MPK brewery. Excursion to the brewery - free beer for the people. Our review of the excursion to the Moscow Brewing Company
I came across the website of the Moscow brewing company http://www.mosbrew.ru/, which invited me to a free excursion, and even a tasting. It was enough to fill out the form provided and select any Saturday or Sunday from the calendar.
The hour X has come - a comfortable bus was already standing at the Medvedkovo metro station (exit from the last car) and was waiting for the signed up beer lovers. Sitting down in a comfortable chair and looking around, I realized that the excursion was starting out unusually: mostly men were sitting on the bus, which is completely uncharacteristic for excursions on which 90% of women go.
The bus leaves every two hours on Saturday and Sunday - 12.30, 14.30, 16.30. On Saturday it is also 18.30. You must have your passport with you.
20 minutes later we were already at the factory. It is located in Mytishchi, Volkovskoe highway, 12.
At the entrance we were met by a cheerful group of tourists with flushed faces. I also thought to myself: “We’ve gotten screwed! How uncivilized!” But at the end of the tour I already had a different opinion...
The friendly guide immediately began to introduce the history of the plant, which began only in September 2008. The Moscow brewing company consists of a state-of-the-art plant and its own logistics and distribution centers. More than $200 million was invested in it, and the partners were Sberbank and the Detroit Investments investment fund. I don’t know if this is a lot, but the guide named the plant’s capacity as 2.5 million hl per year, and the plans are up to 6 million hl. He also immediately emphasized that the purpose of the excursion is not only to introduce people to the production of quality beer, but also to arouse interest, and subsequently instill a culture of drinking beer in Russia. That's what he said. Yes, by the way, on the Night of Museums in May, night “foam” excursions are held here every year.
The company already has not only licensed brands (Faxe, Cervena Selka, Oettinger, etc.), but also its own brands - Khamovniki, Zhiguli, Moskvas and Mospivo. In the small factory museum, I noticed such imported brands as Budweiser Budvar, Radeberger, Erdinger and many others. In addition to beer, by the way, energy and soft drinks and water are also produced here.
Used environmentally for beer and beverage production pure water, because on the territory of the plant itself there are 5 own artesian wells located at a depth of 190 and 320 meters.
My ideas about beer production were peculiar - it seemed to me that everything in the workshops should be boiling, brewing and smelling unpleasant. Imagine my amazement when I saw the sterile cleanliness and fully automated production process. There are some fantastic containers, pipes, glands, sensors and control devices around. Everything is automatic - the processes of fermentation, brewing, filtration and bottling. What was also striking was that there weren’t many workers in the shops, even though it was stated that the company employed almost 3 thousand people.
As I understand it, the most modern equipment allows us to produce high-quality beer and drinks, and control their quality in the laboratory. Moreover, if the beer does not meet the declared quality according to some parameters, then the entire batch is rejected. The appearance of the plant’s workshops convinced me personally that world-class quality products are produced here.
After walking through the workshops and seeing how specialists work in the laboratory, we finally came to the tasting. The tasting room is set up like a cafe, with many tables and a line for specialty beers. They pour decently, you can approach it many times. And then I understood the fun of that company at the entrance. The fact is that the tasting takes place without snacks...
Two hours passed unnoticed; we still had to go to the company store, where the plant’s beer is sold in bottles and on tap. I immediately bought a couple of branded mugs as souvenirs, as small as in Soviet times. There's a lot in the store various souvenirs with the symbols of the plant - T-shirts, can openers, baseball caps, etc. And a free bus was already waiting on the street to return us from the “foam world” to the ground.
Previously, I had not even considered buying domestic beer. And now the eyes are looking out for the drinks of the Moscow Brewing Company on the shelves. Sometimes I even buy it. The excursion did not go without a trace...
If you love beer as much as I do 😎 or just like excursions, go to excursion to Moskovskaya brewing company , which is located near Moscow, 3 km from the Moscow Ring Road, in the city of Mytishchi.
I knew for a long time that the Moscow Brewing Company conducts free excursions, including tastings, but somehow there was no time (or desire) to sign up and attend this event. But last Saturday I decided: “That’s it, we have to go” and we went to see the beer production plant and, of course, taste it.
Excursions to the Moscow Brewing Company plant are held on weekends: on Saturday at 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00, V Sundays at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00. The excursion is free, but you must pre-register on the website. The tour of the factory itself, with a story from the guide, lasts an hour and you are given an hour to taste beer and other non-alcoholic drinks that are produced at the same factory.
