All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S04E07.Beer.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

We drink more than seven
and a half billion pints

of beer a year.

That's more than
20 million every day.

No wonder is the nation's
favorite alcoholic drink.

Whether you're making craft
ales, stout, or lager,

brewing is a complex process
that involves malting,

mashing, and fermenting.

It's all happening in here
at Britain's biggest brewery.

I'm Gregg Wallace.

I've never seen
anything like this.

The scale of this
production is so ginormous.

And I'll be following the
incredible journey lager

takes from barley to beverage.

One small step for
mankind, a very long way

for a pint of beer.

[music playing]

I'm Cherry Healey.

Oh, wow.

And I'll be discovering the
secrets of the perfect pint.

You can really smell
the alcohol, actually.

GREGG WALLACE:
Historian Ruth Goodman--

Gosh, that is dark.

GREGG WALLACE: --discovers how
beer got its stereotypically

blokey reputation.

Men get interested
in brewing when

it gets a bit more lucrative.

Yes.

[laughs]

Over the next 24 hours,
three million pints of beer

will roll off the end
of this production line.

That is a big night
by anyone's standards.

Welcome to Inside the Factory.

[music playing]

This is the Molson Coors
Brewery in Burton upon Trent.

They've been making beer
on this site since 1777.

And today, they knock out
six different varieties.

Tonight, we follow
the production

of their biggest seller,
which is also the Uk's

most popular lager, Carling.

But no matter what
kind you're making,

all beers are traditionally made
from just four key ingredients,

water, hops, yeast, and barley.

This humble grain is essential,
providing the nutrients that

kick start the brewing process.

[music playing]

From the farm the raw, barley
heads 56 miles north to Burton

upon Trent.

But it can't go
straight to the brewery.

Before it can be
used to make beer,

its internal chemistry
has to be altered.

And that happens here
at Shobnall Maltings.

The operation is
overseen by production

manager, Mark Warren.

Gregg, pleased to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

I've come to see
the barley unloaded.

Our beer production begins.

With only four main
ingredients, you

might think this would
be a quick process,

but you'd be wrong.

It'll take nearly two weeks
to turn this lot into beer.

[music playing]

Is he dumping it into the floor?

Into this pit, there's an
elevator there, up through the

building, and over into a silo.

Wow.

[music playing]

In just 30 minutes, this clever,
subterranean system transports

all the barley to the silos.

[music playing]

How do you turn this into beer?

What has barley got
that makes beer?

What that is is a food
package full of starch.

All we're going to do is break
down the cell walls that hold

that starch together, that
allows it then to be converted

into sugars at the brewery.

GREGG WALLACE: It's these
sugars that will give

us our all important alcohol.

What's that process called?

Molting.

Is there a traditional way?

Is that the way
we've always done it?

Since Egyptian times.

Is this molting
a long process?

I'm afraid so, yes.

Are you happy to
show me how it's done?

I certainly am.

Well--

Let's go way.

Thank you very much.

[music playing]

Over 40 tons of barley is piped
from the silos into one of 10

giant containers,
called steeping vessels.

This is the start of
the molting process.

GREGG WALLACE: The barley
is submerged in 138,000

liters of oxygenated water.

What we're basically
doing is tricking

the barley into growing.

We're doing what happens
in nature, in the ground.

So we're giving it
moisture and air.

This is a seed?

Yes.

Are you trying to
get the seed to grow?

Yes.

And you're going to
trick it into thinking

it's falling into the ground?

Yeah.

Right.

OK.

[music playing]

The confused seeds
absorb the water.

And after more than 40
hours soaking in this bath,

they've tripled their
moisture content.

Oh, I thought that
would be a mush.

No.

I thought that would
be a complete mush.

It's not.

So now, that's what
we call a chit a chit.

And that is where the
rootlets would form.

That little white root
that's coming out of there.

That's right.

Yeah.

That's the seed growing?

Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: This growth
is triggered by the release

of starch inside the seed.

So this is a little
self-contained living organism?

Yes.

And what is making that
root grow is the energy

that's coming from the starch?

That's right.

Wow.

