Layout and equipment
On the Plan of St. Gall, the monks' brewery lies in the
western half of the Monks' Bake and Brew House (fig.
462). It covers the same area as the bakery, but has no
lean-to on the narrow end of the building. The space in
which it is accommodated is marked by the title "Here let
the beer for the brothers be brewed" (hic fr̄ībus conficiat
ceruisa). It is reached from the monks' bakery and has no
separate access from the outside. The monks' brewery is
furnished with all the equipment needed in brewing: a
stove with four ranges for heating water and boiling wort
with hops. The stove is identical in design with the large
stove in the Monks' Kitchen.[575]
Around that stove four
round objects are shown—vats or cauldrons, no doubt,
wherein the grain was steeped for malting, and infusion
was done. These could have consisted either of simple
wooden tubs, or of heatable cauldrons or of a combination
of both, and may have been in shape or construction like
any of those shown in figure 387 and 390. The south
aisle of the brew house serves as a cooler. It is furnished
with two troughs and a vat, explained by the inscription
"Here let beer be cooled" (hic col&ur celia). Here the
yeast was added to the worted liquid and fermentation
began. From the cooling troughs unquestionably the beer
was moved to casks in the cellar, and allowed to finish
fermenting and clearing, before it was brought to the table.
