The Brewing Process

Purists insist that beer be made with nothing more than malted barley, hops, yeast and water. Purists miss out on many fantastic beers.

Basically what is required to make beer is a fermentable source (ie. something that will provide sugar for our yeasty friends), flavorings, yeast, and water.

Here at RRBC most of our fermentables are provided by the malted barley we ship in from the Northwest. However many breweries find fermentables in other sources such as wheat malt, rye, honey, sugar (especially brown and candy sugar), fruits and even apple cider. RRBC does and will use many of these other sources of fermentables in producing our ales.

When talking about flavorings for beers most people are considering the hopping that is added to the brew. However, flavor contributions come from everything that is put into the brewing process. From the sweet roasted character of chocolate malts, to the bitter bite of high alpha hops, everything added contributes to the final character of a beer.

Hops, the most common "flavoring" for beer, are the flowering portion of a tall vine-like plant that is now grown throughout the world. Different locations have produced different varieties of hops, each known for their varying bittering and aroma characteristics. RRBC uses both domestic and European varieties of hops.

Our yeast is a special house strain originally picked by the Wynkoop's founding brewer Russ Scherer. This is an English Ale strain that produces the nice fruity and smooth characteristic that you all will come to know and love. Every ingredient needs to be carefully picked in designing a brew, but the yeast used will provide the most subtle enhancements to the final characteristics of the beer.

Our water is, of course, our famous Des Moines city water.