Well, listen, I was never very
good at science at school.

Well, I didn't go
to school much.

But I understand this perfectly.

[music playing]

Each grain of barley is
changing its internal chemistry.

But they're in no hurry.

We're already nearly two
days into production.

[music playing]

Luckily, this next
stage is a no-brainer.

Just like when you're
planting seeds,

once they've had a good
water, next they need warmth.

And that's supplied in these
mysterious looking buildings,

called germination tanks.

[music playing]

There are four of them here.

And they're all
controlled from this room.

Bit of a cool retro tech.

Very important
retro tech though.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE:
Each of these tanks

contains 330 tons
of chitted grain.

Oh.

Oh.

What is this?

What is this?

This is germination.

Germination.

This looks like a cross between
sand dunes and a baker's bun.

At least, it's warm in here.

It's humid in here.

This is the perfect
conditions to grow the grain.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: Giant fans
blow humid air at 16 degrees

Celsius up through
the grain bed.

How deep is this?

This is about 1.8 meters.

If I tread on there, do we
just, like, sink to the bottom?

No, we don't.

Come on, I'll show you.

[music playing]

Hmm, I think I might
let Mark go first.

[music playing]

Seems safe enough.

Oh, wow.

It's not like
walking on the beach

because the beach is firmer.

I am actually sinking.

My feet are sinking in there.

It's safe, right?

It's perfectly safe.

It's really, really soft.

One small step for
mankind, a very long way

for a pint of beer.

Oh, I really love this.

[music playing]

Inside the grain, the
chemical transformation

is almost complete.

How do you know it's ready?

We look at two things.

One is what we call
the [inaudible] which

will become the stem
of the plant, which

is growing up inside the grain.

So we split it open
and look there.

And then secondly, I just rub
running through my fingers.

It's definitely squishy.

I feel you can feel the starch.

It's powdery and sticky.

That's right.

How long does it
stay in here for?

Four days.

This is not a
fast process, is it?

No.

It really isn't.

But this is now ready
to be made into beer?

No, we've got one
final stage for that.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: The starch in
the barley is now unlocked.

And to stop the seeds
eating it all up before it

can be used to make
beer, we have to halt

the germination process.

Nearly six days
after it arrived,

the barley is dried in this
massive kiln for 21 hours.

[music playing]

So this is it.

This is our finished product.

This is malted barley.

We took barley in at the start.

This is now malted
barley for the brewery.

GREGG WALLACE: It pours
through a grate into the back

of a lorry which is driven
backwards and forwards

to ensure even distribution.

[music playing]

It doesn't look a
great deal different

than it's looked throughout
the rest of the process.

It doesn't.

And I have a sample here.

It smells malty though.

That's right.

It smells malty.

You can now eat this.

- Can you?
- Yeah.

And it's [inaudible] nice.

Oh, let's cover
them in chocolate.

Has anyone thought about that?

[music playing]

Is that it now?

Is that ready to be
made into a lager?

It is.

You can go and make it
your beer with that now.

Well, thank you
very much indeed.

It's was a pleasure.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: My 27
tons of malted barley

has covered the one-mile
journey from the maltings

to the brewery.

This place is colossal.

Spanning 120 acres, this
huge site is over half a mile

across.

At the intake area, six
lorry loads of malted barley

arrive every day.

Brewing manager Andy
Runsey is waiting for.

- Are you Andy?
- Hi, Gregg.

How are you?

I'm good, mate.

All right.

I've got a trunk of
malted barley here.

What do I do with it?

You leave that there.

They all get offloaded here.

And we all go make some beer.

That is a good idea.

Show me where to go.

My malt is unloaded and
a system of conveyors

transports it 30 meters to the
top of the six-story brewhouse.

We've got to go up there?

Yeah, all the way up the top.

Why did you need to
brew beer in a tower?

Historically, all brewhouses
were built in a tower

because you could get
to pump it up once.

And then gravity does all
the hard work after that.

Come on, I hope you're
fit and well like me.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: By harnessing
the power of gravity,

instead of using
pumps, the brewery

can save energy and money.

Mate, this is a
bit much, isn't it?

