XXXX Brewery Tour- Three Brits Who Wouldn't Give a XXXX for Anything Else Either

As we were delayed leaving Brisbane by one day the kind people at Castlemaine Perkins invited us down to the brewery located in Milton Queensland.
Lending us a pair of shoes each they took us on a tour of the plant showing us the locations and all the different processes involved in the making and storing of the beer.Our tour started with the history of beer in Queensland and we learnt how and by whom the brewery was set up and how it came to be known as the famous XXXX brand known by people all over the world today. The number of X’s on the label representing the quality of the beer.
It was interesting to find out the various methods involved in making the different beers. We learnt that the darkness of the beer is dependent on how long the barley is roasted and that different strains of yeast are used to produce different ales. Also that as well as flavouring the beer the hops act as a natural preservative. It was interesting to learn just how important the type of water used in the brewing process can be to the particular taste and quality of the beer. This might explain why XXXX tastes that little bit better in Queensland than anywhere else.
After the Brewhouse the tour moved on to the Packaging Hall – the single largest packaging line in the southern hemisphere. The scale of this operation was hypnotic and we watched the millions of bottles and tinnies fly past with our noses pressed up against the Perspex, saliva pooling at our feet. Knowing that we would have no money to buy a cold beer for the next four months made seeing all this particularly tough. Our condition worsened as we saw what we thought was beer leaking onto the floor, however we were quickly reassured that this FloorX was a waste product and was just frothy water. Smiles soon appeared on our faces when we were told that we would be allowed to sample the beer very soon in their own on site XXXX Ale House.

It is also worth mentioning the great efforts the brewery are putting into making their site more environmentally friendly and to reduce their carbon footprint.
One of the by-products of any brewing is the production large amounts of CO2. At Castlemaine Perkins this CO2 is being captured and used to carbonate the beer. They are also currently installing a waste water recycling plant which will radically reduce the mains water used by around 400 million litres each year (the equivalent to 1.1 million litres each day). This water will be recycled to a very high purity but will not be used in the actual beer itself but will instead be used for cleaning, boiling and in the cooling towers. This will not compromise the beer as mains water will still be used for brewing.

Spirits soaring, we got to sample four glasses of the freshly brewed XXXX including the older and very rare XXX and a stout also produced on the site called Carbine. These proved to be the winners for us and we couldn’t believe that both weren’t more widely available. However the barman explained that both drinks needed to be drunk from a glass and so weren’t that popular when on the market.
Just when we thought that the fun was all over and we were worriedly finishing what we thought could be our last drops of beer for a very long time a very kind lady walked over and offered us some more vouchers which we redeemed at the bar with glee. Having only been in Australia less than a month I find it hard to believe that we will find a better drop throughout the land than the XXX we had that day. However anybody who believes different will find three very parched and willing testers.
A big thank you for the beer, the shirts and the hats guys.
To book a tour and taste for yourself visit here. http://www.xxxx.com.au//