For producing our quality ales, the brewing water (known as liquor) is sourced from the hills of the Upper Wharfedale area close to Skipton, North Yorkshire, gateway to the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

"Good barley makes good malt which makes good beer".

At Copper Dragon we use only the very best award-winning Maris Otter, Crystal and Roasted Malts contracted to a leading UK family maltsters Thomas Fawcett & Sons of Castleford, who has over 200 years experience in supplying real ale breweries.

The boiled wort is then settled to remove hop residues and other sediments. The wort then passes through heat exchangers and is aerated and transferred into fermentation vessels where our own strain of yeast is added.

In the fermentation vessel the live yeast multiplies five times and slowly converts the wort sugars into alcohol, natural carbon dioxide and heat. Fermentation takes four days and is monitored by an automatic control system linked to thermometers and glycol cooling valves to ensure critical ferment temperature is maintained.

On completion of fermentation, the beer is cooled to enable the yeast to settle in the base of the fermenters and removed for subsequent brews.
The fermented beer is transferred into Conditioning Tanks where it matures before being packaged into casks. It is then fined by adding isinglass - from the sturgeon fish, used for hundreds of years. This carries all the yeast and sediment to the bottom, leaving the beer bright and ready for drinking. Beer fined this way is called cask conditioned beer, or traditional draught.

The process of brewing beer dates back hundreds of years and in that time, brewers have developed and passed on their knowledge and expertise.

All of this experience and skill, coupled together with the very latest technology enables us to provide our customers with the perfect pint.