Ale Asylum bottles first batch in their new facility

Ale Asylum's new facility at 2002 Pankratz StreetMadtown Nut Brown ale just got a little bit taller.

Ale Asylum Brewery's new facility is up and running, with the first bottled beer moving off the lines last Tuesday. Madison's namesake nut brown was the Asylum's inaugeral ale to roll off the new bottler.

After outgrowing their Kinsman Street location, the brewery built a much larger facility at 2002 Pankratz St. where the beer is now flowing like...beer.

Those familiar with the Asylum's microbrews, Hopalicious, Ambergeddon, or another, will notice that the brews look different, and those who are really familiar with the Ale Ayslum's wares may even notice that the beer tastes different.

The difference in look is in the shape of the beer bottle. Ale Asylum left behind their old bottling machine and their shorter bottles. The bottles rolling off the machine in the new location are taller, similar to the bottles coming out of the Capitol or New Glarus breweries.

The taller bottles are zipping out of the new facility at four times their previous rate. The machine at the old facility filled about 70 bottles per minute where as the new bottler can process 277 per minute.

One of Ale Asylum's nine brewers, Joe Walts, said there are several reasons the beer coming from the new place will taste a little different too.

Walts said the new facility added a cold water tank where they can more effectively adjust the pH of the water that becomes beer.

"You know how when you boil Madison tap water for pasta it turns white?" Walts said. "That's calcium carbonate, and it's not good for beer."
Ale Asylum's new bottling system under construction.

In the new Ale Asylum brewing procedure, they can take care of the calcium carbonate and keep the the grain-water mixture at a lower pH while it's on its way to becoming Satisfaction Jackson, Gold Digger, or another of their brews. If the liquid drained from that mixture, called wort, has a high pH it can pull bitter flavors out of the barley husks. If the wort is not acidic enough, Walts said bitterness is evident in the end product.

Another reason ales from the Asylum taste slightly different is because on the way to becoming beer, their wort spends time in an additional tank, one that strips out unwanted organic compounds.

"Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) can make beer taste like creamed corn," Walts said. Stripping it out early on helps purify the beer and keep the compounds from re-forming later in the brewing process. Walts said the extra time Ale Asylum is spending on each batch is worth it.

"The change is noticeable," he said. Particularly in Gold Digger, a blonde ale. Gold Digger, Walts said, is a light, dry, clean beer, and there isn't much for an off flavor to hide behind.

"It used to have a real grainy character," Walts said of Gold Digger's flavor. Now, he finds the ale much crisper.

Brewer Joe Walts stands in Ale Asylum's yet-to-be-assembled laboratory.Walts will man another new space in the brew floor, a laboratory, where staff can monitor yeast cells and dissolved oxygen among other beer attributes.

While the Asylum restaurant opened Oct. 1, and they have filled kegs from the new brewery since mid-November, the first bottled brew is sliding off the conveyor belt this week. However, if you pick up a six-pack, it's unlikely you'll actually be holding the first bottle off the line.

"The first two cases clean out the bottler and are usually slightly under-filled," Walts said. Case number three and onward are fair game.

Ale Asylum estimates their first year of production in the new facility will see nearly twice the barrels of beer leave their fermentation tanks, going from 10,000 to 17,000 barrels of beer. Additionally, the brewery now has the capacity for brewing five times their 2011 output, up to 50,000 barrels.

Not only will store shelves holding Madison brews have to make room for the taller Asylum bottle, soon they'll make space for another bottle all together, Karben4. Karben4 brewery moved into the old Asylum space Oct. 1. If you're keen on trying every microbrew Madison has to offer, your "to-drink list" just got a little longer.