I love old copper brewing equipment. It’s fun to photograph because you can really capture the rich tones of the metal. Additionally, you can see the patina of age as well as the signs of use. While the reflective nature of copper can sometimes be troubling when working with a flash or a lot of direct light, it’s still very fun and rewarding to photograph.
You see these mash filters in older breweries all over Belgium. However, in most cases they are not used anymore. They’re left up as ornamentation and in most cases because they’re simply built into the brewery in a way that makes it next to impossible to remove. In Trappistes Rochefort’s case, they’re still using their mash filter as indicated here with some hoppy, frothy wort pouring out of the spigots.
This photo was taken on November 3rd, 2014 during a tour of the Trappist Abbey and Brewery.