One of my favorite things to do during chemistry class in high school was to take the magnesium strips, place them over the bunsen burner, then watch them flash white as the magnesium reacted to the flame. Yes, I was a bit of a nerd, and yes, I enjoyed watching things explode and bubble over (fortunately I never created a complete disaster of the classroom either).
When Winger's Roadhouse told me they brewed their own beer, well the mad scientist in me had to know just how this was possible!
Even if you are not a beer fan, the process is quite amazing! If you are a science or just chemistry geek, I highly recommend taking a brewery tour (you would never believe so much science could go into a beverage)! Winger's Roadhouse Grill & Bar brews four of their very own, only Winger's could make it, beers, out of Uinta Brewery in Salt Lake City, UT. With Winger's recipe and guidance (as well as their impressive palate for good brews), Uinta did what they do best as true brewmasters and Voila! Winger's Brother's Beer was born!
Now I had heard of hops before, and I knew from years of serving in restaurants that the foam on the top of a beer was called 'head', but that's about where my beer knowledge stopped. Sure I knew that darker beers were much heavier and were supposed to taste chocolatey (um, telling a chocoholic like myself that the beer has a chocolate taste, be prepared for my disappointment as I am expecting my mouth to be filled with the flavors of Lindt - hmmm have yet to find that beer), how much more could there be?
Well, first thing I learned - the hops are not what really gives the beer its flavor range. That comes from the grains (malted barley). I even got to eat a small handful of grains that had an amazing caramel flavor (used for their lighter brews). I also took a nibble on some barley that was for the porters that had a very distinct coffee flavor with a touch of bittersweet chocolate. Interesting, but not nearly as good as the crunchy caramel. All of these grains are mashed in the mash tun (yes, that is their language and machines, not my silly vocabulary replacements) to yield the sugars that will eventually be eaten by the yeast (fermentation!). They let it sit and steep, just like a cup of tea, before moving it to the brew kettle - this is where the hops come in!
Hops do add a bit of flavor, but their main role is to give the beer its bitterness (or lack-thereof depending on your brew) as well as its aroma (provided by aromatic hops). Once this process is over you have a kettle full of wort (pronounced wert so as not to sound like the unsightly thing on the end of a witches nose, at least that's what I like to think).
Now it's time to make the beer alcoholic! Yes, up to this point it's just a brew with some flavors. The beer would apparently taste extremely sugary, and quite syrupy at this point so it's off to the fermentation tanks! Here, yeast is added and it begins eating the sugar (I picture packman at this moment with the yeast traveling around, munching on the little sugar guys). After a couple days you have your true beer - but it's not done yet! With the exception of hefeweizen, which is not filtered (hence its slight cloudiness), the beers must be filtered (a good beer is crystal clear!), put into brite beer tanks, and pumped with a bit of CO2 (carbon dioxide for my non-chem nerds out there). From there, Uinta bottles and ships to their plethora of happy consumers.
For Winger's Roadhouse, Uinta brews the 'Amazing Blonde', a nice, light and crisp golden brew (hence the blonde name), the Hazy Wheat Hefeweizen (look for the unfiltered cloudiness), the King's Tale Pale Ale (supposedly slightly fruity, guess my taste buds aren't quite mature enough for that one yet), and the Bootleg Porter (argh matey!) which is a bit of heavy heaven. My personal favorites are the Blonde and the Bootleg, I guess they show off my light and dark side, haha.
Perhaps the best (and most delicious) part of my tour was having the opportunity to try a beer fresh from the tank. Coming out crisp and cold, the flavors hit my mouth so suddenly my taste-buds went into overload. A pale ale will never taste the same.
As I left Uinta Brewery, I thought to myself how cool it would be to be a 'brewmaster' (the true title of a beer maker). Perhaps in my next life or the next hobby I pick up (what would go better with homemade food than real homemade beer after all)? For now, I'll pair my beer with a burger from the Roadhouse and find out what else they have to offer me.
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