The best ingredients for the best beer

It isn't just our centuries-old brewing tradition that makes our Mönchshof speciality beers taste so unique. Another reason is our ingredients that must satisfy our own high standards before we use them in our brewing process. You can find out more on this page!

1.0 Malt – the body of the beer

Freshly flailed malting barley is delivered to our Franconian malting partners straight from the field. The grain is processed into strong special malts in a series of different steps depending on the malt variety.

The first step is to soak the barley in water until it begins to germinate. After around 5 to 7 days, germination is stopped with gentle drying and the germ bud removed. The malt is now ready for storage and can be ground.

In beer brewing, the malt blend recipe determines the later result. Along with basic malts such as the light Pilsner malt, Viennese malt or Munich malt, there is a variety of gently roasted caramel speciality malts, aromatic malts, smoky malts or roast malts to choose from. The malt blend used is what determines a beer’s character and colour.

2.0 Hops – the soul of the beer

Hops preserve beer and give it its unmistakable, bitter flavour. Depending on the type and quantity of hops added, this ingredient, along with malt, largely determines the finished beer’s flavour and odour.

In addition to the specific production and composition of the malt varieties, the individual combination of the selected hop varieties is also crucial to Mönchshof speciality beers’ uniqueness.

Over 100 hop varieties are cultivated all over the world and this number is increasing. This might even be down to the craft beer movement’s willingness to experiment. Whereas people used to value bitter-tasting hops, today’s beer connoisseurs prefer the variety of hop aromas with fruit, herb or grass flavours.

2.2 German fine hops for beer with superlative flavour

German fine hops from the cultivation areas Hallertau, Elbe-Saale, Tettnang and Spalt are world famous and, in many cases, the ancestors of many foreign new breeds.

Hops have been cultivated in Hallertau since the eighth or ninth century. At around 14,100 ha, the region is the largest continuous cultivation area in the world. The specific climactic and soil conditions, as well as centuries of knowledge, have contributed to the region being responsible for one third of the world's hop production.

The umbels from the 7 m tall hop plants are harvested from the end of August and immediately made into high-quality hop products in regional processing plants.

2.4 Hops and sensory bitterness

The bitterness unit indicates the quantity of bitter compounds in a beer variety. This "bitterness" comes directly from the type and quantity of hops added.

The following principle applies: the higher the bitterness unit (IBU – International Bitterness Unit), the more bitter the beer will taste. However, the subjective impression falls as malt content rises so darker beers usually have higher IBU than you would expect from the taste.

3.1 Top-fermented and bottom-fermented yeast

Basically, two different types of brewing yeast are used depending on the style of beer:

As the name suggests, top-fermented yeasts are used for top-fermented beers such as fruity, fizzy white beers, ales, Kölsch and Altbier. They ferment best at a warm 18 – 22°C. Once its work is done, top-fermented yeast settles at the top in the frothy layer of the beer.

Most other beer varieties are fermented with the various bottom-fermented yeasts. These so-called “lager” yeasts are more reserved and therefore better suited to soft, less floral, mild and fine aromatic beers. They work at a cool 8 – 13°C and settle at the bottom at the end of the fermentation process.