[music playing]

At the top, the malted barley
arrives at the hammer mill.

At last, I've climbed
a mountain of stairs.

Is this beer making?

This is starting
to make beer, Gregg.

Right.
OK.

So apart from being hot and
noisy, what is it doing?

This is taking
the malted barley

that you brought
from the maltings

and turn it into
this fine powder.

We call it grist.

It looks like baking powder.

Inside the mill, 128 little
hammers, called flails,

spin at 1,500 RPM.

As the malted barley
drops down, it's

smashed against these
hammers, crushing

each grain into
tiny particles, most

less than a millimeter across.

This ferocious
contraption crushes nearly

four kilograms every second.

That means that
in just one hour,

it produces enough ground
barley to make 224,000 pints.

The grist drops down into
imaginatively named grist cases

on its way to the mash
vessels, where the brewing

process begins in earnest.

Oh, that's like R2-D2's head.

That's the mash vessel.

Well, that's just
a big empty tank.

That's because
we need to mash in.

Mash in.

Yeah.

Mash in.

In order to mash in,
we need some help

from the control room.

Andy is letting
me do the honors.

OK to mash in.

Over.

Yeah, OK.

Yeah, agreed.

He reckons that's one of
the best mash in messages

he's ever had [inaudible].

11 tons of grist are released
into the mash vessel,

followed by 26,000
liters of water,

heated to precisely
66.5 degrees Celsius.

The combination
of water and heat

helped start a chemical
reaction, which

causes the starch
molecules in the grist

to break down into sugars.

It's this sugar that will
ultimately turn into alcohol.

But we're way off that yet.

That grist is coming
out with the water.

It's like creamy color.

Yes.

Well, actually,
it's poppy colored.

That is an enormous great latte.

Yeah, it's a very thin mash.

So tell me, please,
what is happening?

Why hot water?

By using that temperature, we
get as much sugar as we need,

but we leave a little bit
left over to get a little bit

of sweetness in the final beer.

And this is the famous
Burton water, right?

Perfect for making beer.

Yeah.

This is what the
town was built on.

But now, because of
modern standards,

we need to purify
that water first.

I thought it was
perfect for making beer.

It was when it first started,
but, obviously, standards

change.

All right.

So now we're purify it and
add back in what we need.

So 150 years
ago, you could just

- draw the water from the well.
- Yeah.

Different health
and safety laws now.

Yes

How long does this take?

It takes an hour
and 50 minutes.

Right.

But there's one over there,
if you have a look at that.

You're getting the hang of
this telly lark, isn't you?

I'm starting to get there.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: It
takes just 60 minutes

of heating to extract all that
starch and convert it to sugar.

So the mash is finished now.

Now that looks like beer.

It's brown.

And it's got a foamy head.

But that's got no aroma.

No because that's just a
sugary liquid at this point.

Right.

So what has it done exactly?

Just got the sugars out.

It's made a nice,
sugary liquid for us.

GREGG WALLACE: As
I'm discovering,

brewing is a complex process.

Yet, there are only
four ingredients

traditionally used to make beer.

Cherry is getting to
grips with the recipe.

[music playing]

I've got to admit
when I walk into a pub,

the array of beer choices can
be a little bit overwhelming.

How can the same
basic ingredients

make one beer that looks like
this and another beer that

looks like this?

[music playing]

To find out, I'm going to a
microbrewery in Walthamstow,

East London, to meet
chemical engineer

turned brewer, Jaega Wise.

Hi, Jaega.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

What a beautiful spread.

So what do we have here?

We've got porter,
an IPA, and a lager.

And they really are at the
extremes of what you can

create with four ingredients.

CHERRY HEALEY: Malted barley,
hops, yeast, and water

are the basis of all beers.

But subtle differences
in these ingredients

have a big impact on
taste and appearance.

It all starts with the water.

So where we are in London, the
water's very hard naturally.

CHERRY HEALEY: Hard water
is ideal for brewing porters

and stouts.

Soft water on the other hand,
is better for lighter beers

with more delicate flavors.

One of the most famous
places in the world

for very soft water is Pilsen,
as in the Czech Republic.

