Crafting in Ukrainian: quality, creativity and control - these are the foundations of stable success of the ALTBIER family of restaurants
CRAFT CREATION IN UKRAINIAN
An important advantage of craft brewing is that each brewery in the process of development goes a special way, while creating unique products. As a result, the "winners" are all - and brewers who have the opportunity to experiment and grow professionally, and consumers who receive exclusive beer. AltBier breweries are an excellent platform for the formation, development and further fruitful work of many talented brewers today. There is something to be proud of the local masters: now in the intellectual treasury of the company - about 80 beers, authored by both Czech and local breweries. When you have such a strong base, it is important to constantly maintain the highest standard of product quality, says CEO of AltBier Sergei Kovalenko. However, AltBier breweries do not stop creating.
The recent East European Beer Award-2021 Tasting Competition confirmed that AltBier Brewery brewers not only set ambitious goals, but also confidently achieve them. As many as eight awards were added to the company's treasury, as well as numerous diplomas of finalists for the best beer in the categories. The honorary Grand Prix, obtained as a result of a beer competition, encourages brewers to future victories. Recently, journalists from BEER. Technologies & Innovations visited the enterprises of the AltBier group of companies.
DIFFERENT STYLES - DIFFERENT TASTE
- "My" beers are like children: you love them all equally, and it is difficult to single out any one, - says the main brewer of AltBier Brewery Tetyana Volynska, demonstrating the capacity of the brewery.
Currently, the large brewery brews seven "main" beers, and later plan to replenish the range of this
category with three more varieties that are in high demand. In total, the large brewery, which has 25 six-ton CCTs, produces more than 200 tons of finished products per month.
- In the Kharkiv restaurant-brewery, located on the Sumy market, craft and experimental grades are brewed at the mini-brewery, terms of beer production are even longer - from 60 days, and some grades - more than 6 months. There we use smaller CCT - 2 tons. We regularly make certain changes to the distribution of varietal diversity: the greater the demand for a particular variety of beer, the more likely we are to brew it in a large brewery. Yes, the sale of three varieties has now grown, so we are increasing their volume. In general, we now produce about 30 varieties of beer, we constantly brew up to 25 varieties. Although usually their number grows at the end of the season, - says Tatiana Volynska.
AltBier Brewery breweries operate in three different brewing styles: Ukrainian, German and Czech. And each of them has its own characteristics. German provides an insistent method of mashing and application - infusion, Czech - single or multiple decoction. Each method of mashing has its pros and cons. Ukrainian craft is represented by the best varieties from the brewer Victor Vashchuk and brewers Czech BrewMasters src, the main feature of which is uniqueness and bright taste, which harmoniously combines the best technological solutions of both European styles. The undeniable advantage of AltBier Brewery specialists is their ability to work differently depending on the type and taste of beer. Production technology is very complex, with widespread practice of manual labor. Breweries currently operate with semi-automatic equipment. However, with the growth of production there will be a technical opportunity to move to a fully automatic process.
- Then the brewer will only have to control the process on the screen, and automation will fully ensure the alternate execution of all tasks. In the meantime, we are working on a semi-automatic system. Each tank has its own control. It is also possible to manage the CCT fleet. That is, the specialist during the work can monitor the most important indicators, prescribe recipes for each equipment. We are trying to keep up with the times, so the new CCT, which we will install later, will have an improved cooling system, - says the brewer.
The main part of the AltBier Brewery equipment was once designed and manufactured by Czech BrewMasters src and the Kharkiv company Prommontazh-04. The beer brewing park consists of five tanks: a mash boiler, a filter vat, a wort boiler, a whirlpool at the top and a wort collector at the bottom. The technology provides continuity of the process: as soon as one container is released, it is possible to load raw materials for the next cooking. In total, the equipment is designed for at least seven completed brews per day. However, working on Czech technology, brewers can start a new brew every 2-3 hours.
