DUNSCAR Bridge Brewery makes cask-conditioned beer sold to be across the North West including boozers in Bolton.

The brewery is part of the Welcome Taverns group, owned by Bromley Cross businessman Jeremy Jones.

It also runs The Brewhouse pub in Sharples, The Thomas Egerton in Egerton and the Bleachworks members’ bar, next to the Dunscar Bridge Brewery.

As the bar’s name suggests, the site was once a bleachworks but £350,000 has been invested in refurbishing the old stone building which incorporates the bar, brewery and offices.

The Brewhouse pub, in Sharples, previously had its own micro-brewery but Dunscar Bridge Brewery began brewing for it last year.

Ales include Steeplejack, Wicket Keeper, Rialto 47, Clockin’ Off, Bombshell, Glory Days and Bolton Wanderers-commemorative beers Lion of Vienna and Lofthouse.

And the guided brewery tours show how the tipples are made as well as offer visitors the chance to taste a selection.

After watching a short film showing how real ale is made we sampled our first beers — three separate thirds of a pint — showing the range brewed.

An instructive show and tell of the examples of malt, hops and barley, which are the main ingredients used in the brewing process, followed.

Then we were allowed into the brewery’s nerve centre — the brewery plant — before being given samples to take home and try at our leisure.

Sarah Blower welcomed our group and outlined the brewing process.

Dunscar uses hops from England, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States.

These ferment to provide alcohol and have strange names like Fuggles, Goldings, Cascade, Magnum and Saaz.

The malts add flavour and colour, with names such as Chocolate, Crystal and Mavis Otter Pale and Torrified wheat.

Sarah said local water is soft so minerals and gypsum are used to harden it, which is better for brewing. Hardening is also known as Burtonisation — named after the brewing town of Burton on Trent.

Head brewer Pawel Zarychta showed us various tanks and vessels containing “liquor” at different stages of brewing.

Beer and lager starts with the boiling of hops in a hot liquor tank, which is then pumped to a mash tun.

Starch converts to fermentable sugar, which dissolves to make ‘wort’ — the liquid extracted during the brewing mashing process.

Ingredients are added along the way and the liquor goes through various containers including ‘the copper’ where extra hops and finings can be added.

It is then cooled at different temperatures for beer or lager before being stored in fermentation vessells where brewer’s yeast is added.

This digests fermentable sugar and gives out alcohol.

Fermentation is temperature-controlled and can last three and to seven days, depending on the desired strength and taste. The beer or lager is finally cooled and then stored in casks to condition.

I tried to look through the opened hatch of the copper, which contained a dark, steaming brew inside but I couldn’t see much at just 5ft 5ins.

However, I got a much better view from a raised catwalk into a lower, wider vessel containing 4,900 pints of fermenting lager. It had a massive frothy head measuring about 10ft in diameter and one foot deep.

Mr Zarychta, aged 33, gained a PhD in brewing in Poland where he worked for a number of brewers. A champion of small firms, he said: “In big breweries, everything is timed using computers. However brewing is a more human process in smaller places like this. It’s all about taste. That’s the most important thing. If you are well-trained you know about taste. I taste every day and brew three times a week.

“In the UK, too much food and drink is sold in huge quanities in huge supermarkets. However things are changing and 158 small breweries were established in the UK last year. That’s a good sign.”

Asked what his favourite Dunscar pint is, he said: “I’m a lager man. Proper lager.” Among my group was Gerald Hulme, aged 76, from Castle Street in The Haugh.

He said: “I used to make my own bitter, lager and wine. My bitter was very nice but you couldn’t drink too much because it was pretty strong. This tour has been very interesting and I’ve tasted a few different Dunscar ales. The Dun LA is my favourite.”

His wife, Jean, aged 75, added: “I like real ale. I’ve been on a brewery tour in Germany and go on little trips around Manchester with my friend to sample beers. This is the first time I’ve had Dunscar Bridge bitter and it’s very nice. I think women would be interested in tours like this, perhaps groups from women’s clubs and societies.”

Fellow real ale enthusiast, Mark Noble, aged 48, from Darcy Lever, said: “Supporting smaller businesses is really important. Small breweries care about the craft of making nice beer, not simply maximising their profits. The Rialto 47 beer is excellent. I think the head brewer really deserves recognition.”

His son, James Noble, aged 25, added: “Instead of sticking to the same brands, young people should be more adventurous. I used to drink lager all the time but my tastes have widened. I’ve had some nice drinks here.

“People want proper local food and drink. The horsemeat scandal highlighted lots of problems. Local brewing, like local food, is important.”

Dunscar now hopes to introduce a regular programme of tours and bosses hope to attract younger drinkers and women.

Pat Kitchen, the brewery’s managing director, said: “Real ale has lost its ‘old man’ image and there is quite a percentage of women who drink real ale.

“We now supply Wetherspoon pubs including the Spinning Mule in Bolton and the Robert Peel in Bury. We are also holding ‘meet the brewery’ events in Wetherspoon pubs. In Manchester, we supply a number of bars in the Northern Quarter, which are very popular with younger people. One of them, The Bakery Pie and Ale, has our Rialto 47 and Bombay IPA.”

I sampled a few different pints and enjoyed them all. It was my first brewery tour and well-worthwhile.

Good luck to Duscar Bridge and others like them. Cheers or, as they say in Scotland, Slainte!