the presence of calcium and magnesium salts. The latest technologies used at JSC "BRYANSKPIVO" help to regulate the content of salts in water and select water of the required degree of hardness for brewing different types of beer.
One of the important components of beer brewing is malted barley or malt.
We purchase malt from from leading domestic and foreign manufacturers. Our specialists in a special laboratory take samples of malt and conduct a number of special tests to prevent low-quality raw malt from being used in production. We are very much concerned about the quality of our beverages so we carry out quality control during all the brewing process, from beginning to end, when beer is finally bottled.
The malt is thoroughly cleaned in a cleaning drum, then in a special crusher it is crushed into malt grist and then sent for mashing-in which is an important step in brewing. During mashing-in in a vessel called a "mash tun", malt grist is mixed with water and heated to turn sugars and nutrients into soluble extract. The heat from the water activates the enzymes in the malt. The mash is pumped into the filter vat for separation into spent grain and malt wort. The grains remaining after filtration go to livestock feed as they are rich in useful proteins. The filtered wort, in its turn, goes into a special brewing vat in which the process of brewing with hopping takes place.
In addition to malt brewing beer is impossible without hops To say it is important is to say nothing. Along with malt hops are one of the main ingredients of beer because when we evaluate beer we first of all note its bitterness and flavor and it is hops that give beer its characteristic bitterness and aroma. Accordingly, all varieties of hops are grouped this way: into those rich in alpha acids making beer bitter and into the ones rich in flavor substances or hop resins making beer have special flavor. Besides, hops enhance microbiological stability of beer and promote beer foam formation and stability.
In former times breweries used hop cones but now this method is considered an ancient technology. Today all modern breweries use hop products which can be of two types: hop extract (extract of bitter substances) and hop granules (compressed hop cones). «At JSC "BRYANSKPIVO» we use hops in granules and prefer hops imported from Germany and the Czech Republic. The Magnum and Nugget hops make beer bitter and Tradition and Zatecký hops give beer its traditional flavor.
Hop granules are delivered to our company in vacuum packages protecting them from contact with oxygen which is very harmful because it makes hops lose alpha acids very fast. Hops are stored at low temperatures from 0 to + 2ºС.
So, the wort obtained after boiling with hops is cooled to +8 - +9°C and then goes to the fermentation tank. Cooling is necessary since certain temperatures are required for the yeast to perform well (and the yeast is necessary for the fermentation of the wort (i.e. turning it into beer)). One of the main features of our production is the use of the classic technology of brewing beer. In this country, beer fermentation and maturation go separately from each other. That is, beer at each of these stages is kept in completely different containers. Many large beer manufacturers have long abandoned this good old technology and brew beer in large-capacity vertical cylindrical tanks in which fermentation and maturation take only 4-5 days! These tanks are installed outdoors and they use ammonia for cooling. Besides, most beer brewers first brew the so-called “mother” beer which then, at the filtration stage, is diluted with water to the required density and after that they add flavor and foam stabilizers, hop extracts and food colors. This beer cannot by any means conform to GOST. You will never find beer made by these brewers which would conform to GOST! This is dishonest beer!
At the beer and malt company "BRYANSKPIVO" specialists take much care of beer as it requires sufficient time (30 days and more) for all chemical and physical processes to be completed and for the beer to ripen and acquire its real taste, flavor and bitterness that brewers want from it. For «JSC BRYANSKPIVO» the quality of the finished product is a priority! That is why we keep this tradition of really brewing beer allowing the brewing process to go on the way they invented it many centuries ago. «JSC BRYANSKPIVO» " brews honest beer!
Hopped wort is transferred to fermentation tanks for fermentation. Each beer type is fermented in a separate tank. Fermentation conditions can be influenced by the quality of the yeast, temperature and pressure in the tanks. Even if one of these does not satisfy the norm the fermentation process will be changed and the beverage will lose its taste. This can never happen at JSC "BRYANSKPIVO" as the brewing process is almost completely automated.
