The Making of

Bernard Beer

Grinding

The malt mill

Whole process starts with the grinding of malt. We call the resulting product grist. The required type of malt, depending on what kind of beer will be brewed, is then measured out of the silos.

Brewing

Brewhouse – the heart of the brewery

Mashing –activation of natural enzymes by mixing the grist with water.
Saccharification – the conversion of complex sugars into the simple sugars required for fermentation.
Lautering – by removing the leach from the malt, we get sweet wort. What remains are the spent grains, which are then used as animal feed.
Hopping– by brewing the wort with hops we get hopped wort. Here we get the required bitterness, aroma and colour.

Wort cooling

In the whirlpool

We separate the dregs from the wort in a whirlpool tank. The almost boiling wort is then cooled to 8 °C.

Yeast propagation

Always fresh

The Bernard Family Brewery has its own yeast. It obtains it by propagating it at a propagation station. The yeast used for Bernard beer is therefore always fresh.

Primary fermentation

Green beer sees the light of day

Yeast is added to the wort and primary fermentation begins – sugars convert into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Green beer is made in 7 - 10 days.

Conditioning

Honest beer

After primary fermentation, the green beer is cooled to about 4 °C. It is then transferred to lager (conditioning) vessels. Here the beer rests and matures. The Bernard Family Brewery honours tradition – authentic Czech beer matures and develops in body and flavour in about 20 to 30 days.

Filtration

Diatomaceous and microbial filter

Basic filtration separates the dead yeast. Microbial filtration traps all microorganisms without changing the flavour, aroma or colour of the beer or affecting the nutritional value. This process replaces the usual pasteurisation. Our beer stays “alive”. That is what sets us apart from most breweries.