Have a look at how beer is made

Business Today went behind the scenes at SABMiller India's Haryana Breweries plant in Sonepat to see how beer is made.  The brewery is one of ten that the London-based brewer - the makers of Fosters, among other beers - operates in the country.  When SABMiller opened shop in India in 2000, it shook up an industry that belonged to giants Shaw Wallace and Vijay Mallya's United Breweries Group. The company claims that the beer is microbe free because it goes through 'flash pasteurization' (a high temperature, short time processing), so the customer can enjoy the beer without any doubts in his/her mind. Cheers!

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The Indian alcohol market is growing at 10 per cent a year, faster than the United States, China and Europe combined, according to a KPMG India report. Indians are eagerly knocking back new and exciting beers.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

Trucks carrying raw materials enter the brewery.  Raw materials include rice, malt, hops and sugar, the main ingredients used to make beer.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

Beer is said to be one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world.  It was mentioned in ancient Egyptian texts, and residues from what might have been beer have been dated as far back as 9500 BCE.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The first step in making beer is 'mashing' malt and water, which removes the husk from the malt. Sugar and hops are added to the mix.  Hops, which are the flowers harvested from a plant, are the ingredients that give beer its aroma and flavour.  Then everything is boiled in the 'wort kettle'.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The whole process is closely observed by the lab technicians.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

Yeast and oxygen are added to the beer in order to start the fermentation process.  Fermentation is the process that makes beer alcoholic.  The fermenting beer is stored at -1 degree Celsius in chillers for six to eight days.  The process is called racking.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

A strong beer takes 14 to 16 days, while a mild beer takes 16 to 18.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The beer is tasted by an accredited taster at each level of manufacturing.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

A close-up look at the ingredients.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The bottling plant where the beer is packed with utmost care and labeled.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The bottles are packed under pressure.  Bottling is a mechanized process.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

The canning is done in a separate unit not so far away from the bottling plant.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector

Now, it is the turn of the distribution department to supply beer bottles and cans to vendors across the country. The plant produces one million hectolitres per annum.

--Text by Dearton Thomas Hector