FYI: > [Image] > > Guinness is good for you. > > Contents: > > The Story Of Guinness. > Brewing Materials. > The Brewhouse. > Fermentation and Beer Processing Plant (F.B.P) > The Packaging Department. > The Power Station. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > The Story Of Guinness > > On the last day of December 1759 a determined young man named Arthur > Guinness rode through the gate of an old, dilapidated ill-equiped > brewery sited on a small strip of land on Dublin's James's Street. He > had just signed a lease on the property for 9,000 years at #45 per > annum. His friends shook their heads in disbelief. For ten years, Mark > Rainsford's Ale Brewery (for such it was) had been on the Market and > nobody had shown any interest in it. The Street was already festooned > with similar small breweries, all attracted to this spot by a good > supply of water. Throughout the city of Dublin there were about 70 > breweries at that time, all, it must be assumed, small. Mr. Guinness's > newly aquired brewery was no more than average. But Arthur was about > to change all of that. He was 34 years old. > > He knew that the products of this teeming, almost domestic, industry > were highly unsatisfactory. Trade fell off badly when import > regulations which favoured the London Porter breweries, were > prolonged. > > At that time, beer was almost unknow in rural Ireland where whiskey, > gin and poteen were the alcoholic drinks most readily available. In > spite of this and the poor quality of beer avaliable in larger centers > link Dublin, it was recognised, paradoxically, that brewing - although > constantly under threat from imports - was probably the most > prosperous of the very few industries in Ireland at that time. > > In addition to ales, Arthur Guinness brewed a beer relatively new to > Ireland that contained roasted barley which gave it a > characteristically dark colour. This brew became known as "porter" so > named because of its popularity with the porters and stevedores of > Covent Garden and Billingsgate in London. > > "Porter" had been developed in London some years earlier and was > imported into Dublin to the detriment of local brews. Arthur Guinness > finally had to choose between porter or the traditional Dublin ales. > Deciding to tackle the English brewers at their own game, Arthur tried > his hand at porter. He brewed the deep, rich beverage so well that he > eventually ousted all imports from the Irish market, captured a share > of the English trade and revolutionised the brewing industry. > > The word Stout was added in the early 1820's as an adjective, > qualifying the noun "porter". An "extra stout porter" was a stronger > and more full bodied variety. "Stout" evolved as a noun in its own > right, as did the family name of Guinness. In 1825 Guinness Stout was > available abroad, and by 1838, Guinness' St. James's Gate Brewery was > the largest in Ireland. In 1881, the annual production od Guinness > brewed had surpassed one million barrels a year abd by 1914, St. > James's Gate was the world's largest brewery. > > Today, Arthur Guinness would have been proud of St. James's Gate. No > longer the largest (although still the largest Stout brewery) it is > certainly one of the most modern breweries. Guinness is now also > brewed in 35 countries around the world, but all these overseas brews > must contain a flavoured extract brewed here at St. James's Gate. So > the very special brewing skills of Arthur's brewery, remain at the > heart of every one of the 10 million glasses of Guinness enjoyed every > day accross the world. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Brewing Materials. > > Guinness is produced using traditional brewing materials. > > 90,000 tonnes of Irish grown barley is used by the St. James's Gate > brewery each year. This represents 7% of the Irish crop, and is > equivalent to 4,000 lorry loads, which if lined up nose to tail, would > strech for 30 miles. > > MALT > > The vast bulk of this barley intake is germinated and dried to give > malt, which is the main ingredient in Guinness Stout. > > ROAST > > 10,000 tonnes of barley is roasted here each year in roasting drums > (like coffee), to produce the unique Guinness colour and flavour. > > BARLEY FLAKES > > 10,000 tonnes of barley each year is steamed and rolled like porridge > oats. These together with malt and roast make up the GRIST. > > HOPS > > Hops are used to give bitterness, aroma and preservative value to > beer. They are added to the wort in the Brewhouse Kettles, during > boiling. > > Hops are an expensive ingredient, more valuable than tea, and the St. > James's Gate Brewery uses over 600 tonnes each year (nearly 1% of the > world crop) mainly from the USA, Australia, England and Germany. There > are some hops grown in Ireland, near Kilkenny. