Wye Valley Brewery - 25 August 2006

Wye Valley Brewery, Stoke Lacy, Bromyard, Worcestershire - Photographs taken by Roger Putman - 25 August 2006

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  Wye Valley was founded by Peter Amor in 1985 after a career with Guinness
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  It moved into the current nine acre site, which had been the home of Symond's Cider in 2002. Founded in 1727, Symonds passed to Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd in 1985 and on to Bulmers which used the brands but sold the plant
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  There is a thriving shop...
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  …selling a good ceal of Dorothy Goodbody merchandise
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  Meeting rooms etc are also available
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  The range of bottles currently packaged by Thwaites & Co. Ltd
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  There are three cask products, Bitter, Herefordshire Pale and Butty Bach or Little Friend in Welsh
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  One of five flat trucks recently returned from Bristol where it delivered 52 firkins
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  The foundation blocks of the old cider vats are still in the yard but the view of the countryside is much improved
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  The brewery is in one of the old cider processing sheds, this is the spent grains end
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  A pair of Cochrane boilers
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  The grain chute above the AR2000 two roller mill and the conveyor back up to the grist case
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  The Alan Hubbard AR2000 mill
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  An unusual horizontal hydrator
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  Inside the 1000kg mash tun by Bedford Stainless
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  The copper by Hi-line of Burton on Trent
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  The hopback rescued from King & Barnes Ltd for a mere £700
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  Filling the farmer's grains truck
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  There are pairs of 20 brl and 30 brl fermenters and a single 40brl by Hi-line. At the end is a Holvrieka 80brl double brew vessel where the first mash kicks off at 03:30.
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  Another view of the fermenting walkway with the 30 and 40 brl racking tanks on the right
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  A chilled liquor and glycol wort heat exchanger set up with glycol being used in the warmer weather
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  The feed to the 160 firkins Microdat cask washer
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  The washed casks come out here
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  The external brushing station
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  View of the cask washer from the side
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  Another three quarter view of the washer
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  Washer control screen
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  Detergent and liquor tank status
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  Matt Ingram adding the finings to the casks before filling
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  Casks have two bar codes well glued on and uses the SPA Soft system to track casks to the pub and back again
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  Finished casks in 10oC cool storage
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  A well equipped laboratory
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  Engineering manager Milo Ingram helps out filling six casks on a pallet at a time
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  Head Brewer Jimmy Swan
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  Brewer Simeon Davis dips the hop back
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  We had to go all the way into Hereford to find current MD Vernon Amor and his dad and Executive Chairman Peter in the cellar of the Barrels pub.
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  Here is Dorothy a legendary farmer's daughter who was apparently obliging to young gentlemen!