Removing the beer from the fermenting vessels and pumping it into casks is known as racking and takes place in the cellar, six feet below ground level. Casks typically hold 18 gallons, though nine and 36-gallon casks are also used by Arkell's.
Down in the cellar it is even cooler than in the rest of the building and metal casks are lined up to receive the beer before they are rolled along tracks to despatch. The only alteration to the layout of the brew house in its history was made in 1982 when an extension was added to the rear of the cellar to allow for increased production.
The brewer's last job before the casks leave the brewery is to add finings, which come from the bladders of sturgeon and are the best method for clarifying the beer.
But the brewing process is still going on. 'Real ale' is cask conditioned, which means it is still fermenting when it is in the cask and will continue to do so, long after it was been delivered to the pub. The fermentation process, in fact, takes around two weeks in all, so the quality of the beer that is dispensed by the pub calls for significant skills from the landlord who has to ensure that it is properly settled and ready for consumption before he connects the cask to his pumps.
Not all the beer leaves the brewery in casks, however. A new bottling plant, which opened by Swindon North MP Michael Wills in 1997 (see picture, above right), now ensures that Arkell's beers can be enjoyed at home as well as in the brewery's 92 pubs. The machine cleans, fills, caps, labels, packs and even shrinkwraps the bottles.
Because all of Arkell's pubs are within a 45-mile radius of the brewery and most are much closer, a regular, fresh supply of beer can be maintained and, unlike larger breweries, production can be varied from day to day, according to consumption.
This is yet another reason why Arkell's beer is not only of a high quality, but of a consistently high quality.
Racking, Bottling and Distribution
