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Raw Materials
Only the best ingredients: Weyermann malt from Germany, hops from producers around the world, local ARO water from Rapperswil-Jona, and — depending on the beer — various yeasts. What goes in decides what comes out.
Bier FactoryOur malt
We brew with Weyermann malt from Bamberg — family-run since 1879, the world leader in specialty malts.
GeneralWhy do malts have different colours?
Kilning and roasting drive Maillard reactions — the same browning as in bread or a steak. Lightly kilned base malt (~50–70 °C) keeps its enzymes and gives biscuit & grain. Higher temperatures caramelise (caramel/crystal malt → toffee) or roast (chocolate/roasted malt, up to ~440 °C → coffee, chocolate). The darker the malt, the fewer enzymes — so brewers blend: base malt for the sugar, specialty malt for colour & flavour.
Malt colours — base to roasted
Pilsner
Pale / Vienna
Caramel
Choc
Roast
Bier FactoryOur hops
Hops from growers around the world — different varieties depending on the beer.
GeneralWhy & how hops work
Hops bring bitterness, aroma and natural shelf-life. During the boil the alpha acids isomerise into iso-alpha acids — that is the bitterness. The essential oils (floral, citrus, fruity) are volatile and boil off — so aroma hops go in late or as a dry hop. Modern touches: cryo hops (concentrated lupulin) and biotransformation / thiols — yeast turns odourless precursors into tropical notes (grapefruit, passion fruit, guava).
Bier FactoryOur water
Local ARO water from Rapperswil-Jona. Beer is over 90% water — the source shapes its character.
GeneralAnd the yeast?
Yeast is a raw material too — but it only enters at the cold side: it is pitched into the finished, chilled wort, not during the brew. More on that at the Cold Side & Fermentation station.
Look aroundThe malt sacks and raw materials in storage.
Did you know?The Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 named just three ingredients: water, barley and hops. Yeast was missing — its role was only understood scientifically some 300 years later.