The brewing process takes a total of eight days. First, the malted barley is cracked open in a mill and mixed with heated water. Once the grain s starches turn to sugar, the mixture is then pumped into a brew kettle where it is boiled and the hops are added. The temperature in the brew kettle room often exceeds 100 degrees on hot days. The next stage, fermentation, introduces the yeast to the mixture in open-top fermentation tanks designed in the British style where the yeast converts sugars to alcohol and CO2.
Fermentation is complete after three days.
Once the brew is ready, it is either kegged or bottled, labeled, and shipped to vendors throughout the Northeast. As with many manufacturing companies in Maine, Shipyard s energy costs are high, and as Forsley notes, seem to be the biggest challenge to doing business here. And, electricity costs are only a portion of the utilities the company uses. The brewing process also uses natural gas and water, not to mention the cost of glass production for bottling. It s a scary, scary time for manufacturers in Maine, Forsley observes.