How to get to the Moscow Brewing Company plant
The plant of the Moscow Brewing Company is located at: Mytishchi, Volkovskoe highway, property 12. We were traveling by car, there were no problems finding the plant. There is also somewhere to park, there are plenty of parking spaces at the entrance to the plant territory.
If you don’t have a car, then for your convenience a free bus runs from Medvedkovo metro station. Bus departure times to 12:30, 14:30, 16:30 and on Saturdays again at 18:30. Travel time to the plant is 20-30 minutes.
Our review of the excursion to the Moscow Brewing Company
We arrived a little earlier than the start of the tour, waited a little in the cozy lounge on the sofas, wrote down our data and passport number in the registration book (documents are needed to visit the plant, but in fact no one asked for them). Very soon a group of about 20 people gathered, there was even a family with a child, and we went on an hour-long tour of the plant.
First, the guide told us about the history of the Moscow Brewing Company, what types of beer they brew, and warned that at the end of the tour there would be a quiz with prizes, so that we would listen diligently and remember the information. In the end, we remembered all the dates, but it turns out we had to remember the names of the workshops and the names of the beers 😎
The plant of the Moscow Brewing Company began its work in 2008 with the production of Zhiguli Barnoye beer, which this moment number one in sales in Moscow. Now the plant supplies more than 30 brands of beer and soft drinks and is one of the ten largest beer producers in Russia.
Since 2012, the plant of the Moscow Brewing Company began producing Khamovniki beer - as a continuation of the history of one of the oldest breweries in Moscow - the Khamovniki plant, built 150 years ago.
Now the Khamovniki brand includes 7 types of beer: “Khamovniki Pilsensky”, “Khamovniki Munich”(it's in my refrigerator now) “Khamovniki Venskoe”, “Khamovniki Wheat”, “Khamovniki Kegovoe”, “Khamovniki Grand El”, “Khamovniki Canteen”. Of all these varieties, I liked Kegovoe the most. Grand El is also okay, but I don't really like El.
Tour of the brewery workshops
After a short story We were taken around the factory workshops. First we got into brewhouse. The wort is brewed in this workshop; 6 huge boilers are used for cooking.
Take crushed malt and mix it with water. A mash is formed, which is kept at a certain temperature and stirred constantly. The starch from the malt is converted to sugar, then the mash is filtered to form wort. And water for cooking is taken from 4 wells, which are located on the territory of the plant. Since ancient times, it has been believed that here in Mytishchi the water is delicious.
The wort is then boiled with hops. The brewhouse is very hot and stuffy.
Then in yeast department(Where unauthorized entry is strictly prohibited and therefore we were not allowed there) yeast is added to the wort and this mixture enters the fermentation shop.
IN fermentation shop After 7-10 days of fermentation, young beer is born. Then the beer is kept for 1-2 weeks at a temperature of 1.5 degrees. It’s very cold in this workshop, take warm clothes with you 😎
Fermentation shop - it’s very cold here :)
Then we visited filtration workshop, passed by laboratories(in order to release beer for sale, you need to do 150 tests!) and ended up in finished beer bottling shop.
We also learned that the brewing process is monitored around the clock by 5 people: a shift supervisor and four operators. The entire process is fully automated.
A short video from our tour of the brewery
Beer tasting at the Moscow Brewing Company plant
After an hour of walking through the stuffy workshops of the Moscow Brewing Company, we went down to the ground floor to the buffet, where the beer tasting took place. To be honest, I didn’t even expect such a great tasting: each visitor is given an empty glass, and you can go up to the bar for beer as many times as you like within an hour.
We had already been to the brewing museum in Lviv, there was also a tasting of Lviv beer, but then we were given two small plastic cups of beer. Well, I thought it would be the same at the Moscow Brewing Company 😎
Here, at the Moscow Brewery, you could taste 7 types of fresh beer! In general, whoever needs it can get a very good taste! So come on the tour without driving! Those who don’t drink beer without snacks (nuts, chips, crackers) – take them with you 😎 You could also try non-alcoholic drinks: kvass, energy drinks, sweet water.
The beer was really very tasty. Especially Khamovniki Kegovoe and Zhiguli Velvet (dark).
On the territory of the Moscow Brewing Company there is a store where, after tasting, you can buy all the products. Beer is sold both in bottles and on draft. But, unfortunately, the store is open until 9 pm, so I had to leave the tasting early and run to the store, but we didn’t have time to buy draft beer, so I had to be content with bottled beer.
