Discover Galway Hooker

Our Process

Discover Galway Hooker

How We Do What We Do

Brewing is the biochemical process of converting carbohydrates in cereals to alcohol by fermentation. The most common cereal used in brewing is malted barley. The brewing process begins by mixing milled malt with warm water to produce a porridge-like product called mash.

Natural enzymes (proteins) in the mash convert starch into sweet sugars. Once this process is complete, the sweet sugary liquid, called wort, is separated from the leftover grains. These grains are a by-product and are collected each day by a local farmer to be used as animal feed. The wort is then boiled for 90 minutes and hops are added to the beer at this time.

Hops add bitterness and aroma to beer which is used as a balance against the malt sweetness. The wort is then cooled and transferred into a fermenting vessel where yeast is introduced. Yeast, a living organism, consumes the sugary wort so that it can grow and reproduce. The yeast also produces alcohol and carbon dioxide (which gives beer its fizziness) when growing in the beer.

Fermentation and maturation take approximately four weeks and once this process ends the yeast is separated from the beer. The beer is then ready to be filtered and packaged.

  • Selected Malts
    Ireland has an ideal climate for growing cereals and we take great care to source only the best malted barley from Irish suppliers. We use a range of cereals to add colour, flavour and mouthfeel to our beers. Malted barely provides us with sugar which the yeast converts into alcohol.
  • Quality Hops
    We source the best quality hops from around the globe to impart a range of flavours and aromas to our beers. Whether it’s punchy, fruity hops from the Pacific west coast of the US or noble, subtle hops from central Europe our brewers carefully blend each variety to produce the unique flavours Galway Hooker is famous for.
  • Unique Yeast
    The whole purpose of the brewing process is to make a food source for yeast to grow on. One of the by-products of this growth is alcohol. Because yeast is a living microorganism, it keeps regenerating itself every time we make a batch of beer. This means that we can harvest the yeast from one batch of beer and reuse it for the next batch. We have a special tank to store the yeast between batches.
  • Special Water
    We use locally sourced water from the west of Ireland which contains an ideal balance of minerals for brewing. All of our water passes through an activated carbon filter to ensure the purest quality and flavours in our beers