Cariboo Brewing

Ever wondered what it takes to produce that special can of Cariboo you know and love…

Cariboo Brewing uses a nine step method. Each step, crucial to creating a delicious Boo.

1. Malting – The first step, is modifiying the barley into malt, by steeping barley to induce germination. At the end of the malting it is dried on a kiln. There are only a few cereal grains that can be malted and barley is the best for beer.
2. Milling – This is where the grains that are going to be used in each batch of beer are cracked.
3. Mashing- The milled grain is dropped into the mash tun with warm water, the grain and water are mixed together to create a mash. During the mash process the starches of the malt barley are turned into sugars.
4. Lautering – At the end of the mashing process the sugar rich mixture is then strained through the bottom of the mash.
5. Boiling – The liquid up to this point is called wort and is moved into a large vessel known as a kettle. In this stage of the process, the wort is brought to a boil and spiced with hops.

* This is where the flavour, colour and aroma are finalized.




Peter Boettcher, Cariboo Brewing - Brewmaster

6. Fermenting – Sugars from the malt juice and are metabolized into alcohol and carbon dioxide and the product can be called beer for the first time.

*There are various fermentation methods; however, we prefer the cold method because that way we can produce the smoothest beers.

7. Conditioning – The beer is cooled to around freezing, which encourages settling of the yeast and causes proteins to thicken and is where our beers become crisp and clean.
8. Filtering – In this stage the filtering stabilizes the flavor and the beer becomes bright and clear.
9. Packaging – Finally the beer is put into bottles, cans and kegs. After packaging, the beer is shipped to various liquor stores, pubs and restaurants, leaving the brewery fresh and should be consumed ASAP.

Our Braumeister, Peter Boettcher, has mastered this process. He, along with the brewery team in Prince George, works hard everyday to brew the best beer in BC for all to enjoy.

Hopefully, now that you understand the process, you will share the excitement we have for beer. Whichever Cariboo beer you are enjoying tonight, each beer was brewed using the nine steps mentioned.