Brewing good old-fashioned danish beer

Harboes Bryggeri brews beer in accordance with proud traditions

There are countless methods of brewing beer and just as many opinions about what constitutes good brewing. The essential ingredients for brewing beer are malt, hops, yeast and water. Harboes Bryggeri uses only the very best ingredients. This ensures uniform high quality of the finished products that Harboe is famous for. We are constantly fine-tuning our production, producing new types of beer and varying our product offering, while also holding onto good, time-honoured traditions. We believe that is what constitutes good brewing.

Malting

Malt is the most important ingredient in beer. Malt is germinated, dried barley, and Danish barley is well suited to the production of beer. When the barley arrives at the maltings, it is soaked in water. This is done in steeping tanks, where the barley is left for approximately 2 days. Afterwards, it is pumped into germination boxes, where it is left to germinate for 5–7 days. During germination, enzymes are activated which convert starches into sugars later on in the brewing process. After the germination process, the malt is dried. During the drying process, the malt takes on the colour and aroma that will characterise the finished beer. The dry malt is now ready for the actual brewing process.

Mashing

In the brewing-room, the malt is crushed and mixed with water in the mash copper. Then the mix is heated to 75°C. During the mashing process, the malt converts starch into sugar using the enzymes that were activated during the malting process. The mash is then transferred to the clarifying vat, where the insoluble parts, the husks, are strained out. What is left is a clear liquid known as wort. The clear wort is then transferred for decoction. Here, it is simmered with hops for 1–2 hours. During simmering, the bitter substances from the hops give the finished beer its characteristic, balanced taste. After the wort has been boiled, the hot wort is transferred to a whirlpool, where residual hops, protein and colourings are separated.

Fermentation, storage and bottling

The wort is cooled and yeast is added, whereupon it is pumped into the large fermentation and storage tanks. During fermentation, which takes about 5–7 days, the fermentable sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is collected, cleaned and compressed for use later on in the process. After fermentation, the beer is stored and aged in the large combination tanks at a temperature of approximately -2°C. After storage, the beer is filtered to remove residual yeast and cloudiness. Now the beer is ready for bottling or canning. At Harboes Bryggeri, this is done using a high-tech, modern bottling and canning plant, and the beer is then ready for drinking.