Get Our Dank Secrets Learn How It All Works

It starts with the malt! Milling, Mashing, and Boiling

To start the process, base and specialty malts are milled to open the husks and expose the starch inside. This grist is then soaked in water at varying temperatures. The natural enzymes from the malt break down the starches and convert them into sugars, which becomes the food source for yeast to ferment into alcohol and CO2 later in the process. The mash is heated to stop enzymatic activity, then lautered (or separated) to remove the sugary liquid from the grist.

This liquid is then boiled with hops to become wort. Boiling sterilizes the wort, concentrates the sugar content, and utilizes the hops to impart bitterness, flavor, and aroma. The timing of the addition, and the duration of the boiling, determine the hoppiness of the final brew.

Looks like some good stuff brewing. Be careful, it's hot!

Good beer comes to those who wait... Fermentation and Conditioning

Once the wort is transferred into a fermenter, yeast is added or “pitched.” Yeast converts the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. After fermentation is complete the beer is cold stored, or conditioned, in the fermenters for a varying amount of time depending on the style of beer.

In addition to our modern cylindro-conical fermenters, Fat Head’s is one of very few American breweries equipped with old-world-style open fermenters. The open fermenter brewing process allows certain beers to ferment under less pressure. Use of open fermentation draws out the classic, dynamic flavors and aromas of beers traditional to German and Belgian styles.

Lagers take the longest to ferment — up to six weeks!

Going down the line... Filtering, Carbonation, and Packaging

The conditioned beer is then fed into a centrifuge, one of the latest additions to our brewery. It allows us to filter undesirable particles out of our beer without compromising flavor and aroma integrity. It also facilitates faster tank turns and lower oxygen levels, which ultimately helps us to brew more, better tasting beer! After the centrifuge, the beer is carbonated which helps create mouthfeel and deliver aromas. Now the beer is ready for canning and kegging.

After filtration and carbonation, the brite beer is filled into 12, 16, and 19.2 ounce cans in 4pk, 6pk, 12pk, 15pk, or 24pk configurations. Our kegging line also fills both half-barrels and sixth-barrels

Cans of Groovy Juice
Grab one quick, before it gets packed!

Double check, then check again! Quality Control

Throughout the entire process, our lab technicians and the production team conduct lab and sensory tests on the beer, ensuring no irregularities, contamination, or off-flavors develop. This process continues even after the beer has left the brewery, through the on-going assessment of sample beers retained from each batch in our quality control library.

Testing beer during the brewing process
Testing beer during the brewing process
This sample? Oh it's for, uh, quality control. Seriously!

And When It's Perfect... We Share It With You

Our crew is obsessed with our brews because it feels good to know that we’ve made something special. And after we go through the entire process of creating great beer, the best part is getting to share it with you. Chill out man, have a beer with us!

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Man smiling and holding a beer
Let's raise a glass together!

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