A prerequisite for good beer is good water.

At the ends of water-bearing layers at the edge of a slope, the water emerges as a spring at the foot of the slope. Our water comes from these so-called hillside springs – and not from deep boreholes.

We are fortunate to be in possession of two such springs, which consistently provide us with high quality water. Our excellent brewing water contains less than half the nitrate content permitted by the German Drinking Water Ordinance. This means that we also comply with the strict Bioland guidelines.

Depending on the type of beer, two to three different hop varieties are used. The art of the master brewer lies in how well he knows how to bring the aroma and bitter substances of the hops into a harmonious relationship.

Hops play a whole range of roles in beer production:
Their bitter substances give beer its bitterness and the hop oil gives it its typical aroma.
The tannins contained in hops precipitate protein and therefore have a clarifying effect.
Hops also have foam-improving properties and are considered a natural ‘preservative ‘ for beer. Did you know that no pathogenic (disease-causing) germs can occur in hopped beer?

Hops are a perennial climbing plant from the hemp family. The shoots cut down for harvesting die back in winter and the vine sprouts anew in spring. Some of the shoots are “guided up” on thin wires and climb up to 7 meters before the hops are harvested from the end of August to mid-September.

Only the ‘cone’ of the female hop plant is of interest to the brewer. Male plants are not found in hop gardens in order to prevent unwanted fertilization.
The cone itself consists of the stalk, leaves and – on the inside – countless small, yellowish, sticky beads, the “hop flour” or “lupulin”.
This lupulin is the actual valuable component of hops, the carrier of its aroma and bitter substances.

Our main focus is on local hop growing and therefore on the regional hop farmers. A large proportion of our hop requirements (Hallertauer Perle, Hersbrucker) and the Hersbrucker Select are grown within a radius of 4 km.

Franz Friedrich from Lilling supplies us with the organic varieties Hersbrucker Hersbrucker, Hüller Flavourhopfen Polaris and Hüller Flavourhopfen Mandarina.

Incidentally, we still seal cultivation contracts with Franconian farmers with a handshake.

Before the specially grown malting barley can be used for brewing, it must first be refined into malt. In principle, the barley grains are kept moist in the malt house until they germinate. They are then gently dried and roasted. Expert roasting is the secret of good malt quality, as many of the malt’s flavor notes can be found in the beer.

Until 25 years ago, malting was carried out by the monastery brewery itself, but for energy-related reasons the brewery decided to outsource this to malt houses specializing in this branch. Our partner is the Schütz family, Mälzerei Schüma Harsdorfer Malzfabrik, in a Franconian village not far from us.

In the original Bavarian Purity Law, it is striking that yeast is not mentioned at all, even though beer production is impossible without it.

This was probably already known at the time of Wilhelm IV. Munich’s police regulations from 1420 already stipulated that bottom-fermented beer had to be stored for 8 days, while top-fermented beer could be served immediately. Consequently, the difference between cold (bottom-fermented) and warm (top-fermented) fermentation must have been known even then.

What was not known, however, was the exact mode of action of the yeast. The yeast that multiplied during fermentation was regarded as a “product of beer production”. As long as the nature of fermentation was not scientifically understood, it was assumed that alcohol was already present in fermentable substances and was only revealed through fermentation. The fermentation process was seen as a kind of “purifying process” in the course of which certain substances that were present as impurities in the alcohol were separated out. At that time, the yeast cells that separated were still considered to be impurities.

It is therefore no wonder that bakers of all people were often the best brewers and that these two trades were often found together: there were plenty of yeast spores in the air of the bakeries to cause vigorous fermentation. And so the rule was: ‘Today I bake, tomorrow I brew, […]”

The course of fermentation was therefore a product of chance. If too many “wild yeasts” spoiled the beer, the result was an undrinkable product, “hops and malt were lost”, as the saying goes.

Today, yeast is cultivated in pure cultures, i.e. only those strains that are desired for the fermentation process are propagated.

Strains that do not belong to the beer culture yeasts are referred to as “wild yeasts”. They can cause undesirable clouding or changes in taste in beer.

