Our first stop is the control room, where 16 screens follow every step of the production. (No beer here.) With a nod to the two operators, we move along to the brewing area, with three 15,000-gallon mash tanks. When regular Budweiser is being brewed, the operators add barley malt and water to the mash tank and rice and water to a cooking tank. Once the rice is cooked, it goes into the mash tank where the malt enzymes break down the starch into sugar. The combined mash is strained in a lauter tun and the sugary, amber wort is transferred to the brew kettle. Hops are added at this stage, along with yeast.
“And in five days,’’ says Hopkins, “you have beer.’’ Flat, unfinished beer, that is.
The basics of making beer haven’t changed much in the last several thousand years, so the process all seems familiar — just unimaginably bigger. “There’s one more step that only we do,’’ says Hopkins. “Beechwood aging.’’ We assume that this is akin to barrel-aging wine, but instead the brewery adds beech chips to stainless steel tanks (each holding the equivalent of 66,000-plus six-packs of beer) to stimulate the secondary fermentation that will add the final carbonation.
After 21 days, the beer is filtered into finishing tanks. “This is the freshest beer you’ll ever taste,’’ Hopkins says as she pulls us each a glass at a perfect 38 degrees. (Beer at last.)
She is in her element as she leads us onto the floor of the 360,000-square-foot packaging area. “We can do 22 million 12-ounce servings of cans and bottles a week,’’ Hopkins says. Every day 125 fully packed tractor trailers leave the brewery to deliver the beer to distribution points.
We conclude at the bar and tasting room, where a big fireplace takes the chill off a rainy afternoon. (More beer here!) The tour includes four two-ounce samples — in our case, Budweiser Select 55, Budweiser, Kirin Ichiban, and Stella Artois — and a full pour of choice. Hopkins also indulges our curiosity with small samples of Chelada, an unfortunate mix of Bud or Bud Light with Clamato.
“Don’t forget to pick up your honorary Beermaster certificate on the way out,’’ Hopkins tells us. “And be sure to go down to the stables to see the Clydesdales.’’ Eighteen of Anheuser-Busch’s 250 Clydesdale horses are stabled in New Hampshire. Keeping them company is one Dalmatian.
“It’s his job to protect the horses,’’ Hopkins says, “and to guard that beer.’’
Patricia Harris and David Lyon can be reached at harris.lyon@verizon.net.