And that's where the
pilsner has developed.

CHERRY HEALEY: Today, Jaega
isn't using good old London

tap water to make a porter.

What gives a porter
that dark color?

It is all about the very,
very dark roasted barley.

This is the fundamental
difference between a beer

like this and a lager.

We can create chocolate flavors.

We can create coffee flavors,
all from the intensity

of the roast.

CHERRY HEALEY: Roasting
the barley before brewing

brings out different
flavors in the beer.

Oops, just on top of it.

That's it.

Mashing this toasted
grain with hot water--

Oh, look at that.

Wow.

- -gives porter its
dark color and helps

create those rich stout flavors.

[music playing]

For IPA or lager, like
the one Gregg's making,

brewers would use lighter malts.

Now it's time for ingredient
number three, hops.

Hop plants are climbing vines
that grow up to 10 meters tall

and produce leafy green flowers.

These flowers give beer
its aroma and bitterness

and work as a preservative.

Are there more than
one variety of hops?

There are a lot of
different varieties of hops.

So this one in particular,
this one's known as Centennial.

So this is a hop from the US.

You can probably smell.

It's quite pungent.

Very strong.

Yeah.

What is it in the hops that
make them perfect for beer?

So the main things
we're concerned with,

the alpha acids, the beta
acids, and the essential oils.

So the alpha acids is what
gives our beer its bitterness.

The beta acids, there's been
lots of research showing

that's where beer gets a
lot of its stability and

its antibacterial properties.

And your essential oil-- so
that lovely citrus note you can

smell, that is
what this brew is.

That is what we're after.

CHERRY HEALEY: Porters
require very bitter

hop in order to balance out the
flavors from the roasted malts.

Hops away.

While lager tends to use
more subtle varieties.

The final ingredient
is yeast, which

gives us that crucial alcohol.

So if you hop onto the
step, we should be able to see

some yeast in action.

All right.

This Porter uses a
strain of ale yeast.

Ready?

Yep.

Oh, wow.

You can really smell
the alcohol, actually.

What is this bubbly
area around here?

So this is actually
the yeast sat on top.

And it's how ale
yeast likes to behave.

We call it top-fermenting, so
it likes to ferment and really

sit on the top, whereas a lager
likes to ferment on the bottom.

So we call it bottom-fermenting.

It's one of the major
differences between an ale

yeast and a lager yeast.

[music playing]

CHERRY HEALEY: Using different
varieties of lager or ale yeast

will bring out different
flavors in the beer.

Four ingredients, three very
different-looking beers.

Now I get to taste the
porter I've been brewing.

[music playing]

You can definitely
taste the coffee,

the chocolate, the caramel.

It's more like a meal.

Next the lager.

So it's quite light,
but it's quite bitter.

Is that the hops?

Yes.

That's the hops.

Finally, the IPA.

Whoa.

It's citrusy.

Yep.

And hoppy, grassy, bit nutty.

It just shows just
how diverse beer can be.

They taste so different.

And yet, they have got
the same four ingredients.

Yep.

- Well, well done, Jaega.
- Cheers.

Cheers.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: Back
at the Burton Brewery,

we're over six days into
our beer-production process.

After one hour of heating
in the mash vessels,

all the starch in the barley
has been converted to sugar.

And Andy and I are in
pursuit of hoppiness.

What do you want
to do with this?

Weigh myself?

No, I want you
to weigh the hops.

Are these hops?

Yeah.

Are they very trendy?

Are they hip hop's?

I thought hops were like
buds, a little bit like corn.

Yeah, but a lot of that
hop is waste, ultimately.

So what we do is
we pelletize them

to get all the bitterness we
want, but none of that waste.

Well, we've got an
enormous VAT of sweet,

malty liquid at the moment.

Yeah.

How much of these hops
do we need to add to that?

We need 21 kilos.

So what do I do?
Put the bags on?

Yeah.

- So those are five-kilo bags.
- All right.

OK.

Well, look, 5, 10, 15, 20 kilos.

So I've got 20 kilos.

I need another one kilo.

Should we put that bag on?

Yeah.

