Our expertise: The spirit of the tradition
Since 1926, the Castelain Brewery has offered tastings of flavoursome beers, brewed with the greatest respect for the traditions of Northern France beers. An ancient and rare infusion method, which the founders of CH’TI beer wish to save for posterity, by handing it down through the generations.
You can now discover all the secrets of Castelain beers, from brewing to bottling and packaging.
Raw ingredients selected with meticulous care
The real secret of making beer is the selection of quality raw materials. So we can make a product that is genuinely regional like CH’TI beer, the benchmark for Northern French beers, our raw materials are produced mainly in the Nord Pas-de-Calais region. So the real strength of the Castelain Brewery lies in its wide choice of typically regional beers. A pride in our regional heritage.
The raw material used in the greatest quantity and with the most distinctive characteristics is the water, drawn directly from the ground under the brewery to produce a beer of very high quality.
The malt which is produced from barley is chosen by the Castelain Brewery according to very strict criterias. Several barley varieties are selected. They are combined in order to obtain a beer of quality, generous and rich in taste. The barley undergoes a malting process. This process has three stages : steeping, germination and kilning. This last stage of malting determines the colour and the taste of the beer following the roasting of the barley grain. Blond beer, brown beer, white beer or amber beer…So you have an infinite choice of beers. Difficult to choose, isn’t it?
Indispensable for the brewing of beer, hops are a climbing plant whose female flowers contain essential oils and alpha acids (lupulin). The hop flowers are harvested at the end of August, beginning of September, then packed in hermetically sealed bags to preserve all their qualities. The different varieties of hops bring aroma and bitterness to the beer.
Everyone talks about the nutritional and cosmetic benefits of beer yeast. It plays a very important part in the beer fermentation, and our current formula took more than two years of research to develop.
The different stages in the beer making process.
The crushed malt is mixed with water : that is called “ mashing ”. The brewing of the beer is obtained by infusion at clearly defined temperatures. For this, the brewer adds hot water into the filtering tank : the specificity of the Castelain Brewery. The starch present in the malt is transformed into fermentable sugars. This mixture is filtered to obtain a sugar rich liquid called the wort. This wort is next brought to the boil. The brewer adds different varieties of hops which give the beer its aroma and slight bitterness. The boiling lasts 2 hours. The wort is cooled to 14°C in a heat exchanger then directed towards the fermentation tanks. The yeast is injected into the wort throughout the fermentation process.
This first stage lasts 8 days. It is at this stage in the process that yeast is added, which multiplies as it feeds on the wort sugars. This produces alcohol and CO2 which forms tiny bubbles in your beer.
The beer is kept in quiet, cool (0°C) conditions for a minimum of 6 long weeks in huge storage vats in order to guarantee you a well balanced beer, that is refined and has an exceptional brilliance. The bière de garde can now mature, refine, perfect its bouquet and acquire its natural and characteristic sparkle. This bière de garde is then filtered in order to remove the yeasts and cloudiness it contains. It is then ready to be bottled and packaged.
The process of beer making finished, the bottling and packaging can now begin. Whether in bottles, barrels or boxes, whether capped or corked, our artisanal beers always have the same taste. The tasting of the beer can then begin. You can find all of our draft beers in pubs and brasseries of Northern France welcome additions to your social occasions. Others who love Castelain beers can find them on sale in supermarkets and hypermarkets. 25 cl and 33 cl bottles of beer, 65 cl with mechanical stopper, 75 cl with cork, magnum 1.5 litres, can 50 cl, mini-barrel 5 litres and 20 or 30 litres barrels.
ABUSE OF ALCOHOL IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALT. TO BE CONSUMED IN MODERATION 
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