Task 5 – Anheuser-Busch Beermaster Brewery Tour

(05) Visit a winery or brewery & take the tour

Activity:    Anheuser-Busch Beermaster Brewery Tour

Location: 221 Daniel Webster Highway,  Merrimack, NH 03054

Website: www.budweisertours.com/

Cost:         $25.00 per person

When:       October 21, 2011

Rating:     5-Stars

If you haven't tried the un-pasteurized beer straight from the cold finishing tanks at the Anheuser-Busch Merrimack Brewery then you really haven't tried beer at its best. With the Anheuser-Busch Beer Master Tour you get to do that and much more.

When you arrive at the brewery welcome center for your tour expect to spend some quality time with your tour guide and be prepared to drink some beer. Your Anheuser-Busch tour guide will start by sharing some interesting company history while you sample your first beer. We tried the Shocktop Pumpkin Wheat. Your tour guide will then show you the magic in a step by step tour from the raw ingredients to the cold frosty end result.

You start the walking tour in the perfectly manicured grounds looking at the hop garden. There the guide will explain that hops are cone-shaped blossoms and is the spice of beer.  You learn that hops contribute the bitterness that balances the malts sweetness.

Before entering the building they walk you by the grain handling area and you begin to appreciate the true scale of the operation in Merrimack. The train cars filled with grain dwarf humans and automobiles alike.

When you enter the building you are immediately looking at the bottom of the huge mash tanks. After a quick elevator ride you find yourself learning the intricate process of beer making in their master control room. Here you get to ask questions to the guys making sure that every step of the process is going exactly as they planned.  The room has a wall of monitors you would expect to see at NASA. Each screen represents a different step in the process and with the click of the mouse they can control and makes changes on the fly when required.

Next you venture out into the tank room controlled by those guys. The first set of tanks are where the mashing process takes place. The mash tanks are where they combine ground barley malt and water. Next to it is the cooker where they mix milled rice and water. Eventually, boiled rice is mixed with the malt in the mash tank.  This is where step one in the magical process occurs. When combined the natural enzymes the malt breaks down the grains starch into fermentable sugars.  This malty liquid is called wort.

Next, the converted mash goes into the Lauter Tuns where the mash is strained and the wort is slowly drawn off. This process takes over an hour to complete and once complete the wort is moved to the Brew Kettle where the secret blend of hops is added. Here the wort and hops are vigorously boiled and the liquid is again strained and cooled in sterile conditions.

Once cooled the wort  is moved to the fermentation tanks. In the fermentation tanks yeast is added. Here yeast metabolizes the sugar in the wort into ethyl alcohol and CO2 with the help of beechwood chips; they aren't kidding when they say "Beechwood Aged". The Beechwood chips enhance the fermentation process and are said to create a more crisp and naturally carbonated beer.

It is then moved to the finishing tanks where it takes 30-45 days to age to perfection. This is also where the beer is filtered if desired. This was my favorite stop as we again got to sample beer. We got to sample Bud Light which, I am not usually a fan, but I found that it was really tasty right from the finishing tank. If only you could swing by the brewery for fresh beer.

Of course all products have to go through QA which was our next stop. Here we got to see science at work as they tested the beer to ensure consistency and perfection.  We also learned that the Beer Master samples the beer regularly. To do this he has a finely tuned pallet which prohibits him from smoking, drinking anything alcohol based, or engaging in any other activities that might alter those taste buds.

After passing the QA testing the beer is packaged for distribution. It is also pasteurized by heating and cooling the beer which kills the bacteria that causes the yeast to grow. This is done to increase the shelf life of beer from 60 days to about 120 days.  The bottles and cans are washed, filled, capped, sealed, pasteurized, labeled and boxed in a nearly automated system of conveyors, lifts, flippers and all kinds of crazy things.

Once completed the tour ends in the tasting room. Here you get 4 samplers to try which was picked by the tour guide. We tried Alexander Keith's Nova Scotia Style Lager, Stella Artois, Redbridge, Shock Top Raspberry Wheat & Rolling Rock. We got one extra because I asked to sample the gluten free Redbridge.

Then you get one more full size sample. I choose the Shock Top Raspberry since I prefer unfiltered beer.  Let's just say by this point everyone in the group should at least be feeling good. Before leaving the brewery to see the horses we got a surprise care package which included our honorary Beer Master Certificate and a 12oz Anheuser-Busch glass to take home in addition to the hat we received at the beginning of the tour.

After the tour is over you have the option of going to see the clydesdales in their barn. The beautiful horses are an icon of Anheuser-Busch and have been almost since the beginning. It was a little cold so we didn't stick around very long but got to appreciate their size and mild mannered disposition.