By the fermentation methods the beer is divided into two types - ale and lager. Ale beers are top-fermented as beer ferments, as a rule, at room temperature (15-24°C), and at the end of fermentation the yeast rises to the surface. Lager beers ferment at low temperatures and the yeast, on the contrary, sinks to the bottom. All 25 types of beer that our company produces today are lager beers. It is not only an excellent taste which distinguishes lager beers from other beer types but also two more special features: it is no problem to transport it and it has the longest shelf-time! The fermentation process usually lasts a week and during this time the yeast that was put in the tank gradually multiplies and converts sugars, which the hopped wort is rich in, to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The result of fermentation is young muddy beer (sometimes also called “green”) which is not yet ready for drinking as it needs to mature and ripen.
After bottom fermentation is complete, young beer gets gets into the lager department to ensure its full fermentation – it is a long-lasting maturing and ripening process at low temperatures after which beer has balanced flavor, transparency and shining!
The main aim of full fermentation is balancing and saturation of beer with CO2. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important component of beer as it gives beer its pleasant and refreshing flavor, promotes foaming, protects beer from contact with oxygen and inhibits the development of extraneous and harmful microorganisms.
When beer matures various oxidation-reduction reactions go on and as a result beer loses, first, the yeast flavor typical of young beer and, secondly, hop bitterness (partial coagulation of hop resins occurs). The taste of beer becomes softer. As a result of full fermentation and long standing still suspended particles of yeast and hops settle down and beer becomes clarified.
The degree of beer maturation is determined by the main brewer who checks its physicochemical and organoleptic properties. Mature beer must go through several stages of final filtration. At our company this process is not simplified and is carried out in two stages. At the first stage the beverage goes through a layer of Kieselguhr (or diatomite - a form of silica composed of the siliceous shells of unicellular aquatic plants of microscopic size).
The next stage is fine filtration, as a filter we use layers of food cardboard with a thickness of 0.8mm. Beer is literally squeezed through cardboard and, as a result, we have clarified and transparent beverage.
Besides, filtration helps to save the taste, color and other important properties of beer and guarantee that it is fresh and transparent. Beer becomes transparent, free of yeast particles which can change the taste of the beverage during storage.
Thus, filtration is efficient as it extends beer shelf life. At present the shelf life of beer brewed at JSC "BRYANSKPIVO" varies from 30 to 120 days (depending on the beer type), however, none of our beers can be stored for more than 180 days if compared with beers produced by other brewers who use preservatives and special additives for long-term storage of beer (over six months) that artificially increase the shelf life of beer but at the same time destroy all beneficial microorganisms! The most dangerous of them can cause immunity disorders (autoimmune and oncological diseases) as well as reproduction disorders, i.e. giving birth to healthy children! As known, according to GOST the use of preservatives is forbidden and so beer with additives is dishonest beer!
Brewing beer we do not use any additives or preservatives. Our beer is an organic product that cannot be stored for long. When you are doing shopping just look at the labels of different types of beer from different brewers... Most likely you will see that the beers produced by JSC «BRYANSKPIVO» are brewed according to GOST and the storage time is much shorter than that of widely advertised beers produced by giant brewing companies.
After bottom fermentation is complete, young beer gets into the lager department to ensure its full fermentation – it is a long-lasting maturing and ripening process at low temperatures after which beer has balanced flavor, transparency and shining!
Since beer is a perishable product and is exposed to various microorganisms, we carefully protect it from air and pollution during bottling. A bottle filled with beer is corked, then gets into a labeling machine which puts big and small labels on different beer containers (bottles, kegs, etc).
After beer bottles are completely ready they go through thermal packaging and bottles are formed into convenient packages (20 bottles or 12 bottles for beer in glass bottles, 6 bottles for beer in PET bottles 1.5 l; 9 bottles for beer in PET bottles 1l).
Beer packages are sent to a warehouse where large pallets are formed from them convenient for loading and delivery to local retail outlets as well as to neighboring regions.
JSC «BRYANSKPIVO» today means GOST, classic brewing technology and absence of preservatives!
Love yourself and drink only THE BEST beverages!