Plus Size Kitten: Look Pa! My CONNOR'S Stout Porter Brewery Tour Experience

the story of CONNOR'S Stout Porter

Last week my partner and I had the pleasure of being invited to take part in a guided tour courtesy of CONNOR'S Stout Porter to the Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad in Shah Alam to discover everything about CONNOR’S Stour Porter. When I say everything, I meant everything! All sight, smell, taste and after taste. From how the ingredients that goes into it, to the process and how it’s brewed. The best part of the tour? We got to pour our very own perfect pint.

CONNOR'S Stout Porter is made right here at the
Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad in Shah Alam, KL
image source: panoramio

we received a fact sheet containing everything we needed to know

this would be our guide on the highlights of the brewery tour

an introduction to how it all begins

Relaunched in 2015, Connor's Stout Porter is a recipe recreated by Carlsberg Master Brewer that was inspired by the original Stout Porter in the 1700’s, in draught with 5% ABV, delivering the same perfect balance of bitterness and robustness that made it a popular choice among the British Locally brewed to preserve its freshness, Connor's Stout Porter delivers a crisp texture, creamy head and gentle roasted undertones. A brew just made right for the everyday drinker - CONNOR'S Stout Porter.

David Bidau - Supply Chain Director Carlsberg Malaysia

with a sample of Roasted Barley

smelling, tasting, feeling the malts at the workshop

A demonstration of the 1st 4 stages of the brewing process

(Milling, Mashing, Filtering & Wort Boiling)

Lager Malt

Caramel malt

Brown malt

Roasted Barley

The process begins with the selection of premium raw ingredients such as lager malt, caramel malt, brown malt and roasted barley. You can even try a sample at the tour, smell and taste the different scents and flavours in order to give you a better understanding of what goes into the process of brewing a pint of Connor's Stout Porter. David says that "when you develop a new recipe, it's like cooking, you select the ingredients that you wish to work with" to achieve Malaysia's only stout that is "Just Made Right".

As you can see, the lager malt enhances the body and provides malty characteristics, while the caramel malt gives the stout it's signature bittersweet aftertaste and gentle notes of caramel. On the other hand, brown malt contributes to the brew's intense dark colour and it's dark chocolate flavour, whereas the roasted barley sets the gentle roasty undertones.

we're going to find out how it's brewed!

The brew house where all the magic happens

a learning process with the Master Brewer & David

The CONNOR'S Stout Porter Brewing Process

The process of brewing CONNOR'S Stout Porter begins with blending all four of the different main ingredients in a ‘milling’ process, where the malt kernels are crushed into smaller particles in preparation for mashing. This process takes about 1.5 hrs before the resulting produce is sent to the mashing processor.

It is there where water is added to the crushed malt for the starch to develop and break down to simple sugars that give the stout its natural sweetness. Next, the final mash is filtered to produce a clear wort (liquid) which is then transferred to a boiler to remove any microbes. Hops are also added at the later boiling stage for a slight bitterness and flavour to develop. Then, the clear wort is transferred through a cooler to be chilled to the right fermentation temperature before yeast is added for the fermentation and maturation stage which lasts for about five days to produce alcohol.

After another 10 days of maturation, the stout will develop its perfectly balanced profile and enriched malt flavour. The matured stout is then transferred and filtered under close monitoring before being released for packaging after quality and tasting evaluation has been conducted.

time for the legendary bar to learn how to pour the perfect pint

After the tour was over, we gathered at the bar beside the reception in the main building to learn how to pour the perfect pint of CONNOR'S Stout Porter by Carlsberg's Draught Beer Services Manager Alvin Yap. Unlike most other beers, a perfect pint of Connor’s Stout Porter begins with a glass at room temperature held at 45 degrees angle and an inch away under the tap.

Glass tilted at 45 degrees to pour the perfect pint of CONNOR'S Stout Porter

The art of pulling the perfect pint shown by Alvin Yap

Draught Beer Services Manager of Carlsberg Malaysia

me learning the art of pouring the perfect pint

When the glass is in the correct position, gently pull the draught handle towards you and slowly straighten the glass til it fills halfway. Then, let the pouring stout run straight down into the middle of the glass while maintaining a distance of 2 - 2.5 inches between the surface of the stout and the tap. Finally, fill the glass to the brim and leave the surge to settle, allowing the creamy head to foam.

ah... my very own made just right

The highlight of the tour for me personally was the opportunity to pour and taste my own perfect pint of CONNOR'S Stout Porter straight from the draught tap. I also had the added pressure of being nominated to be the 1st one to try it in front of the prying eyes of the audience. I was pretty pleased with my effort under the circumstances considering it was my 1st time.

Overall, I thought it was an interesting and well-explained tour, where I felt that learning about the brewing process was made easier by the detailed and hands-on approach. Personally, I guess it was very enjoyable for myself coming from a starting point of already enjoying a nice cold pint of CONNOR'S Stout Porter every now and again :)