I advise all beer lovers to go on an excursion to the Moscow Brewing Company! We liked it, we'll come again! 😎
ABOUT COMPANY
Moscow Brewing Company entered the Russian beverage market with its own products in September 2008.
history of the company
2016 Release of beer "Khamovniki Kabinet" and the second seasonal variety "Trekhgornoye Spring Pilsner". Start of production of Finnish beer Lapin Kulta. The first bottling of Zhiguli Barnoe Non-Alcoholic beer.
2015 Release of the licensed soft drink IRN BRU. The beer "El Shaggy Shmel" was awarded a gold medal at the international competitions Monde Selection and International Brewing Awards. Trekhgornoye beer was awarded a silver medal at Monde Selection. Victory of "Zhiguli Barnoe" in the competition "ABSOLUTE BRAND 2015" for the skillful reincarnation of the Soviet brand. Start of production of Kruzhka beer. The first bottling of the beer "White Ale Shaggy Shmel". Launch of new varieties "Khamovniki English Ale", "Khamovniki Bok-Bir" and "Khamovniki Irish Stout". Awards at the Baltic Beer Star competition: "Khamovniki Pilsen" - gold medal; “El Shaggy Shmel” and “Trekhgornoe Original” - with silver medals, “Zhiguli Barnoe” - with a bronze medal. Release of beer with post-fermentation in a bottle "5 Ocean". Production of the first seasonal variety "Trekhgornoye Rozhdestvensky Ale".
2014 Awarding of the beer “Khamovniki Pilzenskoe” with a gold medal and “Zhiguli Barnoye” with a silver medal DLG; gold medals Monde Selection “Khamovniki Pilzenskoye” and “Khamovniki Pshenichnoye” and three bronze medals from the International Beer Challenge. Launch of Khamovnicheskoye and Trekhgornoye beer. Start of production of beer “Old Master Dymnoye”, “El Shaggy Shmel”, “Mospivo Slavyanskoe”. Start of licensed production of Hollandia beer.
2013 Production of beer “Bochkove” according to the recipe and under the control of TZOV TVK “Persha Privatna Brovarnya”, Ukraine. Development of the project for the production of eco-beer “Losiny Bereg”. Start of sales of Yakhont kvass. The first bottling of Zhiguli Barnoe Velkhatnoe beer. Awarded the silver medal “Zhiguli Barnoye” and bronze medals “Khamovniki Pilsen” and “Khamovniki Munich” at the international competition International Beer Challenge 2013 in London. The Khamovniki brand was awarded a bronze medal at the Pentawards international packaging design competition. Awarding the silver medal “Zhiguli Barnoe” at the DLG tasting competition. Launch of Carling beer in collaboration with Molson Coors Brewing Company, USA.
2012 Opening logistics center. Start of the Nestle Pure Life water bottling project. Creation of the premium beer brand "Khamovniki". Release of the first liter can of “Zhiguli Barnoe”, designed by artist Valery Barykin in pin-up style, which marked the beginning of the legendary collection series. Awarding the beer “Zhiguli Barnoye” with a gold medal at the tasting competition Monde Selection 2012. Victory of the Moscow Brewing Company in the nomination “High Product Quality” in the competition “Company of the Year - 2012”.
2011 Start of production of juice drinks “Derevnya Antonovka” and Mintberry. Launch of the second stage of brewing production with a planned capacity of 4 million hectoliters of beer per year. Start of production of Japanese beer Kirin Ichiban. Zhiguli Barnoye beer was awarded a gold medal at the European Beer Star competition in Germany. Victory of the Moscow Brewing Company in the “High Product Quality” category in the “Company of the Year - 2012” competition.
2010 Creation of the “Soft Drinks” division within the Moscow Brewing Company. Launch of production of Gorilla energy drink and Austrian juices Pago. Start of production of Danish Bear Beer and American Coors Light beer. Victory of the Zhiguli Barnoe brand at the Brand of the Year / Effie competition.
2009 Start of production of our own brands “Zhiguli Barnoe”, “Mospivo”, “Moskvas”, and Červena Selka beer. Start of production of the Danish beer FAXE Premium, the French drink Orangina and the German energy drink effect®.
2008 Completion of construction and launch of the first stage of the brewery with a planned capacity of 2.4 million hectoliters of beer per year. Start of production of German beer OeTTINGER.
2007 Creation of the “Imported Beverages” division within the Moscow Brewing Company. Inclusion in the portfolio of imported brands of beer and drinks, such as Perrier, Vittel, Pago juices, Budweiser Budvar beer, Erdinger Weissbier, Clausthaler, Harp, Bombardier and others.