Maldon Nub News went behind the scenes at Maldon's very own Mighty Oak, a local brewery producing hundreds of thousands of pints of award-winning beer every year.

The Mighty Oak Brewing Company, based in West Station Yard, has been brewing in Maldon for almost 25 years.

Beginning on a small inherited kit before upgrading to an entirely self-built system, the brewery experiments with different hops and malts to create an iconic range of award-winning beer.

One of the business's most decorated beers includes Oscar Wilde, a dark mild, which won CAMRA's (Campaign for Real Ale) "Supreme Champion Beer of Britain" in 2011, the highest accolade for all brewers. Oscar Wilde mild is regularly in the top three of CAMRA's "Champion Mild of East Anglia'', most recently awarded Gold in 2023.

Oscar Wilde, CAMRA's Supreme Champion Beer of Britain 2011.

Last year, Captain Bob, a popular amber session ale, won Bronze nationally in CAMRA's Session Bitters Category, after coming first in the East Anglia Area.

Gill Crawford, Director of Mighty Oak Brewing Company, told Nub News: "With the Covid Pandemic and then energy bills increasing, it has been so hard for many breweries to keep going, and many have closed.

"I feel so lucky that our team has been able to continue brewing in Maldon and still be producing the same well-loved, high quality beer."

Owner, John Boyce, in Mighty Oak's popular Maldon High street Taproom.

Every day, hundreds of casks leave the site to head to pubs across the country. There are many real ale pubs who are keen to serve some of the best beers the UK has to offer.

The brewery now works with a bottling service to make their brews even more accessible to those who want to enjoy Mighty Oak ales at home. 

Maldon Nub News took a behind the scenes look at where the magic happens.

The Brewing System

The Mighty Oak Brewing equipment is a system built by owner John Boyce, consisting of one Mash tun and one Copper.

It all begins with the Mash tun (left) and the Copper (right).

The malt grain is sent into the Mash Tun through the tube on the left, to be mixed with hot water. 

Malt is the product obtained when cereal grains, usually barley, are allowed to germinate and sprout before being dried in a kiln. 

Malted grain is the primary source of fermentable sugars in the brewing process, which is essential for producing the alcohol content in beer. 

The malt choice contributes to the finished brew's flavour, colour, and mouthfeel.

Mighty Oak uses a range of different malts, including top grade floor malted Maris Otter Pale malt, to achieve colour and flavours which are different for each beer.

Some malts can create more distinctive flavours, whereas others can be used to give head retention to achieve 'lacing' down the inside of the glass as the pint is being consumed.

The art of the brewer is creating the perfect ratio of grain to water - this will produce a good extract of wort, the resulting sugary liquid.

Once wort is separated from the spent grains, it is combined with hops in the Copper.

When the liquid is in the copper, the brewer has a choice of which type of hops to boil with it.

Hops are a type of flower, often found in hedgerow, but grown commercially all over the world to keep up with demand. 

Hops are used in brewing to determine the bitterness, flavour and aroma of beer. They can also add anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties to beer. 

Mighty Oak stores many hop varieties, each with different intended flavours and aromas.

One of their most popular beers, The Kings Citra, is brewed with US Citra Hops.

Different hops have different distinctive aromas.

With a distinctive fruity scent, these hops help create a refreshing golden ale, packed with a citrus taste and aroma.

Once boiled in the Copper, the liquid is transferred into a fermenting vessel where live yeast is added, it's in the vessel for one week, where it is fermented to perfection. 

Mighty Oak has six fermenting vessels.

The beer produced is put into Mighty Oak's stainless steel re-usable casks, to be sent to the pubs. Some casks that were bought in 1996 are still being used today - very environmentally friendly!

Cask sizes are measured in gallons, with a Pipkin being a 4.5 gallon, a Firkin a 9 gallon, and a Kilderkin an 18 gallon. Pubs generally like to take beer in Firkins but there are some that can still cope with a Kilderkin. 

Each day, a different beer is brewed, and every finished batch is tested by staff for quality control - possibly the best part of the job!

Mighty Oak uses an almost entirely recyclable system, with the casks reused and spent grain going to animal feed.

The business offers nine beers in their permanent range, and always has monthly limited-edition special brews.

While much of their business is to pubs, their Spital Road shop also offers visitors the opportunity to purchase their bottled beers.

The brewery and shop is open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm - walk-ins are welcomed, or call ahead for a fast pick-up.

You can browse and order their beers, and also their rum and gin, on their website now.