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > The Brewhouse. > > The main stages in the Brewhouse production are: > > MILLING > > The malt is first milled into coarse flour, keeping the barley husk > material as intact as possible. > > MASHING > > This involves mixing the milled grist (malt, flaked barley and roast > barley) with hot water to convert the starches in the malt into > fermentable natural sugars, which can be separated out at the next > stage of the process. > > EXTRACTION > > The porridge-like mash is transfered to a kieve which operates like a > sieve, and the sugary liquid (WORT, see FBP), is then filtered off to > a third vessel - the Kettle. The spent grains which are left behind > are removed automatically and sold as cattle feed. > > BOILING > > Once in the Kettle, the wort is boiled with hops for 90 minutes > approximately. The hops impart the bitterness and aroma which is > characteristic of Guinness. > > COOLING > > After boiling and settling in the Kettle, the wort is pumped (and > cooled en route) to the Fermentation and Beer Processing Pland (FBP). > > BREWHOUSE CAPACITY: > > 16 Brews/day (each containig 20 tonnes grist and 70 tonnes > water). > Each Brew produces the equivalent of 250,000 pints. > Daily Production 4,000,000 pints. > The Brewhouse is the main user of energy from the Power Station - > using 40% of its capicity - equivalent to the amount of energy > required to light and heat 4,000 homes. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Fermentation and Beer Processing Plant (F.B.P) > > The F.B.P. recieves chilled wort from the Brewhouse, adds yeast to > carry out the fermentation, and then matures and blends the resultant > beers for subsiquent packaging in the Keg Plant, or dispached in bulk > from the Tank Station. > > The F.B.P. is completely automated. Access to the computers, which > control plant operations, is achieved via keyboards and visual display > units in the Control room. > > An appreciation of the scale of the Plant can be gleaned from facts > such as: > > Cost of project IR#50m. > > Produces 20 different beer types (both Guinness Stout and Lager) > > 110 Vessels (each ranging in capacity from 175,000 - 700,000 > pints). > > Beer flow along major pipeline - 30,000 pints/minute. > > 5,000 Mix Proof Valves. > > 160 km electric cabling. > > 32 km stainless steel pipework. > > 60 man-years software development. > > 30,000 inputs/outputs to control system. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > The Packaging Department. > > THE KEGGING PLANT > > The Kegging Plant stands on the site of the old Cask Racking Plant. In > the first half of the century Guinness was distributed in wooden > casks. In the 1950's metal casks were introduced and in the 1960's > kegs replaced metal casks. > > The Plant currently has 3 Kegging Lines which were built in 1984, > which has a capacity of 1,800 kegs/hour. > > In 1990, production reached a record of 4,600,000 kegs, which is > equivalent to 400,000,000 pints. > > Three sizes of keg are used, 51.1, 50 and 30 liters. > > THE TANK STATION > > Here the beer is filled into 2 types of transportable vessel, Road > Tankers and Container Tanks, for delivery to customers at home and > abroad. > > The Road Tankers, or Silver Bullets as they became known, load up with > Guinness in the Tank Station and discharge into special tanks into the > Miranda Guinness or Lady Patricia, at Sir John Rogersons Quay in > Dublin Port. It takes 50 of these tankers, equivalent to 1,850,000 > pints to fill the Miranda Guinness. These are the only beer tanker > ships of their type in the world. > > In addition to the Road Tankers, up to 60 Container Tanks per week > (each holding 35,000 pints) are filled and dispached to Bottlers and > Canners in Ireland, UK and Belgium. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > The Power Station. > > The Power Station generates steam and electricity to drive the many > production processes and services within the Brewery. > > Four boilers (fuelled by Kinsale Natural Gas) produce high pressure > steam to drive turbo-alternators, which in turn produce electricity > for Brewery usage. Having done this work, the steam, now significantly > reduced in pressure (from 45 Bar down to 2 Bar), is ready to be used > as the energy source for vessel heating and sterilization duties in > the Brewery. > > The fact that the Guinness Power Station supplies steam for process > use in addition to generating electricity, makes it more than twice as > energy efficient as conventional power stations. > > STATISTICS > > The combined boilers produce 120 tonnes of steam per hour at a > temperature of 410 degrees C. > > Electricity generation - 12,000 Kilowatts. > > The Gas consumed by the Power Station would light and heat > 10,000 homes. > > [Home Page]