Brewing

The Master Brewer mixes various types of malt that he crushes,

turning the grains into flour. Crushing is done so that the straw and
grain envelopes are preserved intact. The grain retains the ball (the
envelope) so that it can later form a natural filter layer.

Then, malt flour is mixed with warm water to obtain a thick liquid
paste. This is called mashing. This paste is gradually heated to a
temperature of 78 ° C. The gradual heating promotes the dissolution
of the soluble components of the malt and the conversion of the
fermentable sugars in starches. In the tank a sugar filled juice that is
known as mash is obtained.

This juice is then pumped into the filtration tank where the grains
formed by the envelopes and grain straw is deposited on the bottom
of the tank to form a natural filter. The grains are washed with hot
water to extract all sugars. The filtered liquid, called wort, is
directed to the boiling boiler. The grains are sold for livestock to
feed on. At this stage, the wort is boiled for one hour.

Then only we add hops. The amount and variety of hops change
according to the type of beer that is produced. We also add other
spices (coriander, anise, orange peel, ...) that will give a special
flavor to the beer. After boiling, the wort is decanted for 30 minutes
to clarify.

It is then cooled to a temperature of about 22 ° C before being

transferred to the fermentation tanks. At this stage, we can not talk
about beer since the wort does not contain alcohol. At the Brasserie
du Bocq, depending on the season, two to four daily brews are made
in manufacturing; a brew represents about 22,000 liters or 220
hectoliters.
Fermentation and Storage
The Bocq brewery has 15 cylinder-conical tanks of 600 hl for
fermentation - guard for a total capacity of 900,000 L. In these tanks,
the yeast is introduced into the must. The fermentation lasts from 4
to 5 days. The yeast multiplies by four and the temperature gradually
rises from 22 ° to 26 ° C. Wort sugars are converted into alcohol and
carbon dioxide (CO2). At the end of the fermentation, the beer must
be cooled to 4 ° C.

After fermentation, the yeast is recovered for subsequent

fermentations and the excess is removed as a byproduct. The taste
and aroma of the beer are formed, the wort has become beer, but a
beer that is not yet accomplished. Beer called "green" still has to
mature. To do this, it is then held in "custody tanks" where it will
rest for several weeks at a temperature of 0 ° C. This guard allows to
refine the taste of the beer and the formation of a complementary
yeast deposit at the bottom of the tanks. At this temperature, a
natural cloudiness will form.

Filtration and Caning

To eliminate the cloudiness that formed in the cold and give the beer
its clarity and gloss, it must be filtered after the "custody tanks". At
the Brasserie du Bocq, only the Blanche de Namur is not filtered to
keep its cloudiness during the tasting. After filtration, the beer is
stored in the caning tanks.

Before bottling, a final operation is needed: the beers produced at

the Brasserie du Bocq are top fermented beers with, mostly, a
fermentation in the bottle. To help achieve natural sparkle during the
fermentation, it is necessary, before racking, to add a little sugar and
yeast to the beer. The fermentation can thus operate on the same
principle that the primary fermentation.

The Racking
The bottling line has an hourly capacity of 22,000 bottles 25 cl or 33
or 8,000 75cl bottles. Empty bottles are extracted from the bins and
fed to the washer where they are sterilized and cleaned of their old
labels. The inspection machine then detects and removes any
suspicious bottles (defects or impurities) of the production line. The
filling level is constant in the filler.

After filling, the bottles are capped (for bottles 25 or 33cl) or

corked (for 75cl bottles). The 75cl bottles go through the wiring
machine where the wire cap is placed to prevent the ejection of the
cap under the action of carbon dioxide.

The labels are then glued on the bottles and the expiry date, which
serves as a traceability code, is printed. The bottles then return via
the packer in the racks that have been previously washed.
Everything is automatically palletized.

The bottled beer still has to stay in a warm room for 12 to 14 days to
allow the bottle fermentation to take place at a constant temperature
of 25 ° C. The beer is finally ready for consumption. It is now a
healthy and dynamic product whose production cycle lasted about
two months.