Brewing Our Beer

We believe that every great beer tells a story. Cypress Creek is dedicated to crafting exceptional beers that bring people together. Whether you’re a seasoned beer enthusiast or new to the world of craft brews, our selections offer something for everyone.

BARLEY

We use a variety of Malted Barley to produce products that have uniquely different characteristics. Malted Barley is barley that has been allowed to germinate by soaking the grain in water. This prepares the starches in the grain to be converted into fermentable sugars. Maltsters, as they are known, then kiln or dry, the green malt by slowly raising the temperature.

The final temperatures vary, depending on what kind of malt they are trying to produce. This process leaves the dried barley grain full of sugar, starch, and a particular kind of enzyme called diastase, which converts starch into fermentable sugar. The level of heat that the Maltster applies to the green malt, affects the final style of beer that will be produced and has a direct relation to the color of beer.

HOPS

We use a variety of Hops from all over the world to impart a pleasing aroma, slight bitterness and tropical flavor to most of our IPA's. Our darker beers typically use traditional Hops that impart a spicy and earthy undertone as we think this complements the roasted malts.

“Hops” are actually just the cone-shaped flowers of the female Humulus lupulus or common hop. The Hop plant is a perennial flowering plant in the hemp family. A herbaceous climbing plant, which sends up new shoots in early spring and dies back to a cold-hardy rhizome in autumn.

Hops are the marquee ingredient behind all worthy and delicious beer, but only if used in a complimentary fashion. Brewers have taken hop additions to the extreme, but these products become less palatable to the average beer drinker and are usually only sought out by "hop heads", as they are known in craft beer circles.

Hops contain resins and oils that impart bitterness, flavor, and stability to the finished beer. The fragrant flower cones also host a variety of proteins, polyphenols, waxes, lipids and cellulose that add to the complexity of the beer, but chemicals such as Humulone and Lupulone are the main components. These chemicals directly affect the bitterness and flavor, but also have aromatic and preservative qualities that are necessary for the stability of the beer.

Depending on what the Brewer is trying to achieve, hop additions to the wort can take place at a variety of different steps in the brewing process. A Brewer might add hops in the Mash, during the Boil, post Boil or place them into the Fermenter, known as "dry-hopping". Care must taken when adding hops to the Boil, since the aromatic oils of hops are destroyed in a long boiling process.

WATER

Our brewing water starts from standard city water, undergoes a 5-stage, layered filtration process, built around reverse osmosis (RO) technology. This process removes the different kinds of contaminants found in the water in order to provide the high quality of water required for our brewing process, typically removing the total dissolved solids (TDS) to less than 2 parts per million. We then add our own blend of minerals to ensure our water starts out the same every single time we brew.

Water plays a very critical role in beer making and cannot be overlooked. It is critical in determining the efficiency and flavors from the wort during fermentation. It affects perceived bitterness, hop utilization and adds flavor directly to the beer itself. It is the largest single component in beer and must not be treated as an afterthought, as it makes up a large portion of the total beer volume.

The minerals found in water can bring out certain flavors and nuances within beers, which can be used to craft different beers with distinct characteristics. The reason for the differences relates to the different mineral makeup of water, with regards to Carbonate, Sodium, Chloride, Sulfate, Calcium and Magnesium. These compounds of ions, hardness, and alkalinity, play a crucial role in the taste of beer and having an understanding of the ideal levels and making adjustments, can enhance the flavor and balance of the finished beer.

YEAST

The yeast we use to ferment our beer depends upon the style of beer we are making. Mostly, we use a house yeast to keep consistency between products and we understand its nature very well. However, not all beer styles can come from one yeast, so when making styles where our house yeast would not impart the right aromas or flavors, we use a traditional yeast for that style.

Yeast transforms the sugars in our wort into the rich flavors and aromas that define different beer styles. During fermentation, the primary beer yeast species, known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, produces energy for its cellular metabolism by converting certain sugars into carbon dioxide, alcohols and a few fermentation by-products.

There are generally two upper level styles of yeasts; Lager yeast and Ale yeast. Originally classified as to whether fermentation takes place at the top of the Fermenter (top-fermenting ale yeast) or near the bottom (bottom-fermenting lager yeast), it really comes down to what temperature the yeast performs best at. Yeast that prefers warmer temperatures and working near the top of the Fermenter is known as "Ale" yeast. Yeast that prefers cooler temperatures and working near the bottom of the Fermenter is known as "Lager" yeast.

Yeast is responsible for the production of the complex aromas and flavors of the finished beer. Fruity, spicy, herbal and sometimes earthy characteristics are all produced by the yeast and this lends to the uniqueness of each product. Certain types of beer are best known for the type of yeast that is used during fermentation. Traditional German and Belgian beers, for example, can offer complex notes of spice, clove, vanilla, bubblegum and banana that distinguishes these beers from others.

FRUIT

At times, typically seasonal or for specialty products, our beers will contain fruit. Fruit contributes flavor, aroma, color, and additional sugars to the finished beer. Fruit flavoring can come from fresh fruit, packaged purees and extracts and each has its own distinct characteristics that are left in the beer.

Working with fruit, especially fresh-whole fruit, is often more involved than brewers realize until they have done it themselves. Many will take the easy way out and use an extract, but we have found that even when you use a high-quality extract, there is often a residual faux-flavor or an impression of artificiality or a metallic taste, left in the beer. A better alternative is to use a shelf stable, TTB approved product specifically created for the use in beer.

While fresh fruit is great for one off specialty beers, we have found it less than stellar when trying to reproduce a consistent flavor in beer. Fresh fruit never seems to have the same sugar content, water content or flavor batch-to-batch or year-to-year. Therefore we searched for and experimented with numerous manufactures of fruit purees, to find a product that met our high standards and would produce the same beer every time we brewed it.

ADJUNCTS

A term you will often hear in beer manufacturing is "Adjunct". Beer adjuncts are basically anything you add to beer, that is non-traditional or outside of the four essential ingredients of; Barley, Hops, Yeast and Water. These include grains other than barley, unmalted grains, fruits, herbs, spices, and added sugars.

The role of adjuncts is to enhance characteristics that the four essential ingredients contribute to beer. Grains other than malted barley (ie. Rice, Wheat, Corn, Oats and Rye, etc...) are the most commonly used adjuncts. These adjunct grains contribute unique flavors, aromas, and color to beer.

Sugar adjuncts like honey, cane sugar, beet sugar, candied sugar (common ingredient in Belgian ales), caramel, maple syrup, or molasses are typical sugar adjuncts. Unfermentable sugars, like milk sugar (lactose) and dextrins, increase the sweetness of the final beer, most often for milk stouts and milkshake IPAs.

Any number of spices are used, depending on the beer style, to add distinct, subtle, aromas and flavors. Warming spices are common in autumn and winter seasonal beers. Spice adjuncts like vanilla, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg are common additives. Flowers like hibiscus and elderberry are often seen as well as lime and orange zest.

Adjuncts really have no limits and creative brewers will add just about anything to their beers. It's especially prevalent among craft breweries that like to push the boundaries of what is "normal", often adding spruce tips, mushrooms, oysters and prepackaged goods like cakes and doughnuts. We keep our adjunct additions fairly sublime, but at times, we will create something new and step out of our comfort zone.