Brewery history of Panther Brewery
When Reepham brewery called time in 2009 the award winning beer stopped flowing, the mash tun was abandoned and the hops order cancelled. I (Martin) had just been made redundant and decided to make sure the next career move was into something I really enjoyed. I decided to take a gamble and turn my hobby into a business in December 2010.
The name of the new brewery is a result of the inhabitants of the small Norfolk town of Reepham claiming to have seen a large panther-like cat prowling and secretly stalking the countryside. Our handcrafted ale is dedicated to this beautiful animal. Deliciously balanced with poise and a sleek finish, it is a celebration of the beast’s cunning and prowess.
We are keen to support Norfolk’s suppliers and source ingredients needed for the ale locally.
Brewing process
- We use locally grown barley that has been turned into malt which is known as the malting process
- The malt is crushed and mixed in with water to create the mash
- The mash is left for a set time at a set temperature to all the sugars in the malt to be extracted
- The liquid becomes known as the wort and is drained into the copper ready for boiling.
- More hot water is then sprayed over the malt to wash out as much of the sugar as possible and again drained into the copper
- Once the copper is filled to the level require the wort is then boiled
- While boiling hops are added to the wort to keep it the bitterness we require
- At the end of the boil more hops are added to add different layers of bitterness and change the flavour
- Boiling the wort helps to sterilise and stabilise the liquid ready for the fermentation phase
- The wort is then chilled down using a heat exchanger to rapidly cool the wort
- Once cooled to the necessary temperature yeast is then added to the wort
- The yeast uses up the sugars and converts them in to carbon dioxide and alcohol
- Once the yeast has finished we are left with beer
- At this stage the beer is still young and needs conditioning before its ready to drink
- The beer is cooled to allow the yeast to drop out of the beer and settle at the bottom of the fermentor
- The beer is then transferred to the conditioning tank where a small amount of sugar is added
- The beer is then racked into casks or packaged into bottles
- This sugar awakens the small amount of yeast left in the beer and causes it to start fermenting again. This creates the carbonation or fizz.
- The beer is then cooled again (known as conditioning) it help the beer clear
- Once the beer is clear and carbonated it is ready to enjoy!
