Jack’s Abby is loyal to lager, brewing the finest craft lagers using the highest quality ingredients.
How it all began
Over 200 years ago in Bavaria
Lagers were first created by storing large casks in cool caves high in the Alps. Low temperatures slowed the fermentation—while ales normally ferment for a week, brewers were seeking fermentation times upwards of 4-6 weeks, which became known as ‘lagering.’
the result
a smoother, crisper, more balanced beer
This radical change in taste and thinking pushed lagers to the forefront of Bavarian beer culture, surpassing the common ale and becoming the leading beer of choice in the region, soon dominating all of Europe.
We use the finest domestic and imported ingredients in all of our beers and source from local vendors whenever possible. Specialty hops and malts contribute to the lager’s body, color, and flavor.
Malted barley, or malt, goes into the mill and is crushed into grist. This exposes the starch under the grain’s hull.
Through infusion mashing, we mix the crushed malt, or grist, with hot water in the mash tun. At temperatures ranging between 145-155 ˚F, naturally occurring enzymes in the malt convert starches into fermentable sugars. The resulting malt is then sent to the grant.
The wort, or sugar water, is then separated from the barley husk and other plant material as it runs through the grant.
The liquid wort flows into the kettle for boiling. A 600 gallon batch will boil steadily for about 75 minutes, during which time we periodically add hops.
This is where the hot wort spins to separate the hops and protein from the beer. The wort will be pumped from here to a fermentation tank.
The wort mix continues on through the heat exchanger to instantly cool down from boiling to 50 ˚F.
Once in a fermentation tank (we have various sizes), yeast is added to our cool wort. Fermenting at about 52 ˚F over the course of a week, the yeast converts the wort’s sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The beer is then lagered at 32 ˚F to condition and age until ready for drinking.
The centrifuge spins the beer with a force of up to 10,000 times gravity to separate yeast and protein out of the beer.
When ready, we fill kegs, cans, and bottles with fresh batches of lager. Our bottling line cleans, fills, caps, and labels before the bottles are manually placed into boxes.
Finally, our beer is distributed to bars, restaurants, stores, and served right here in our Beer Hall for you to enjoy! Try what we’ve got on tap and let us know what you think!
authentic german-style flavors
Jack’s Abby brews with traditional ingredients and techniques. The Jack’s Abby brewing team travels to Germany every year to procure German hops and malt from small family run operations in Bavaria. The brewers use old-world brewing techniques of decoction and spunding to recreate historical lagers.
lager innovation program
pushing boundaries one lager at a time
The Lager Innovation Program is where curiosity meets precision. Using our Brew Lab and pilot system, our brewing team explores new ingredients, techniques, and processes through small-batch experimentation, then refines the best ideas through taproom releases and real guest feedback before bringing them to market.