Beer has been brewed in Canada since shortly after the first European settlers landed. In the early years, ale was fermented on a small scale. With demand, operations grew in size over the next centuiy, and in some cases quite large micro-breweries were formed. Each was dedicated to its own style of brew, and by the turn of the century, there were an amazing number of fine beers and ales on the market.
Wtth the advent of prohibition, things took a drastic turn. Most small breweries died a natural death because of an inability to sell their products. Those that did survive were struggling. Then, Mr E. P Taylor (Carling O'keefe) arrived on the scene. He began to buy up every remaining micro-brewery he could lay his hands on. The government of this day did nothmg to resist the creation of huge beer monopolies, and so in a very short time, 98% of beer brewed in Canada came from three huge breweries - Molson's, Labatt's & Carling / O'keefe.
To-day, competition has been virtually eliminated between the huge conglomerates. Recently Molson's has purchased Carling / O'keefe. With this purchase, there are two, and two companies only, that brew 98% of Canadian beer The marketplace has many beers with different names, but except for a few exceptions, most of them produced by micro-breweries, they all have basically the same taste.
Unlike wine which develops `in bottle,' beer is best when consumed fresh. Frustrated by the computer, `gega-gallon approach' to brewing, where art has been removed from the process, groups began forming around Canada. Finally, about ten years ago, with the help of Fritz Maytag, (yes, of Maytag washer / dryer fame) a brewing renaissance began. The Olde Stone Brewing Company is proud to participate in this reawakening of the art of brewing quality beers of distinctive character.
We brew our beer in a traditional `British Ale'style. Our brewery is designed on the model of The Ringwood Brewery of England. We use a top fermenting yeast which has been grown from a 200 year o1d strain developed in northern England.
The process of brewing begins with the steeping of malts. Three hundred to four hundred pounds of malted barley are mixed with hot watec This converts the starches into fermentable sugars, the food of yeast. This mixture is called `The Wort.' There is no alcohol present at this stage of the process. The wort is then transferred to the kettle, and is heated to the boil and kept theie for a period. During the boil, a process occurs called `The Hot Break.' During this process, proteins precipitate out and fall to the bottom of the kettle. Hops of different characters are added at specific times during the heating, which both flavour the wort and act as a natural preservative.
When the boil is completed, it is chilled rapidly by passing it through a heat exchanger. The beer is at its most vulnerable stage at this point. If aberrant wild strains of yeast, (which are present everywhere in nature) infect the wort, the beer produced at best may have off flavours and at worst, may have no alcohol present at all. With the addition of our own special yeast, fermenlalion begins, and in no time, a live layer of growing yeast cells protects the wort from infection. The wort continues to bubble for 3 to four days. In the process, both alcohol and carbon dioxide are foimed. The carbon dioxide escapes into the air The alcohol is captured by the liquid, forming beer. The temperature is lowered at this point to stop fermentation.
The beer is then transferred to a cold room, without filtration (to maintain maximum flavour and complexity,) where it develops subtleties at a still lower tempetature. Suspended sediments fall out of the beer over a period of about two weeks. Fermentation continues at a slow rate, and because the tank is now sealed, the carbon dioxide which was allowed to escape in the first part of the process is forced into the beer, creating a mild and naturally carbonated product. When the beer is deemed by the brewmaster to have developed and cleared sufficiently, the beer is pushed directly to the bar.
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