Images from Bavaria

Contact

If we can be of any assistance please don't hesitate to contact us, or drop by the Rose & Crown during business hours:

email: roseandcrown@alderney.ws
phone: +44 (0) 1481 823414
fax: +44 (0) 1481 823615

The Rose & Crown Hotel
Le Huret, Alderney
UK Channel Islands

Delivery on Alderney is free :-) we deliver Monday to Saturday between 10am and 1pm. Please note that we cannot deliver off-island.

Bavaria

Brewing Process

The art of brewing is, in essence, just as pure and fascinating as nature itself. The art has been handed down from generation to generation at Bavaria, with every generation making its own contribution. This has made Bavaria what it is today: a modern brewery rooted in an age-old tradition.

Barley
The barley used for brewing our beer is carefully selected. This takes place directly in the fields. It goes without saying that only the best types are suitable for brewing Bavaria beer.

Malting
Bavaria has its own malting plant, which operates completely independently within the organization. Approximately 160,000 tons of malt is produced here annually.

In the malting plant the barley is transformed to malt. First of all, the barley is washed and soaked, whereby the moisture content is increased. Next, the germination process is started: several enzymes, essential in making the starch from the barley grain soluble, begin to form in the barley. These enzymes are of crucial importance during the brewing process. Warm air ensures that the ''green malt'', as the barley is now officially called, dries sufficiently.

Brewing
In the brewery, the malt is crushed and mixed with crystal-clear water from our own sources. The enzymes in the malt ensure that the starch is converted to sugar, whereby, after filtering, a clear and sweet liquid, called wort, develops.

The wort is brought to a boil and hop is added, giving the beer its aromatic bitter taste.

Afterwards, the wort us pumped to the fermentation tank. Alcohol, carbon dioxide as well as natural flavourings and aromas are formed from the sugars during the fermentation process. The employed baker's yeast is cherished by the brewers, because of its crucial importance in the development of the exceptionally smooth, soft, full-bodied and easy-drinking qualities of Bavarian beer.

To further refine its taste and aroma profile, the beer needs to mature. A fine filtration completes the brewing process. The extremely tasteful result is ready for bottling!

Bottling
In the bottling plant, the beer is poured into bottles, cans or kegs. Bavaria has over 14 filling lines, with a total capacity of approximately 750,000 bottles and cans per hour. As soon as the beer has been bottled, it is pasteurized, whereby the beer is swiftly heated to approximately 60°C . This allows the beer to keep for longer.

While the cans are received from the supplier already labelled, the bottles still need to be provided with labels after completion of the bottling and pasteurization process. Finally, the bottles and cans are packaged into crates, trays or multipacks. Conveyor belts carry the packaged Bavaria beer toward the dispatch area.

Transport
After the completion of the production process, the Bavaria products are immediately transported to the shed by a forklift. The product then leaves for one of the many local or international destinations. Transporting the product requires meticulous planning.

During the peak season, approximately 130 lorries are on the local roads daily and the same number abroad. Products destined for the Netherlands are transported at night, whenever possible, in order to avoid busy motorways.

At Bavaria, we are currently looking into the possibility of shipping our products through the canal in Lieshout. Not only would this be more environment-friendly, but it could also save a large amount of time and money.

The History of Bavaria

Much has changed during the three centuries of brewmanship at Bavaria. The brewery grew into an organization that is active in many countries around the world. So put on your seven-leagues boots and take a glimpse of a few highlights from Bavaria’s history.

1719
This is the place where it all began. Up until the 19th century, Bavarian brewery was located on this farm. Laurentius Moorees was the founder of the company, which has remained in the hands of the same family ever since. During those early times, the beer was still stored in kegs, containing 106 'pots' of beer each. Laurentius brewed 18 kegs of beer annually.

1851
Jan Swinkels, grandchild of Laurentius and born in 1851, had a brilliant idea on how to improve the brewery. His beer was (even then!) the best by far and Bavaria was increasingly being served at more and more places. In 1924, a new brewery was built to satisfy the growing demand for Bavaria. However, within a short period of time this brewery also became too small...

1928
The three sons of Jan followed their father's footsteps. They went abroad to gain in-depth knowledge of the art of brewing. During this time, the ''Brabantse biertje'' or ''beer from Brabant'' was gaining increasing popularity further afield. The first lorry also was bought, so transport was no longer a problem. By that time, the annual production had increased to 12,000 hl.

1934
During the thirties, the demand for bottled beer was on the increase. To satisfy this need, Bavaria decided to build a bottling plant in 1933. At the beginning of 1934, the bottling plant was operating at a capacity of 2,000 bottles per hour. The procedures of the bottling plant can be seen in the section of the brewing process.

1937

Only the best malt produces a smooth golden Bavaria beer. For this reason, our own malting plant was built in 1937, which would consistently insure Bavaria of the highest quality.

And not only Bavaria: we also provide malt to other breweries in the Netherlands and beyond! Why not take a look at the malting plant?

1955
Bavaria started the production of 3-Es soft drinks in 1955. The name is derived from the first letters of the surnames of the 3 lords Swinkels, who ran the brewery at that time. In the meantime the popularity of Bavaria beer simply flourished, judging by a song that frequently sounded at numerous occasions during the time.

1970
Bavaria crossed the border for the first time. And successfully! For Islamic countries, for example, an alcohol-free beer was being brewed that would also be introduced in the Netherlands toward the end of the eighties as Bavaria Malt. Bavaria barely managed to meet the enormous demand and pulled out all the stops in order to make Bavaria available to everyone.

1985
Bavaria was, partly owing to the large success of Bavaria Malt, becoming so large that it decided to end its advertising campaign entitled: gebrouwen in ons eigen Brabant'', or ''brewed in our own Brabant''. And the new advertising campaign? It became: ''Zo. Nu eerst een Bavaria'', or ''Right. Time for a Bavaria first.'' The rest is history.

1995
In less than 5 years, Bavaria increased its production from 3 million to 4 million hectolitres of beer- an increase of more than 30%. This was, of course, duly celebrated at Bavaria. What was also celebrated, was the introduction of Moreeke: a specialty beer with its name derived from the founder of Bavaria, Laurentius Mooresees. Those with similar surnames were all invited!

Present
Bavaria is close to the people, and this was easy to see during the past years. Successful advertising campaigns (such as the Holiday Photo Contest and the Bottle Cap Campaign) saw to it that a lot of people were active with the Bavaria brand.

We've just launched our new campaign, using the pay-off ''Beer for real people'' as the logical follow-up of everything that went before.

Product development is also of paramount importance in our modern company. For example, a completely new alcohol-free beer, Riff's Ice Malt, will be introduced on a small scale.

from http://www.bavariahollandbeer.us/brewingprocess.html