Located just blocks from East Carolina University in downtown Greenville, NC, Ham’s Brewhouse utilizes a 7 barrel J.V. Northwest brewhouse. We currently have three 14 barrel fermenters and two 7 barrel fermenters along with ten serving vessels. With our current production mix of ales, lagers, and high gravity brews, we can produce approximately 575 barrels a year.

We utilize only all natural ingredients and go organic when possible. There is nothing artificial in these brews! Our brewing process varies from beer to beer, depending on what we are trying achieve with each brew. However, the basics are as follows….

Mash - We mix milled malted barley and hot water, known as a “mash”, in the mash/lauter tun. Most of our mashes are allowed to rest for 60 minutes. During this time, naturally occurring enzymes from the grain become activated and convert the grain’s starch into fermentable and non-fermentable sugars. This process is called conversion.

Vourlauf - After conversion is complete, we recirculate the liquid, now called “wort”, in the mash/lauter tun. This process, called “vourlaufing”, uses the barley as a filter to clarify the wort.

Lauter/Sparge - Once the wort is clear enough, we begin to transfer it to the brew kettle. This is known as “lautering”. Hot water is sprayed on top of the mash to rinse any residual sugars from the grain. This process is known as “sparging”.

Boil - Once the sparge and lauter are complete and the kettle is full, we boil the wort for a minimum of 90 minutes. Our high gravity brews are usually boiled for 120 minutes. Hops are added at various times during the boil to achieve different levels of hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. If spices are used, this is usually where they are added, too. Occasionally hops or spices are added to the whirlpool.

Whirlpool - When the boil is complete, we whirlpool our wort for 15 minutes. After the whirlpool is complete, we allow the wort to rest for an additional 15 minutes.

Knockout - After our kettle rest is complete, we pump the hot wort through a heat exchanger to cool it down so we can add, or “pitch”, our yeast. This process is called “knockout”. We cool our wort to different temperatures depending on what we are brewing, but knockout is always in the temperature range of 48*F to 52*F for lagers and 60*F to 64*F for ales.

Fermentation - This is the part where the yeast does it’s thing, converting sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Yeast is also responsible for many of the flavors commonly associated with beer. This process takes anywhere from 5 to 14 days, again depending on what we’re making. Ales take a shorter amount of time. Lagers and high gravity brews take longer. Lagers are fermented at cooler temperature than ales.

Conditioning - After fermentation is complete, the beer is cooled and allowed to age so it’s flavor characteristics further develop and meld together. Since we use all natural carbonation, this is also when the beer gets carbonated. Dry hopping, if applicable, is done during this time also. Dry hopping is a technique of adding hops to the tank full of beer in order to increase hop aroma. Conditioning can take anywhere from five days to six months or more.

Once all these steps are completed, the beer is then almost ready for consumption. About half of our beers are filtered before they are served. The rest are “racked”, or transfered, into a serving vessel where it naturally clears and is then ready for your glass!!