Learn some facts about our Brewery

One of the most frequent comments I hear on tours and during tastings is “something about these beers is different.” These comments put a smile on my face, because this is the perfect avenue for me to delve into the many things we do to add complexity and character to our beers.

Craft beer is enjoying a rapidly expanding audience globally, but particularly in the United States. The South was just identified as the newest frontier for growth and interest. I say all of this to celebrate our craft, but also to acknowledge that learning about beers and what makes them different is more critical now than ever to welcome new drinkers into the world of beer.

Our aim on the farm is to craft beers that are unique and rooted in tradition, while also being suited for new ideas and techniques in the brewing process.

Let me share with you just a few of the things we do to achieve this with our portfolio of beers. We employ a variety of steps in the brewing process, the fermentation process, and the aging process to ensure our guests and drinkers get beers that are refined, yet bold and interesting.

We do a four-step mash to extract the most dynamic properties of our grains for the brew kettle. What this yields is more elegant body, better head retention, enhanced complexity, and increased flavor in our finished products. This takes extra time but we feel it is worth the effort.

It has been said that the malt, hops, and water in a beer are the personality, but the yeast is the soul. Our beers have soul. Yeast is capable of providing more than 300 flavor compounds in the process of fermentation and we utilize a specific yeast strain for each of our three current offerings. This requires a lot of patience and additional steps to care for these living yeast cultures, and we do it with excitement and joy, knowing that our beers have extra character and flavor.

Why the corked champagne bottles? This topic merits a much more elaborate response in the future, but in short, our beers get more complex and interesting with age. Because we do not filter out the yeast, each bottle of our beer is a living and changing product, much like a fine wine. We also bottle condition our beers, meaning they are packaged flat and allowed to develop a bright and beautiful natural carbonation in the bottle. This adds to the drinking experience, but also the cellaring potential for many years.

All of these things make a difference. We do them simply because it is our passion to focus on the craft we love and make beers of sophistication for everyday enjoyment. So next time you pour a glass of our classic Belgian style ales, note the appearance, inhale the subtle hop aromas, taste the sweet malt accents, and make sure you enjoy them with a meal. After all, it turns out beer and great food get along quite well together. And when you have that fleeting thought, “these beers are different,” know that in our eyes that means we’ve succeeded.

Roy Milner, Managing Partner of the Blackberry Farm Brewery

One of the most frequent comments I hear on tours and during tastings is “something about these beers is different.” These comments put a smile on my face, because this is the perfect avenue for me to delve into the many things we do to add complexity and character to our beers.

Craft beer is enjoying a rapidly expanding audience globally, but particularly in the United States. The South was just identified as the newest frontier for growth and interest. I say all of this to celebrate our craft, but also to acknowledge that learning about beers and what makes them different is more critical now than ever to welcome new drinkers into the world of beer.

Our aim on the farm is to craft beers that are unique and rooted in tradition, while also being suited for new ideas and techniques in the brewing process.

Let me share with you just a few of the things we do to achieve this with our portfolio of beers. We employ a variety of steps in the brewing process, the fermentation process, and the aging process to ensure our guests and drinkers get beers that are refined, yet bold and interesting.

We do a four-step mash to extract the most dynamic properties of our grains for the brew kettle. What this yields is more elegant body, better head retention, enhanced complexity, and increased flavor in our finished products. This takes extra time but we feel it is worth the effort.

It has been said that the malt, hops, and water in a beer are the personality, but the yeast is the soul. Our beers have soul. Yeast is capable of providing more than 300 flavor compounds in the process of fermentation and we utilize a specific yeast strain for each of our three current offerings. This requires a lot of patience and additional steps to care for these living yeast cultures, and we do it with excitement and joy, knowing that our beers have extra character and flavor.

Why the corked champagne bottles? This topic merits a much more elaborate response in the future, but in short, our beers get more complex and interesting with age. Because we do not filter out the yeast, each bottle of our beer is a living and changing product, much like a fine wine. We also bottle condition our beers, meaning they are packaged flat and allowed to develop a bright and beautiful natural carbonation in the bottle. This adds to the drinking experience, but also the cellaring potential for many years.

All of these things make a difference. We do them simply because it is our passion to focus on the craft we love and make beers of sophistication for everyday enjoyment. So next time you pour a glass of our classic Belgian style ales, note the appearance, inhale the subtle hop aromas, taste the sweet malt accents, and make sure you enjoy them with a meal. After all, it turns out beer and great food get along quite well together. And when you have that fleeting thought, “these beers are different,” know that in our eyes that means we’ve succeeded.

Roy Milner, Managing Partner of the Blackberry Farm Brewery