Tom Nickels, a retired community member, received a book “The Complete Joy of Home Brewery” by Charles Papazian, and stayed up all night reading it.

Submitted by Tom Nickels

“I started 14 years ago in my home and I have a library of books all about brewing beer,” Nickels said. “I heard they were going to have a microbrewery [in the Pioneer Student Center] and I wanted to try making beer on a commercial level.”

Students can enjoy the two different types of beer Nickels brews right here at UW-Platteville in the Pioneer Haus.

The microbrewery is home to the Pioneer Pale Ale and the 1866 Lager. A 16 oz. beer can be enjoyed for $2.50.

“We were looking for something to enhance the sports theme in the Pioneer Haus,” Jim Mueller, director of auxiliary services, said.

The microbrewery is seven years old and was built with the construction of the PSC.

“When we built the student center we looked at the brewery being a novel design,” Mueller said. “We thought with the unique history of Wisconsin brewery it would be a good addition to the student center.”

The brewery is an all grain system and the brewing process takes about eight hours to complete. It takes about two weeks after the process to ferment for the Pioneer Pale Ale and four weeks for the 1866 Lager.

The process starts with malt, which is barley that has started the germination process, then stopped to avoid eating up all the starch in the seed. It is then kiln dried and the university buys it milled.

Hot water is then added to the mixture in a process known as mashing. This turns the starch into sugar.

The liquid is drained from the solid and produces a malt sugar solution called sweet wart. The sweet wart is then brought to a boil and the hops are added to counteract the sweet taste.

The solution is boiled one to three hours and then sent to a whirlpool to remove the solids. The clear liquid is then cooled down through a counterflow chiller and the yeast is added. The yeast converts the sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The liquid is siphoned off and allowed to ferment, then it is carbonated and ready to serve.

The microbrewery is a 50 liter system or about 13.28 gallons. After the entire process is complete the finished product is about 11 gallons.

“Every barrel is a new brew. The trick is to keep consistency of the flavor from each brew. It is tough to keep a consistent flavor due to human error and the yeast,” Nickels said.

Nickels said the 1866 Lager and the Pioneer Pale Ale are over their 117th brew at the microbrewery.

“I would like to see a seasonal tap added to the brew. It would be a nice change,” Nickels said.

Joie Schoonover, associate director of dining services, said the brewery is not too widely advertised around campus.

Nickels used to brew a new batch every week but now he makes a new batch about every 2-3 weeks.

“It has slowed down a bit most likely to the gas prices. Beer sales in other areas of town too have slowed down,” Nickels said.

On occasion the microbrewery is also used as a learning tool in the biology and biochemistry departments.

“To sum up my feelings, I think this university took a truly progressive step forward when rather than saying something like this will never work, they allowed the student’s behavior to decide its fate. By doing so they created a truly unique situation, and one I am proud to be part of.”