How the Hunter Valley Brewery works
Written by: Cameron Ward
Published: 05/14/2019
Reading time: 3 mins
Fancy an ice-cold beer in the heart of the Hunter Valley Wine Country? Don’t despair as you are not alone!
Majority of visitors flock to Hunter Valley with one thought on their mind; wine. And while this is all well and good for your holiday priorities, others may find wine lacking. Luckily, Hunter Valley has an alternative, with the popular Matilda Bay Brewhouse serving a unique display of beer and cider. Here travellers can have a break from the endless red and white wines and dive straight into the large range of golden brews. Offering a range of both beer and cider made right next door to the tasting room in the working Brewery. But how have these delicious drinks come out frothy and ice cold for you to enjoy with your side of burger and chips?
How the Beer is Made
There are four basic ingredients to beer; barley, water, hops, and yeast. The idea is to extract all the sugar from the grains using the barley and to turn the yeast into alcohol and CO2. The processes are typically malting, then mashing, boiling, and finally fermentation. After all this, they do the filtration, carbonation, and bottling, resulting in a crisp bottle of beer. Of course, it’s a lot more complicated than that, with different and methods processes in between creating different types of beer and flavours.
How the Cider is Made
The sweet alternative to beer; cider has grown in popularity and now is one of the most popular alcoholic choices around. They obtain the natural liquid beverage from the pressing of a finely ground fruit such as apples. Transforming the fruit’s sugars into alcohol by means of the fermentation process. Fermentation is when yeast converts the apple sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. Despite apples being the main ingredient, some of the time pears, cherries, or even strawberries can be altered to create a different kind of cider.
How Matilda Bay Brewhouse does it
It is Pokolbin’s very first boutique brewhouse, starting back in 2001 and remaining one of the top attractions in the area. The Matilda Bay Brewhouse is home to both a working brewery as well as a bar and restaurant, with only a glass wall dividing them. There are huge, modern machinery scattered about the brewery, with their roles involving the fermentation, stirring, filtration, and bottling. The large window lets folk see the process of beer and cider making first hand, all the while tasting the finishing product!
What you should order there
The brewhouse is open for both lunch and dinner, serving delicious, mouth-watering meals that compliment the range of brews perfectly. If you’re interested in trying a range of flavors, we suggest ordering the unique Beer Tasting Paddle, which features each of the brewery’s twelve local brews. While sipping on these delicious drinks, you can enjoy some pairing foods to go with them, noting the taste pairing for each for an even better experience. After that, you can try out their signature apple cider for a dessert sweet treat to finish off with.
Related article: What else does the Hunter Valley offer besides wineries?
