Brakspear Organic

Double Drop fermentation makes Brakspear beer unique

Double Dropping, also known as the Dropping System of fermentation, was for the first half of the 20 th Century the most popular method for the fermentation of traditional English Ales.

It involves starting fermentation of the wort (fermentable liquid rich in malted barley's sugars) in one vessel, followed by “dropping” this liquid under gravity into a second vessel below it, usually on the second day of fermentation. Here it continues its fermentation for two or three days. The beer is then slowly cooled over the next couple of days, during which time it matures and gains complexity.

As breweries were modernized, or taken over and closed, the Double Drop method quietly went out of fashion, almost disappearing by the end of the century.

The system has two main beneficial effects:

• purifying of the partially fermented beer, by leaving behind protein deposits and spent yeasts which can cause ‘off' flavors in the final beer.
• aeration of the wort causing a surge in yeast growth, which develops the special delicate butterscotch flavors for which Brakspear Bitter is acclaimed.

Whilst modern technology can imitate both these effects, the Double Drop system does it naturally by the use of gravity. Also, as the vessels are fixed, the effect is entirely consistent from brew to brew.

Brakspear's at Henley was one of the last established traditional brewers in the UK to use this Double Drop method for production of its regular brews. Six of the original Brakspear Double Drop vessels and the two primary fermenters have been installed in their own dedicated Brakspear fermenting room, within the Wychwood brewery in Witney, and there, Brakspear beers are being Double Dropped once again.