I got the opportunity to take sometime of work and visit the Big Rock Brewery, a local micro-brewery that is quite famous in Alberta.

I think they may ferment beer in this

The brewery itself came off as a little disorganized, but I imagine it just appears that way because everyone seemed to know exactly what they needed to do.

My friend commented that this factory was incredibly clean.  It seemed that people were constantly cleaning down equipment all over the plants.

Hairnets and safety goggles are mandatory on the tour.

Yeast slurry... Maybe for reusing yeast? I forgot to ask why they collect it.

Not all of that wort belongs to Big Rock, they rent some of it to smaller companies

I learned a few neat things about beer, such as Big Rock does not practice pasteurization and instead uses a filtration process to clean the additional yeast from their beers. They also use carbonation in the bottles to force out all possible air; This does not mean the beers are forced carbonated as they are infact naturally carbonated, the additional CO2 is just used to prevent oxidization from happening.

Did I mention the Brewery smelled heavenly?

That is a lot of hops. They smell like yum.

This brew kettle is just a little larger then mine

That is a lot of cider

We got to keep these 4oz beer glasses

The tour finishes with a walk through the packaging and shipping facility and back to the restaurant where we can sample basically as much beer as we can hold. I made sure to try the three beers I have never had before from Big Rock, just so I could add them to the list: McNally’s Reserve, Big Rock Lime and McNally’s Winter Spice. I should note the McNally’s Reserve is not available in bottles and I have yet to see it at a bar, but it was divine: I would compare it to drinking liquid velvet.

Too bad I drove because I would have loved to have tried the rest of them.