European Beer News (Issue 23)

Nuts for the Red Squirrel

With an eye on expansion, Red Squirrel Brewery of North Hertfordshire established a Crowdcube opportunity for investors who dream of owning shares in a craft brewery. Since its launch in 2010, Red Squirrel has won awards from both SIBA and CAMRA for ales that showcase originality and tradition. A goal of £500,000 will triple current output and add another seven craft beer shops to their current London-based portfolio. In five days, Red Squirrel had already raised £160,000.

Photo Credits: Cavell Nurses Trust (top) and Red Squirrel Brewing Co. (bottom).

by Carl Kins

Brasserie de Silly installed a small brewery in a quite unusual place, i.e. a supermarket in Mons, run by Carrefour. They brew one special beer (6 % ABV), that only is available there, La Chambourlette.

Brussels steps in the footsteps of other large cities with new breweries. “No Science” chose their location on the Greenbizz site (behind the phenomenally beautiful building of Tour & Taxis). And then there is “En Stoemelings” and “Beerstorming”. Plus, the “Brussels Beer Project” who is really making a name for themselves. Recently they cooperated with the rock band “The Editors” and released “Salvation” (nothing to do with Russian River). And the famous British TV-chef Jamie Oliver recently collaborated with them within the framework of his food wastage fight. Indeed he has been using and promoting Babylone, BBP’s “recycling” beer brewed with old, unsold bread from a social bakery in their neighborhood. And Jamie Oliver is now also promoting a similar beer brewed in London by Hackney Brewery, called “Toast”.

For the fourth year in a row, a “Lady and Beer Day” was organized by Huyghe, this time on Saturday 16 January. Each time, a beer was brewed by the ladies, called Deliria. For this fourth edition, an international group of ladies, coming from among others Mexico, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium did brew a total of 500 hectoliter.

When it comes to ladies, AB InBev had another experience. They launched a campaign in order to counteract the gender stereotypes about beer and ladies. But, according to the Belgian marketing regulator, they are achieving just the contrary by portraying beer drinking ladies as “cool, easy going, and always good company” and stating that they are the best partners because they will “ensure there is always beer at home and will always understand their partner goes for a beer with friends.”

An important Belgian brewer, Orval’s brew master Anne-Francoise Pypaert announced she will make a collaboration ale with New Belgium Brewing. It will be a ‘Spiced Belgian Strong Dark Ale’ at 9.5 % alcohol, with spruce tips and aged on wooden spirals. Her predecessor, the famous Jean-Marie Rock has done US collaborations (with Boulevard Brewing Co.), but this is AF’s first collaboration. Hopefully, not the last.

Duvel continues to put themselves in the limelight. They just launched this year’s version of Duvel Tripel Hop, which makes use of an experimental type of American hop, i.e. HBC291, resulting in aromas of black pepper, roses and lavender. Next to that they created a pack with the three latest Tripel Hop versions. And they celebrate the tenth anniversary of one of the first Belgian IPA’s, Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel. 

Pol Ghekiere is living close to Chouffe where he runs Bed & Breakfast La Vielle Forge. Pol used to guide people at La Chouffe, where the beer bug bit him hard, such that he started a small brewery, Brasserie Inter-Pol. For Delhaize (Food Lion) a special line of limited edition beers (4000 each – 75 cl bottles) was started, under the heading “Famous Belgian Brewers”. The three different recipes are created by respectively Pol himself (Witte Pol), Hildegard van Ostaden (Urthel – Café Noir) and Jef Van Den Steen (Glazen Toren –Spéciale Belge).

Just across the Dutch border, the Trappist monks of Koningshoeven/La Trappe – came up with a world first by issuing a glossy magazine. It provides a unique look behind the scenes of the monastery walls, an inside view in the contemplative monastic life not to forget the history and the brewery and its beers.

Photo Credits: Toon Coussement (top) and Wikimedia Commons/Gordito1869 (bottom).

by Max Bahnson

The Ministry of Agriculture has announced changes in the beer legislation, more specifically, in the official nomenclature. Speciál (for beers with > 13° Plato) will now be called Silné pivo (strong beer). Porter as a category for dark beers of 18° Plato or higher is to be scrapped in response to the new trends among Czech brewers, which was also the reason to revise the flagship category of Czech beer, Ležák—Lager (for beers between 11 and 12° Plato). In recent years, ales and other top-fermented beers have grown in popularity to the point that larger brewers have been exploring them, and many people in the industry have complained that the name of the category makes little sense when applied to those beers—a 4.5% Stout must be labelled (top-fermented) Dark Lager. When the new nomenclature comes into force later this year, it will include two categories for the above mentioned Plato range: Ležák, for bottom fermented beers, and Plné Pivo (Full Beer) for the rest.

The official count of microbreweries has passed 300, and it keeps growing without slowing its pace, with Minipivovar having become part of the mainstream language. Microbreweries are getting more attention outside beer circles and this year’s edition of Solima, the country’s largest food trade-fair, included a wing dedicated solely to them.

Photo Credit: Øyvind Holmstad. 

by Jim Dykstra

Hopped Up

The United States overtook Germany to lead the world in hop production last year, according to a report from the International Hop Growers Convention, which took place in Nuremberg, Germany. 

Historically, Germany has secured the top spot, but drought coupled with some of the lowest rates of domestic consumption in decades drastically decreased production to 62.2 million pounds, or 33 percent of the world total, compared to the U.S. production of 80.2 million pounds, or 42 percent of the world total.

The continuing U.S. IPA trend has also provided a significant boost to America’s total, the vast majority of which comes from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Overall, total world hop production topped out at 190.4 million pounds in 2015, down from 208.1 million in 2014. The highest total reached in the past 10 years came in 2008, at 245 million pounds of dankness.