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By
Emma Campbell
There
was only one way Brakspear's one-tonne fermentation vessels were
coming into Wychwood Brewery - and that was through the roof.
They're
the best part of a century old. First installed in Henley in around
1910, they've been re-lined, re-clad, and are ready to go. The vessels
are key to the production of Brakspear beer.
"What
is unique about this," said Wychwood chief executive Rupert
Thompson, "is the double-drop system.
"It's
very, very rare.
"It's
an old-fashioned process, where you hold the beer in one vessel
for 12 to 24 hours, and then drop it into another.
"We
couldn't have brewed Brakspear quite like it was before without
either having the double-drop system or having a process that replicated
it."
With
only an inch and a half clearance between the fermentation vessels
and the brewery's beams, there was no room for error when the vats
were lowered in.
A few
last-minute adjustments were called for - involving a hammer.
The
engineering consultant, Tom Sawyer, told 成人论坛 Oxford: "There's
a lot of preparation involved because obviously we've got an existing
building and some of the equipment is existing - so it didn't match
when we started.
"We
just had to make sure that it did match when we'd finished."
Bringing
Brakspear back to Oxfordshire has taken more than a year of planning,
and has meant the brewery closing for four weeks for the refit.
But
will the beer taste the same brewed in Witney as it did in Henley?
Jeremy
Moss, the head brewer, said, "We'll have a panel of about four
or five people who know the product well and those people will hopefully
aim this towards where we should be.
"Brakspears
is an Oxfordshire beer. It should back in Oxfordshire. This is where
it started - this is where it should be.
"Oxfordshire's
its home, at the end of the day."
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