So another kilo, right?

Astonishingly, this
relatively tiny amount

will be enough to flavor
over 190,000 pints.

There you go.

Perfect.

Right.

21 kilos.

Where do we go?

We're going to put
them in the hopper.

You grab one.
I'll grab the other.

- Go.
- Here we go.

Yep.

Wait.

[music playing]

It's just a short hop over
to the holding tank to unload

our carefully weighed goodies.

[music playing]

Is that it?

No, we need to add some
calcium chloride as well.

Calcium chloride?

Yeah.

OK.

Give me that.

What is calcium chloride?

Calcium chloride is just a--

we're just replacing
some of those things

that we took out of the water
when we purified it earlier on.

Right.

OK.

What does it give you?

That balance of
sweetness and bitterness.

Is that right?

Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: Calcium chloride
is a type of salt. Adding

12 and 1/2 kilos
of it into the mix,

will help bring out the
flavors in the beer.

It's just like adding
seasoning to your dinner.

Right.

All the stuff's in there.

What's the next stage?

Before the hops are added, our
non-alcoholic, sugary liquid

is sent from the mash vessel to
this giant, robotic accordion,

called a mash filter.

Here the mix gets passed
through a series of plates which

sieve out the leftover grist.

[music playing]

56,000 liters of the
clean, filtered liquid,

now called wort, is then
pumped into giant vats,

called coppers.

[music playing]

Yes, I know.

They're clearly
not made of copper.

But in the early
days of brewing,

they were and the name stuck.

Are the hops in there?

They're not in there yet.

I know how much you
like at radio, Gregg.

Do you want to add the hops?

Press the button.

- What do I say this time?
- Add the hops.

Is that it?

Yeah.

Yeah, it's Gregg.

Can you add the hops, please?

OK.

GREGG WALLACE: With a little
help from our friendly control

room, the hops dropped
down into the copper

through a pipe in the ceiling.

So those hops are now
dissolving, aren't they?

Is that right?

Yeah, we're going to get
the bitterness in those hops.

And we're also going
to form some protein

that we can move later on to
make a nice, cleaner beer.

GREGG WALLACE: The mix
is boiled for 40 minutes.

As well as releasing
the hop flavor,

the heat kills off any
bacteria in the worts.

This is a really slow process.

When I normally go to
factories, they can make crisps

or biscuits in like an hour.

Does this get any faster?

Sadly, no, Gregg.

We can't rush it.

GREGG WALLACE: Today, hops
are an essential ingredient

in beer.

But it wasn't always that way.

And as Ruth's finding
out, their introduction

changed everything.

[music playing]

RUTH GOODMAN: In
the Middle Ages,

the homemade ale Britons
enjoyed tasted very

different from modern beers.

It was sweet,
unhopped, and brewed

almost exclusively by women.

Brewing was one of the
most common professions

for women, who were often known
as brewsters or ale wives.

It's believed that a
third of women in villages

were brewing ale for sale.

Women learnt the techniques
from their mothers and aunts.

It passed down in
the female line.

But this dominance
was not to last.

[medieval music]

Beer writer Jane Patton--

Hello, Mistress Goodman.

- RUTH GOODMAN:
- -tells me the change

began with some early
consumer-protection

legislation.

In 1266, King Henry
III passed a law

the size of bread and ale.

So he appointed ale-conners.

These were male inspectors
who went around all

the places selling ale.

And they would test the quality.

And if they found it
to be bad quality,

or if the ale wife was
overcharging for that ale,

then they could be punished.

[medieval music]

RUTH GOODMAN: The homes
of female brewsters

became known as
public houses or pubs.

Ale wives continued to
brew on a small scale,

until our game-changing
ingredient arrived.

What changed everything
was the introduction of hops.

RUTH GOODMAN:
Historians think hops

were introduced to Britain from
Belgium in the 15th century.

At the time, the unhopped
brew made by ale wives

went off within a day or so.

It was soon discovered that
hopped beer lasted far longer.

This was a revolution.

And this is where the schism
between the male brewers

and the female brewers
starts to come in, hops.

