Museumsbrauerei Schmitt

These are pictures from a small brewery in [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Singen+thuringen+Germany&sll=47.820532,8.808804&sspn=0.080799,0.118103&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Singen+Ilmtal,+Ilm-Kreis,+Thuringia,+Germany&ll=50.724612,11.057825&spn=0.004761,0.007381&t=h&z=17 Singen] (Thuringia, Germany). I first visited this brewery when I studied at the nearby University and returned in November 2009. The brewery as seen from the road. The large building in the front is the tap room while the building behind it houses the brewery. Note the hop trellis in the front of the tap room The entry to the brewery. It has been operating since 1885. The large back drum next to the shed is an old lauter tun A look towards the boiler room (Kesselhaus) The old steam engine. This steam engine would provide mechanical power to the whole brewery though a system of belts. But that has been replaced with electrical motors. Looking at the kettle from the brewerie's floor. In front of the stairs, below the pipe that sticks out of the wall, would be the lautertun which was in need of repair. Aforementioned pipe would drain the mash into the lauter tun brewing between 1850 and 1900]]). has two vessels a mash and lautertun and a The inside of the boil kettle. Note the drag chains on the mash mixer. As mentioned before, the lautertun was out of commission and needed repair. Once the boil is complete the boil is complete the wort is run through a hopback (Hopfenseier) before it is pumped to the cool ship located under the roof This brewery is one of the few German breweries which still use a coolship to cool the wort. The reason is obvious: the exposure of a large wort surface to the ambient air carries a high risk of contamination After the coolship a cascade chiller (Berieslungskuehler) was used to aerate and chill the wort to pitching temperatures. This one is out of commission and the beewery now uses a plate chiller. I was unfortunately not able to look at the fermeters and lagering cellar Inside the tap room. November is not exactly a busy season and I didn't stay either. I bough a few bottles and enjoyed them at home. The brewery is a very popular destination during the warmer months. Especially on Ascention Day (the German Father's day) where the male German pupulation is on a pilgrimage to their favorite pubs and beer gardens The brewery brews only one type of beer: a Pilsner.