The great beer at Ignite Brewing Company is brewed on a split 7-barrel system designed and built by Psycho Brew. The system consists of two mash tuns, two direct fire boil kettles, three 7-barrel fermenters, and two 4-barrel fermenters. This setup allows us to brew two different recipes during a single brew day. Of course, running the same recipe through both mash tuns and boil kettles results in a 7-barrel batch. Running smaller batches in the 4-barrel tanks has increased the varieties offered within our taproom and allowed us to experiment with new flavors.
Another part of Ignite’s brew system is the reverse osmosis water treatment equipment. Grain, hops, and yeast are all critical but having the right water is also very important. By removing everything from the water going into our brewhouse, and adding back only what we want, Ignite can consistently repeat a recipe. Knowing the make up of the water used for brewing is the first step in creating quality beer.
All the effort spent designing a recipe, sourcing ingredients, and boiling wort is wasted if cleanliness and sanitation are not maintained. The secret to great beer quality is cleaning and there is always something to clean. Every surface that contacts the wort or beer between the boil kettle and the customer has to be clean and sanitized to be sure that off flavors and bacteria aren’t introduced into the product.
While this is just a small summary on how it’s made, it gives a glimpse into how we insure high quality beer, with good flavor!
Cheers!
– Megan