Hopsters Experience
At Hopsters, you’re the brewer – but that doesn’t mean you’re on your own!
We have knowledgeable staff on hand to provide as little or as much help as you want. Hopsters is for everyone – from the novice with a curiosity about craft beer to the master brewer who wants to improve her technique or just experiment. We have posters and visual aids to help you understand the process.
Whether you like a hearty stout, a hoppy IPA, or a light-bodied lager, we have a full range of craft brew recipes to suit your beer palate. Each kettle yields about three cases of beer, so you can keep it for yourself or share with friends. Smaller batches also mean that you can experiment with different recipes in a larger group.
We have created a warm and welcoming atmosphere where you can relax and enjoy a bite to eat, and take the time to learn about beer-making and the way to affect subtle differences in the taste. And it’s not just for grown-ups: you can bring along the kids to watch you make the beer, however anyone under the age of 21 will not be permitted to consume alcohol.
The Beer Adventure Starts Here …Check out this Clip on the Hopsters Experience
Everything you need to brew your hand-crafted beer is on premises at Hopsters – the recipes, the all-natural ingredients, our custom-built state-of-the-art brewing system, and the bottling equipment. The brewing process takes approximately two hours.
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Choose Your Brew
When you come in, the first thing we ask is “What do you love? What kind of beer do you want to make today?” You can choose any of our 30 craft beer recipes – everything from pale ales to stouts – depending on what you’re in the mood for. And don’t worry – our staff are only too happy to talk craft beer with you and provide guidance on recipe selection if you want or need it.
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Grab Your Ingredients
After you’ve settled on your recipe(s), you head to the Ingredients Room to get started –everything is on site and ready to go. (Did we mention that we get most of our ingredients from a local organic farm? That’s farm-to-table – or in this case, farm-to-mug – in action!).
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Start Brewing!
Once you’ve assembled your ingredients, you’re ready to start brewing. You combine the malt and hops together with any specialty grains you’re using in filtered water, then boil the resulting mixture (called wort, if you want to get really technical) for approximately one hour. You’ll want to keep an eye on things, but there’s still time to relax and enjoy a tasty bite from our menu.
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Add Yeast to Kick Off Fermentation
After the wort has been boiling for an hour, it’s time to cool it to room temperature (in our heat exchanger) to get it ready for fermenting. Once it reaches 70 ºF, you add the all-important yeast to start the fermentation process. Your unfermented beer is then transferred to one of our air-locked containers, where it can sit and safely ferment for approximately 10 days.
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Bottle or Can it, or package a mixture of both!
Once your beer is fully fermented, we siphon it into a keg to prepare for bottling or canning (don’t worry, we’ll send a reminder!). You can come in and bottle/label your own beer, or if you prefer, we can do it for you for a fee. You can also take the whole keg with you – but only if you promise to bring it back. As mentioned, we now offer canning (32oz/quart) cans, so you can enjoy your beer at the beach, camping, hiking or on the golf course!
After that, you know the drill – relax and enjoy! There’s nothing quite like a beer you’ve hand-crafted yourself.
