Brewery
Our philosophy
Our highly motivated and committed brewers produce craft beers in Valais with passion and without compromise. Our philosophy is shaped by the rough side of life in the Alps. The strong character of the people of Valais are also reflected in our products. No path too steep, no slope too mighty, you fall down, you stand up again and carry on. With this obsession, almost stubbornness, we constantly search for the finest ingredients to give the VALAISANNE its strong character.
The brewing water used comes from the La Fille spring. It rises at an altitude of 1800 m above sea level above Sion near Arbaz in the Sionne valley.
Brewing process
Mashing
Beginning In the brew house, different types of malt are crushed together to break up the grain kernels in order to extract fermentable sugars to produce a milled product called grist.
The grist is then transferred into a mash tun, where it is mixed with heated water in a process called mash conversion. The conversion process uses natural enzymes in the malt to break the malt’s starch down into sugars.
Lautering
The mash is then pumped into the lauter tun, where a sweet liquid (known as wort) is separated from the grain husks.
Boiling
The wort is then collected in a vessel called a kettle, where it is brought to a controlled boil before the hops are added. After boiling, the wort is transferred into a whirlpool for the wort separation stage. During this stage, any malt or hop particles are removed to leave a liquid that is ready to be cooled and fermented.
Fermentation
To start the fermentation, yeast is added during the filling of the vessel. Yeast converts the sugary wort into beer by producing alcohol, a wide range of flavors, and carbon dioxide (used later in the process to give the beer its sparkle).
Conditioning
After fermentation, the young “green” beer needs to be matured in order to allow both a full development of flavors and a smooth finish.
Bottling
After reaching its full potential, the beer is filtered, carbonated, and transferred to the bright beer tank, where it goes through a cellaring process that takes 3-4 weeks to complete. Once completed, the beer is ready to be packaged.