RUTH GOODMAN: Hopped Beer could
be brewed in bigger batches,

making production
more profitable.

Men get interested
in brewing when

it gets a bit more lucrative.

Yes.

[laughs]

You could say that.

And also brewing on a
big scale in factories,

basically, where women didn't
work outside the home normally.

So it's going to be
easier for a man to set

up as a commercial brewer.

So this, really, is the
great reason for the divide,

for the change, from brewing
as a female activity to brewing

as a male activity.

Yes.

And the irony is that
these are the female part

of the hop plant.

[laughs] To ale wives.

To ale wives.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: In the brewery,
my sweet, malty liquid,

or worts, has been boiling
away in the coppers

and is now fully infused
with those fragrant hops.

But it's still not beer yet.

To turn this wort into
lager, we need yeast.

Whoa.

I'm meeting Steph Tungs
in the project lab.

Hello.

Is that dry ice?

This is liquid nitrogen.
And it's currently at about

196 degrees below zero.

That's how we store yeast.

And I can't go anywhere
near that, can I?

Absolutely not, not with
some serious gloves on.

Yeah.

Why do you store the
yeast like that, please?

So we keep it
in a stable state

to stop it from growing any
more than we would need it to

at this time, so we can
keep it for long periods

to use it whenever we need.

GREGG WALLACE: Yeast is a
living, single-cell organism.

Without it, there's
no alcohol, no fizz,

and, ultimately, no lager.

[music playing]

How much yeast is
in there right now?

About 0.2 of a milliliter,
so a tiny, tiny amount.

Is that just a sample?

No, this will now
propagate all of our yeast

for the next six months.

What?

Sorry, didn't mean to shout.

How is that possible?

I thought it was
ridiculous, the amount of

hops you were putting in.

Just that little bit there?

Yeah.

That'll keep you
going for six months?

Yeah.

It will soon multiply
and become everything

that we need within six months,
given the right conditions.

GREGG WALLACE:
The yeast is grown

in this 30-milliliter vial.

Steph adds worts before
mixing it all together.

She then transfers 10
milliliters of the mix

into this flask.

The extracted yeast
now has the food

and space it needs to multiply.

Is it extremely valuable?

Absolutely, without our
yeast, we just wouldn't

have a brewery to go with.

It's so valuable to us.

It's the life and
soul of our beer.

GREGG WALLACE: As
it grows, the yeast

is transferred to increasingly
larger containers,

finishing up in
this massive tank.

It will continue to multiply
until they have over 1,000

kilograms of the stuff.

Then the whole lot is
sent to the fermentation

tanks which are full to the
brim with our sugary worts.

So what's the volume
of liquid in there?

There's 2,400 UK
bottles in one of those.

GREGG WALLACE: Those of
us not in the pub trade,

that's enough to make an
unbelievable 1.3 million pints

in just one of these tanks.

And there are 19 of them.

You've got a bottle of brown.

You have not beer yet, you've
just had bottles of brown.

Yeah, so this bottle of
brown is the last time it's

wort before it becomes beer.

GREGG WALLACE:
This sugary liquid

is the final stage of production
before fermentation starts.

Can I have a sip of this?

Of course, you can.

Is it going to be horrid?

We'll see.

It's almost sweet like honey.

And it is going bitter.

And it's actually that
bitter flavor you get

at the end of a pint of beer.

Yeah.

But it started off
like a sugar drink.

Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: Inside
this fermentation tank,

this sugar drink
finally becomes beer.

But it doesn't happen quickly.

Over the course of five
days, the yeast cells

feast on the sugars and then
expel alcohol and carbon

dioxide as waste byproducts.

The CO2 is siphoned off from
the top to be reused later.

And once the batch is
finished, leftover yeast

is extracted from the bottom.

And has it used up
all of the yeast?

The yeast there is
topped off and reused.

So we reuse our yeast
about eight times.

GREGG WALLACE: After
11 days and 22 hours,

we finally have alcoholic,
slightly fizzy beer.

But it's not quite
ready to drink.

[music playing]

Andy, what is this?

It's completely like space age.

What does it do?

Don't tell me.

Deep-sea divers have
left their tanks here.

