Buildings of the Brewery
BREWING PLANT
Originally a two-storey wood and stone structure, fitted with a 4hhd plant, the brewery grew in leaps and bounds.
By 1869, a new structure was built directly in front of the existing brewery for a total expenditure of £2000.
The new two-storey stone and brick building measured 80ft x 30ft with a 11hhd plant imported from Melbourne.
By the 1880’s, with J.K. Simpson as brewer, demand was created throughout the lower south island, production increasing to 70hhds per month. This initiated the need for a bottling plant to be erected on site.
Simpson & Hart’s reign saw the brewery produce 5000-6000 gallons per week at peak times.
BREWING
Brewing has four basic stages, malting, mashing, wort boiling and fermentation.The mashing stage starts with grinding the malt into grist then mixing it with hot water to make a wort.
The mashing process enables the malt enzymes to convert the starch into a mixture of carbohydrates and must also contain some residual nitrogen.
Adding hops and any other ‘secret’ ingredients, the wort is then boiled for two hours or more. Once completed, the wort is then filtered, removing spent hops and grain before bringing the temperature down rapidly.
Once chilled it is time for fermentation, where yeast is added, converting the sugars in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
After skimming the yeast the beer undergoes a secondary fermentation process.
After a suitable period the beer is now ready for delivery and consumption.
THE MALT-HOUSE
The malt-house and kiln, designed by David Ross and built by Humphrey, was completed in April 1874.
Innovative ideas were used in the design, the structure costing £1000.
The floor of the kiln used fine wire netting laid over iron rods instead of the usual perforated tiles and was roofed with wooden shingles to prevent condensation.
MALTING
The malting process begins when a grain, usually barley, is steeped in water and encouraged to germinate under controlled temperature and oxygenation conditions.
Traditionally the steeped grain was spread over malting floors then piled into heaps to initiate germination.
The barley begins to sprout a couple of days after steeping. After the sprouting, the released enzymes break down the residual starch of the grain into fermentable sugars.
Cured by hot air filtered through perforated floors in a kiln as it is tumbled, the grain is then dried, halting the germination process.
Different malts are produced depending on how long the drying process is allowed to continue.
The grain is now malt ready for screening, separating the loose outer skins and the culmings.
MALTSERS
The maltser has a very skilled job as a good quality beer cannot be brewed without good malt..
He decides when the grain has reached the desired stage of germination before being taken to the kiln. At this stage it is called ‘green malt’.
If germination continues too long it uses up the carbohydrate and protein needed for brewing.
WATER
One of the three main ingredients of beer is water, which varies greatly in chemical composition.
Chemists found the reason famous pale ales from Burton-on-Trent in England were superior, was the extremely hard water with high calcium and magnesium sulfate content. This allows high hopping rates and excellent fermentation, having a fulsome effect on flavour.
Tests conducted by Professor Black pronounced the water of the Black Horse Brewery similar to that used by Bassard & Co at Burton-on-Trent.
In addition to the quality of the water, J.K. Simpson was an excellent brewer who introduced new techniques and knowledge, which he kept secret, producing an ale whose quality was unsurpassed in the south.
The Brewery became famous from Canterbury to Bluff and all over the goldfields, winning prizes at the 1889-90 NZ & South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin.
HOPS
Hops catkins, or flowers are traditionally added to beer at the brewing stage as a natural preservative and to give the characteristic bitter taste to beer.
Being avid gardeners, the Hart’s planted hops on site, cultivating a unique flavour for the Black Horse brew. Like the rest of the garden, they reappear every year along the fence line.
As the plants are latitude sensitive, good quality hops are confined to a relatively small area in Nelson. By the 1920’s transport became easier and national hops production came from these superior crops.
Hop ale was popular during the Temperance movement as it has a beer flavor and low alcohol content. (between 2 % and 3% proof.)
Kiwi hops are now world renowned and unmatched in quality.
GLOSSARY
- Barrel - 36 gallon cask
- Culmings - Rootlets formed on the end of grain during germination
- Hogshead - 54 gallon cask (hhd)
- India Pale Ale - Higher in alcohol to protect it during the voyage from Britain to India in colonial days
- Stout - Black beer which gains its colour by heavily roasting the malt
- Wort- Pronounced wert - Unfermented liquid derived from malting the grain