Brewery
Learn about our brewery, the production of beer and its history.
The Ouroboros Brewery is a Chimaera.
Created in 2012 in the Allier Gorges, it migrated, bags of grain, tanks and boiler on its back, to brew beers on the whim of meetings, trades and collaborations with other breweries.
For two years, the production has been moving between Barbaroux (Haute-Loire) and the Couille de Loup brewery (Finistère), before setting up in the Monastier-sur-Gazeille, near the Mont Mezenc.
Since 2016, the brewery settled a bit higher in the mountains, in Freycenet-La-Tour, in and old lacework factory remade into a salting factory.
Brewery perpetually on the move with a limited production, on a quest for an organoleptic harmony with an alchemical approach, advocate for a french and international brewing revolution in order to multiply ideas and recipes, reconnect with the tradition of local beers and fire brewing, dream, experiment and create beers with a strong character and an aroma of imagination.
A tip of madness, violence and love for the beer in order to shake up conventional thinking about this elixir, fight the industrial tasteless beers which flood this dying world, and show the infinite possibilities of this fermented barley beverage and the incredible variety of aromas you can find in infinity of hops varieties.
Rapide aperçu du brassage, selon la méthode utilisée à la brasserie.
The alchemical union of procreative fire and generating water, microcosm and macrocosm, the combination of the four elements of the universe, the fundamental properties of matter, form the six-pointed star, brewer's star and alchemical's symbol of the philosopher's stone. It is the essence of alchemy, the final stage of the manipulation of matter and life, the culmination and the key of transmutation, the Opus Magnus.
But, above all, making beer is a simple process, within everyone's reach ...
Beer is made of four ingredients: water, barley malt (and various cereals), hop flowers and yeast.
The color of the grain, determined by its malting temperature, will influence the colors and tastes of the sweet juice drawn from the cereals by the water. Hops provide bitterness, aromas and preservation. The sugar level, therefore the quantity of cereals, will determine, among other things, the food reserves of the yeasts which, when consuming it, will produce the alcohol and the gas which will give the beer its final form. The rest is only patience.
THE WATER
Water is the main ingredient of beer, and its qualities are the pillars of a harmonious taste structure.
The brewery, located in altitude, near the sources of the Loire, offers high quality water that contributes to the creation of soft and balanced beers.
Our filtration system, installed by the company Eau Vivante, ensure filtered water at different levels, and regenerate it according to the principles of biodynamics.
MALTS
Barley malts used by the brewery are selected, according to the beers, for their different taste properties, their sweetness capacity, their color, results of the processes of the maltors which transform the harvested barley into complex cereals ready for use (Germination then heating of the grain, turning, or roasting).
We take a few of our special Malts in Germany, at the Weyermann Family Malting, which we appreciate the consistency and quality of the processed barley.
95% of the malts used in our beers come from Volcano Malting, a local maltery which uses organic barley from the Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne region.
HOPS
The brewery ouroboros is known for loving and abusing hops!
Although the culture of Hops is still very present in France, we love the powerful, resinous, fruity flavors of hops flowers of the Southern Hemisphere, and use almost exclusively these varieties with exotic aromas.
The main hops used by the brewery: Nelson Sauvin, Citra, Amarillo, Galaxy, Vic Secret, Waterfall, Chinook, Willamette, Summit, Apollo, Warrior, Wakatu, Rakau, Simcoe, Ekuanot, Centenial...
YEASTS
The alcoholic fermentation is carried out in particular by yeasts (saccharomyces cerevisiae, unicellular fungi) and converts carbohydrates such as glucose, fructose, maltose and sucrose into ethanol CH3CH2OH and carbon dioxide CO2.
The yeasts used by the brewery are mainly dry yeasts produced by Fermentis laboratories (S04, US05, T58) and Lamothe-Abiet (Pop, Folk).
Some beers are made with WhiteLabs liquid yeast, much more complex and interesting. However, we lack mastery to steer these capricious yeasts with ease, and the productions remain for the moment rare and limited.
ADDITIVES
Although we have some penchant for the traditional Quatuor Water, Malt, Hops, Yeast, and non-cereals sugar additions, no dyes, no flavors, no beer correction additives, some of our elixirs may be relieved of some spices (coriander, pepper, pepper ...), plants (laurel, poppy ...), or other things (cocoa beans, honey, sausage & fried onions ...).
Everything is possible ... although, sometimes, some marriages are more successful for the idea that saw them born than for the taste they inherit from it ...