No, this is where
we filter the beer.

Well, just like
a normal filter?

Yeah, so inside these, there
are lots of little membranes

that filter out
all the particles.

That looks like
it's sitting still.

Is that beer flowing
through there?

Yeah, in here,
it's producing about

2,400 cans of beer a minute.

So it's just
gushing through there

faster than my eye can tell.

Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: This
massive system of filters

removes any leftover
protein or yeast particles,

leaving clean, but
slightly flat, lager.

I've seen hours and hours
of beer-making process.

And when I finally get to taste
it, it's in a medical jar.

Yeah, it's a sample.

Have you not got like a
nice jug with a handle on it?

We don't drink in
the brewery, Gregg.

We only sample.

I can taste my hops.

Yeah.

I

I can taste the hops.

I can even taste the sweetness.

That's more like an ale.

To transform it
into fizzy lager,

the carbon dioxide given
off during fermentation

is pumped back into the
liquid through the carbonation

machine.

Our lager now has those
all important bubbles.

And at last, I get to
try the genuine article.

That tastes like a clean,
more fizzy, final lager.

That is the
end-finished product.

That's the end-finished
product here in brewing.

We now need to put
it in a package.

Andy, thank you.

It's been fascinating.

After almost 12 days of
production, we've got beer.

But how should we serve it to
get the most out of the flavor?

Cherry is investigating.

To pour the perfect
pint, you first

tilt the glass to a
45-degree position

until it's halfway full.

And then you straighten up
into an upright position.

And now we have a perfect pint.

But, does a great-looking
pint make it taste any better?

[music playing]

To find out, I'm meeting
sensory scientist

Professor Charles Spence from
the University of Oxford.

Surely, it's just about
the beer in the glass.

For any one of us
it feels like it's

just the liquid in the
glass that we're tasting.

But a different glass,
a different color,

or a different shape,
all these other factors

matter, some more than others.

So exactly the same
beer can taste different

under different circumstances?

Absolutely.

And this is the kind of
thing that we can test.

I'm pretty sure I can find
some volunteers for this.

[music playing]

We've taken over this pub to run
three scientific experiments.

In each test, will be serving
exactly the same beer.

But we'll change one thing
in the way it's served.

First, we present our
tasters with a straight glass

and a curved glass.

Take a sip of each beer,
maybe two or three.

Take your time.

Which is more flavorful?

Aromatic?

Fruitier?

Mm, interesting.

Yeah, that's
definitely more fruity.

I think this one
has a little bit

more interesting flavor notes.

I think that one's--

was it fruitier?

Yeah, that one's
fruitier, I think.

CHERRY HEALEY: Over
half our tasters

think the beer tastes fruitier
in the curved pint glass.

So what's going on there?

We find from research
with wine, with soft drinks,

with beer, that when
you have something more

curved in your hand, that
tends to prime notions

of fruity and sweetness.

And you express that in
the taste of the beer.

CHERRY HEALEY: This could be
one explanation for why people

drink more than twice as
fast from a curved glass

compared to a straight glass.

On to test number two.

So here I have two
beers, one with a head

and one without a head.

Which is tastier?

This one for me.

That one.

CHERRY HEALEY: The
liquid in each glass

is identical, except
for the amount of head.

Yeah, I'd say that
this one had more flavor.

CHERRY HEALEY: 70%
of our beer drinkers

think that the pint with
the head tastes better.

That head is capturing all
the volatile, aromatic molecules

in the beer.

So when you put it
to your lips, you're

getting a bit more
release as the bubbles

burst more of the aroma.

And we know that 75% to 95% of
what you think you're tasting,

you're really smelling.

So the more bubbles or burst,
the more head on the beer,

the more flavorful the pint.

CHERRY HEALEY: In
the final test,

our tasters are served a pint
at 3 degrees Celsius and another

at 12 degrees.

There's more
flavors in that one.

Actually, I have
to agree with you.

CHERRY HEALEY: All
of our beer drinkers

rated the warmer beer
as more flavorsome.

The thing is that our
taste buds don't work,

really, when they're too cold.

