It all begins with barley. The starches in barley cannot be fermented, so they must be made into a fermentable form by malting. The barley grains are soaked in water and allowed to germinate. Then they are heated and turned regularly, either in traditional 'floor' malting or huge rotating drums.

Germination releases wonderful rich, natural sugars, and once these have been released the barley is heated in a kiln to stop germination. The heat of the kiln is an essential factor in the final product, as the degree of heat determines the type of malt produced and its flavour: a high heat produces dark roasted malts, and a lighter heat gives lighter coloured malt. Malt does not just produce the alcohol in beer, it also gives colour and a body of flavour.

A delicious beer can be produced from the natural malt alone, but modern methods often use added ingredients to improve the head, assist fermentation, or act as a preservative. But excessive use of ingredients other than malt results in a dull beer. TSA make their beer the old-fashioned way with no added ingredients, getting the most out of the malt to produce a livelier, more memorable 'real ale'.