Bulmers Brewery

murfie

Does Bulmers Brewery in Clonmel have a tour of the brewery? There is nothing on their site so i am doubtful

BeerNut

Massive industrial complexes of that sort generally don't let the public in to nose about. Besides, they cultivate a careful image of olive-skinned farmers and wooden vats. The reality is bound to be quite different.

There's talk of turning the original Bulmer's plant in Dowd's Lane into a heritage centre, but I don't think it's happened yet.

thorpe

You would be surprised who would give tours of their facilities. I used to give tours when I was in Beamish & Glanbia plus I know of plently of other facilities and companies who would give tours if asked.

BeerNut

Ones that are rather less economical with the truth in their advertising, I'd say.

oblivious

BeerNut wrote: »

Ones that are rather less economical with the truth in their advertising, I'd say.

+1

thorpe

Processing realities are processing realities. Each company has their secrets. Are you expecting to see wood vats in Bulmers today. Try a large stainless steel tank farm with plently of more inside, alot of noise, and a few very fast moving bottling, canning and racking lines. If your expecting anything else you are way out and very nieve of processing realities in large scale brewing.

BeerNut

thorpe wrote: »

If your expecting anything else you are way out and very nieve of processing realities in large scale brewing.

The people paid to advertise Bulmer's certainly hope you are.

And, for the record, cider isn't brewed: it's made.

And Bulmer's doesn't really count as cider: it's manufactured, like an alcopop.

oblivious

thorpe wrote: »

Processing realities are processing realities. Each company has their secrets.

Sugar?

Ponster

murfie wrote: »

Does Bulmers Brewery in Clonmel have a tour of the brewery? There is nothing on their site so i am doubtful

The answer is "No, they don't do tours". As has been already mentioned it's really just a bottle-plant with a lot of stainless-steel vats out front.

Fancy a trip from TX to Clonmel ?

cavedave

thorpe

Processing realities are processing realities. Each company has their secrets. Are you expecting to see wood vats in Bulmers today. Try a large stainless steel tank farm with plently of more inside, alot of noise, and a few very fast moving bottling, canning and racking lines. If your expecting anything else you are way out and very nieve of processing realities in large scale brewing.

Look at the plant in their ads they clearly use wooden tanks.

and they have apple trees that bear fruit at Christmas. anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool and a communist.
There is a video here claiming to be the bulmers factory but it must be fake as no one hugs a tree in it.

thorpe

Ah now were are getting technical, Bulmers is actually a cider mill.
I agree that its manufacture as are more large scale beers and it does feel its as if its an alco-pop.
As for sugar nearly all large scale brewing operations is an adjunct of sugar in some form or other be it granualted sugar or syrup/blocks.
A supervisor once asked me if we could get yeast to work faster to get more product. I gave him/her the reason and it still never dawned on them. That is the type of moran you have to deal with in industry and you just want to clong him/her with the stainless steel pipe that the maintenance team have removed from the line just outside the lab door.
The Bulmers marketing people want to give the impression of the tradition old wooden vants and orchards and alot of people swallow it. Its people it us that really know what is going on out there.

oblivious

thorpe wrote: »

.
As for sugar nearly all large scale brewing operations is an adjunct of sugar in some form or other be it granualted sugar or syrup/blocks.
.

Again not brewed, and yea sugar is used as a adjunct (note there are may different type and use of sugar) but its not added to sweeten beer

Nore am I suggesting that a lot of large scale brewing operations are producing good products

guildofevil

I think it's odd that you can add what you like to cider (sugar, water, flavouring, colouring, etc.) and as long as you have some apple juice in there it's still considered cider. If you did that with grape juice you wouldn't be allowed to call it wine.

thorpe

In Beamish we used two type of syrup in our brewing. Both were used only as adjunct in the brewing process. When I started there first we used to add an "invert" sugar to a certain ale (not Beamish Red) to "sweeten it up" for the customer. We used to taste this ale before and after "invert" addition. It was better before addition.
Alot of mass produced beers are dire (there are one or two exceptions) and it just down to getting the product out and no real care given to the product. As we were winding down Beamish we give some real care to some normally mass flow products (an extra day or three in largering etc) and the difference it made was unreal.
I personnel prefer a craft beer over a mass market beer but where I am living it can be close to impossible to get some decent beers and as a result I bearly drink at all (that said I still do enjoy my beer when I go out that once in a blue moon)

stag39

guildofevil wrote: »

I think it's odd that you can add what you like to cider (sugar, water, flavouring, colouring, etc.) and as long as you have some apple juice in there it's still considered cider. If you did that with grape juice you wouldn't be allowed to call it wine.

i beg to differ that you are wrong on this...
there was a documentry on ch4 a while ago saying that even good wines are full of addititives up to as much as 30% plus in france most of the vineyards were rubbish tips!

Ponster

stag39 wrote: »

i beg to differ that you are wrong on this...

I don't think he's wrong at all. I doubt there is a legal definition of what cider is and what cider isn't. Once apple juice (fermented) has been used in the recipe we're allowed to call it cider. The same isn't true for wine, additives or no additives.

stag39

Ponster wrote: »

I don't think he's wrong at all. I doubt there is a legal definition of what cider is and what cider isn't. Once apple juice (fermented) has been used in the recipe we're allowed to call it cider. The same isn't true for wine, additives or no additives.

monsieur, are you then saying that there are no additives in some well known wines? in the previous post i was referring about the wine not the cider!

Ponster

stag39 wrote: »

in the previous post i was referring about the wine not the cider!

Well then start a new thread; this one is about cider

p.s. additives btw aren't always evil

stag39

no probs!

on the cider issue.. well pear cider to be exact..does the new bulmers pear recipe stop one from running somewhere faster than ever before;) esp. after two refreshing pints of it!

oblivious

stag39 wrote: »

no probs!

on the cider issue.. well pear cider to be exact..does the new bulmers pear recipe stop one from running somewhere faster than ever before;) esp. after two refreshing pints of it!

Not sure but tried it last night and handed back the can its not good and nothing like a perry.

PrimalTherapy

oblivious wrote: »

Not sure but tried it last night and handed back the can its not good and nothing like a perry.

koppaberg is much nicer