In fact, you get more
flavor from warmer beer

because that allows the
taste buds to do their work

and pick up the flavor
that's in the drink.

CHERRY HEALEY:
Despite the ridicule

we Brits get for our warm
beer according to science,

we're onto something.

So there we have it.

The secret to the perfect
pint, a lovely curved glass,

a healthy amount of head, and
served at 12 degrees Celsius.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: In
Burton upon Trent,

I am on the final leg of
my beer-making adventure.

It's taken 12 days to get
from raw barley to lager.

And only now does
the finished product

head to the canning area.

17 lorries arrive
here every day,

each one delivering
100,000 empty cans.

I'm meeting Packing Operations
Manager Gareth Annabelle.

Gareth?

Oh, yeah.

I think you're my man.

I am.

What is pushing
them off the truck?

That vehicle has got what
we call a live-bed in it,

so it's got rollers in the
truck, which transports

it onto this live-bed as well.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: The
cans are hoisted up

to the de-palletizer, where
a robotic arm sweeps them

off the pallets one
layer at a time.

Over 150 meters
of conveyor belts

push the cans around the
factory to the cleaner.

I've never seen
anything like this.

The scale of this
production is enormous.

One of the biggest
factories I've seen.

And this, I've never
seen anything like that,

a lot of upside-down cans.

Is that magnetic?

That's vacuum that
holds the cans up.

GREGG WALLACE: The vacuum
holds the cans upside down,

as fans below the conveyor
shoot high pressure jets

of purified air up into them.

This removes any trace amounts
of dust or contaminants.

After a good clean, the cans
end up here, the filler.

This giant, spinning top
is turning at over 11

revolutions per minute.

The sheer speed makes it
almost impossible to see what's

happening with the naked eye.

But 165 cans are
simultaneously being

filled with 440 milliliters
each of freshly-brewed lager.

Filling all those cans
takes just 5.5 seconds.

Now that is what I
call a quick drink.

Where's that splash coming from?

So that's the beer.

Because it's filling
at such speed,

we can get foam on
the top of the beer.

And that foam has got little
bubbles of oxygen in it.

Oxygen will spoil the
flavor of the beer.

So we have to blow that
foam off the top of the can

before we put the end on.

That's why you get
little splashes

of beer foam coming out.

Right.

OK.

So once the beer is in,
we move through to what's

called the seamer.

- Seamer?
- Seamer.

Yep.

And the lid gets put on the can.

The seaming actually happens
in this machine here.

It's all enclosed.

But the lid goes on the can.

As the can spins
around, the seam

is formed where the can ends.

So once it comes out, it
is one piece of equipment.

GREGG WALLACE: I've got it.

[music playing]

Up to 1,850 cans a minute
are filled and sealed here.

The operation runs
24 hours a day.

And this is only one of three
identical production lines.

In a year, a staggering 350
million cans of our lager

will roll off this line.

And every single
one of them passes

through this giant
pasteurizer, which

heats the cans for 15 minutes.

This kills off
any microorganisms

which might be present,
giving the beer a shelf

life of up to nine months.

Then they get boxed up
and slid onto pallets,

before being loaded onto
an army of waiting trucks.

How many lorries go out?

We do about roughly
three or four an hour.

- Really?
- Yeah.

But not 24 hours?

24 hours, each of these
has got 22 pallets on.

GREGG WALLACE: Just 60 minutes
after an empty can arrives,

it's been filled, boxed up,
and loaded back on the truck.

Have you got storage
area anywhere?

We don't have any
storage on site?

No.

Everything that comes in, comes
straight out on the vehicle,

and away it goes.

The beer making itself was
far slower than I ever imagined.

But this canning is the fastest
thing I think I've ever seen.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

I always knew we loved
our beer, but this place

has completely blown me away.

From here, the lager is shipped
out to all corners of the UK

and Ireland, from Cork to
Cornwall, and all the way up

to Inverness.

I am really impressed by the
scale of production here.

It is absolutely immense.

But you know what I really like?

Is how long it takes to actually
make a pint of beer, over 12

days from barley to can.

And you know, in this
100-mile-an-hour world,

some things just take time.