The basic ingredients of beer are water; a fermentable (convertible into alcohol) starch source, such as malted barley, a brewer’s yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring, such as hops.

Stage 1  Hadrian Border brewers mix milled grain and hot water in a large vessel known as a mash tun to create a cereal mash.  During the mash, naturally occurring enzymes present in the malt convert the starches in the grain into smaller or simple sugars.  The result of the mashing process is a sugar rich liquid or "sweet wort" (pronounced wert).

Stage 2  The wort is moved into a large tank known as a "copper" or kettle where it is boiled with hops which add flavour, aroma and bitterness to the beer.

Stage 3  The now bitter wort is transferred rapidly from the copper or brew kettle to the heat exchanger which consists of tubing in a jacket of cold water.  It is important to cool the wort quickly to a level where yeast can be added as yeast is unable to grow in high temperatures.

Stage 4  The cooled wort now goes into a fermentation vessel. Yeast is selected and added, or "pitched", to the fermentation tank. The fermenting process begins, where the sugars turn into alcohol, carbon dioxide and other components.

Stage 5  This is when Hadrian Border brewers rack the 'green beer' into a new vessel, called a conditioning tank. Conditioning of the beer is the process in which the beer ages, the flavour becomes smoother, and flavours that are unwanted dissipate.

Stage 6   When Hadrian Border brewers are satisfied that the beer is in tip top condition, it is racked off onto clean casks or sent for bottling.