The pure cultivation of brewer’s yeast is a comparatively recent invention. We owe it to the research of Pasteur (1822 – 1895) and above all Hansen (1842 – 1909), who dealt with brewer’s yeast and its pure cultivation in his scientific work (first brewer’s yeast culture: 1881).

There are two main groups of brewer’s yeasts: top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting brewer’s yeasts.

While the top-fermenting beer yeasts ferment at temperatures of 15-25° C, the bottom-fermenting yeasts work at temperatures of 5-10° C.

The name of both groups is derived from the fact that the top-fermenting yeasts form sprouts during the fermentation process and rise to the surface of the young beer in the fermentation vessel, whereas the bottom-fermenting yeasts settle to the bottom of the vessel at the end of fermentation.

Depending on the yeast selected, a distinction is made between bottom-fermented and top-fermented beers. Bottom-fermented beers include light and dark lager as well as export, Pils or Märzen. The most prominent representative of top-fermented beer in Bavaria is wheat beer, but rye and spelt beer are also brewed as top-fermented beers, as are Kölsch and Alt outside Bavaria.

Compared to normal barley (14% protein), it has a much lower protein content of 10 to 11%. This has the advantage that the desired starch content is increased to around 63%. In addition, a higher protein content can lead to undesirable clouding of the beer. Starch is the most important ingredient in malting barley, as it is broken down into maltose in the subsequent mashing process and even later into alcohol and carbon dioxide by the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) during fermentation.

We source our organic barley from Franconian organic farmers who carefully select the right soils and crop rotations for malting barley.

Our conventional barley is guaranteed to be purchased by our malthouse from German farmers.

Before the barley can be used for brewing, however, it must first be refined into malt.

The demands we have placed on our raw materials and production methods since then even exceed the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 – a law that has guaranteed the outstanding quality of our monastery beers for centuries.

The Bavarian purity law was yesterday. Today, the ecological purity law applies. A new benchmark for the quality of outstanding beers.

The high standards are reflected in the entire production process. From checking the raw materials, their origin and use, to the traditional brewing process and bottling. And only those who can fully prove that the strict Bioland criteria are always adhered to will ultimately receive the coveted seal of approval from the Augsburg organic inspection body DE 002.

Hops and malt. Water and yeast. We only use the best, ecologically sound ingredients and raw materials.

It all starts with the environmentally friendly cultivation of our raw materials. In the neighboring village of Lilling, organic farmer Franz Friedrich cultivates the aroma hop varieties “Hersbrucker” and “Spalter Select”. Two regional hop specialties that have proven particularly successful in organic farming and give our beers their typical Franconian spiciness.

The malt also comes from our region. The Bergler Klostermalz malthouse in Frauenaurach malts only organically produced malting barley for our brewery, which we buy directly from Franconian organic farmers.

When selecting fermentation yeasts, we avoid genetically modified strains and reject dubious new developments from the food industry as a matter of principle.

We are particularly proud of our excellent brewing water. It contains less than half the nitrate content permitted by the German Drinking Water Ordinance. This means that we also comply with the strict Bioland guidelines. We see this as a positive effect of environmentally conscious farming by local farmers and organic farmers.

The production method also corresponds to the traditional brewing craft. This is reflected, among other things, in the separate, non-forced primary and secondary fermentation. The absence of water treatment, gentle filtration and the use of glass bottles. All this guarantees a lovingly and elaborately brewed beer.

Fortunately, more and more farmers in our region are now farming according to ecological principles. As a result, conventionally farmed landscapes are gradually being transformed into species-rich and near-natural fields and meadows. For the benefit of all the people who live here and future generations,

By drinking just one crate of Weißenoher Classic, you are supporting organic farming on 7 square meters of land in our region! And save us all a lot of environmentally harmful chemicals at the same time.

So it’s worth making the switch. To the enjoyment of organically grown, traditional Franconian brewed beer specialties from the Weißenohe monastery brewery.

Welcome to beer heaven at the Weißenoher Klosterbrauerei

Cheers
Your Winkler family

Would you like more information on the Bioland processing guidelines?
Just ask us. Or write directly to Bioland.

Bioland – Public Relations
Kaiserstr. 18, 55116 Mainz
Phone 06131/23979-0,
Fax 06131/23979-27

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