The Collegian

Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Down the Hill

Media Credit: Vanessa Shuck A brew master tastes the final product of Dark Horse's brewing process.

To the brewers at Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall, Mich., making beer is a delicate art form, requiring intricate skill and careful science.

Bryan Wiggs, a Dark Horse brewer, explained the four ingredients and the many steps which must be undertaken to produce a quality beer: water, malt, hops and the all important yeast.

Bryan has been working for Dark Horse for a year and brewing beer for 7 years. Dark Horse Brewery gathers its barley oats from Minnesota, Wisconsin and England.

"I love my coworkers, but yeast is my best friend," Wiggs said. "We like to call ourselves aquatic yeast shepherds."

The barley malt, Wiggs said, provides the sugars, flavor and color, while reused yeast is of primary importance in developing a distinctive house taste and quality.

Twenty minutes north of Coldwater in Marshall sits the small brewery, started ten years ago by Aaron Morse. While taking classes at Northern College, Aaron decided that he wanted to brew beer. He quit college and began working at a bar for a short time before starting Dark Horse Brewery.

His parents fully supported his venture and now work with him at the brewery.

Behind a local pub stands Dark Horse Brewery's long wooden building. The bar is the first thing to greet you upon entry and handcrafted steins line the walls and ceiling.

On this Friday afternoon, the bar attracts blue collar workers, businessmen, a mother and daughter and two old acquaintances, meeting for a beer. The laid-back atmosphere, handcrafted beer and friendly service draws all kinds of people.

To make the beers, the barley is first put through a roller mill which crunches the kernel. Next it is sent into a vat of hot water which draws out the flavor. From there the juice, now called wort, is sent to another barrel which gathers any leftover material and leaves the sweetened water produced by the barley and water.

It cooks in this barrel for 90 minutes, during which they add hops at the beginning, for the bitterness, then they cook for 30 additional minutes for the flavor and 80 minutes for the aroma.

There are twelve fermenters in the brewery, which hold the yeast. They brew the beers in the yeast for anywhere between 3-8 days depending on the proof desired. Here, the most precise measurements are required so that the yeast is preserved and matured to create a great house taste.

Their staple beer, Crooked Tree IPA, is flavored with lots of hops, Wiggs explained, which gives it a more bitter taste than their other beers.

The Raspberry Ale is lighter and brewed with real raspberries, leaving a true bittersweet taste that is subtle and not fruity, as opposed to the Amber Ale which is a bit fuller in flavor, and fermented with true Belgian yeast.

Scotty Karate Scotch Ale is much darker, less bitter and produced with a smoked malt to give it a darker flavor. Along the same lines, their Black Bier has a more bitter, coffee flavor and gives off a roasty and chocolatey taste.

Along with its excellent beers, Dark Horse brewery sells home brewing kits for beers and wines and offers classes during the winter for people who want to learn to brew their own drinks.

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