ALVINNE RESIDENCY TAP
This month we’re showcasing Brouwerij Alvinne & De Leite on the residency tap in our bars! Two superb Beligan brewers whom we have admired for a long time! We had a chat with them both recently recently ahead of the tap launch...
ALVINNE
Can you give our customers some background to Alvinne?
Our brewery was officially launched in 2004. Before that Glenn and Davy were home brewing in Ingelmunster at 'De Proefzolder' but soon the home brewing was becoming bigger then allowed. They told us we had to either downsize or start a real brewery, that's how Alvinne was founded. Later the brewery moved to Heule and after that it moved to Moen. We produce around 1200hl a year and are specialised in mixed fermentation sours, barrel aged beers and fruit maceration.
Where did the origins for your famous "Morpheus" yeast strain come from? and how is it unique to your brewery?
In 2009 Marc joined the team, he brought the Morpheus Yeast with him, this changed a lot for Alvinne. We changed our focus from the more classic beer styles to mixed fermentation beers. The yeast was cultivated in the Auvergne area in France, its a mix of lactobacillus and saccharomyces. It's thanks to the Morpheus Yeast that Alvinne is now known worldwide for it's innovative sour beers.
Alvinne and six°north have have brewed and released several beers together over the years. What was your first introduction to six°north?
I was contacted by Robert from six°north some years ago when he was planning a biking trip in Belgium and France during the cycling classic weeks. He was hoping to collab with breweries located in the heart of the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix region. We were and as Glenn used to cycle a lot in the past and is still a huge cycling fan, the common passions lead to a first collab called Chain Reaction. For the launch of Chain Reaction we came all the way up to Stonehaven for the Midsummer beer festival. We've been good friends ever since and have met each other on various occasions both in Stonehaven as in Zwevegem.
Can we look forward to some new Alvinne releases in the coming months?
Yes, we will have many new releases coming out in the next months. These beers are mainly variants from existing beers, aged on other types of barrels or with new kind of fruits. Cuvée De Mortagne Vermouth, Cuvée De Mortagne Marsala, Cuvée d'Erpigny White Port, Cuvée d'Erpigny Moscatel, Phi Smoked Pineapple, Sigma Forest Fruit. Most of these beers will see a very limited release.
What was the last non Alvinne beer that took your breath away?
Antidoot - L'Ambigu (Cabernet Jura), this is a blend of a natural wine and a beer produced by Antidoot. After blending, the combo spend 8 more months together aging in barrels, before bottling it was again blended with a grape macerated beer. This beer is blurring boundaries between beer and wine, both made at the brewery, an amazing creation! We love what Antidoot is doing, they are blurring the boundaries of the beer scene these days. Next to Alvinne they are the only brewery with a bottle membership in Belgium at the moment.
DE LEITE
Can you introduce De Leite to our customers?
The origins of this brewery lie in the interest of our owner and brewer Luc Vermeersch. His sympathy is primarily reserved for traditional crafts. Back in the day, this resulted in the construction of a garden shed, where he set up a brewery and a bread oven. He bought this first 30-litre mini brewery in Finland in 1997. The manufacturer gave him no more than one weekend of training. Through a lot of independent study and making small sample brews that he shared with friends, his lust for brewing began, increasing more and more.
Because he worked on his passion in a kind of cocoon, far away from people who knew more about the art of brewing than he did, he enrolled in a brewing course after 10 years. Very early in that course year, he began making plans for a larger brewery. In April 2008, brewery De Leite became a reality. We now brew on a slightly large 6 hectolitre brewkit.
Tell us about your range?
We produce balanced beers, most of which are aged in barrels until tart and complex. Our range includes: Amber, Blond Triple, Tripel Kriek, Saison, Flemish Red as well as a whole host of barrel aged sour beers.
What are the brewery's plans for 2020?
We have installed four extra foeders, so sours will continue and grow. We launched our first organic beer, the Femme Fatale Organic. Could be that some others of the family will follow.
What would be your desert island beer?
It all depends of the moment and atmosphere. Would probably be the Cuvée Soeur Ise, the trippel Kriek.