Who knew France had such a long and proud history of brewing beer? And why has no one ever mentioned it?
Is there even such a thing as French Beer?
Is French Beer a contradiction in terms?
From mountain stout to Corsican lager, classic ’64 to the Northern bière de garde – join us in our quest to answer these questions and (most likely) much more.
You will find beery journalism of the highest calibre.
You will find reviews of beers and breweries, especially small, burgeoning ones.
You will discover language, history and landscapes; French ones, and all you have to do is sip a French Beer or two.
Okay. And?
Understand this misunderstood, much maligned category of fermented barley and hops, and prove once and for all that French Beer is far from a contradiction in terms.
Toxic masculinity was observed in a changing room full of sweaty victorious rugby players (where else?) as the Present of the Republic drank a bottle of beer down in one. With the Toulousains chanting him on, Macron necks the bottle of beer in a reputable 17 seconds. First he gets his hairy chest out while on the phone to Russia, now this.
As controversial as it may be, here at French Beer* we have other cultural shifts in mind – such as where this little bottle of fermented grain came from.
As Toulouse won the 2023 Top 14 French rugby title against La Rochelle, MonsieurlePresident was there in person to congratulate the victors. He was handed a beer and proceeded to neck the beverage in a one-er. Much to the joy of the onlooking Toulouse players and the chagrin of his political opponents.
Macron downs a beer with the Toulouse players.
Promoting binge drinking, toxic masculinity and attention seeking were just three of the accusations thrown at him. The dressing room erupted in delight as he slammed the empty bottle back onto the table.
Worse, closer inspection of the video shows it was, I am sad to report, a bottle of Corona. The Mexican beer which became infamously associated with a certain pandemic at the start of 2020.
Inexplicably, harm was caused to the Corona brand. Viral videos showed UK supermarket shelves almost empty of all beer brands aside from the unlucky Corona. People never cease to amaze. Do I need to mention that the only connection between the two is simply the name? Perhaps I do.
Corona Beer in 2020.
Corona’s fortunes are clearly changing, unlike those of Macron’s government. Under fire in recent times for his controversial retirement plans for the working French people, Macron will apparently do anything to represent himself as an ordinary fellow. Of course this is quite normal for any politician.
Something else a politician should be doing is promoting his country’s finest products. When it comes to wine, he’s a pro. Named personality of the year in 2022 by La Revue du Vin de France. He famously expressed tristesse for any meal eaten without a glass or two.
It was a great opportunity to support the burgeoning breweries of his homeland. Even a modest 1664 would have done the trick.
Despite the number of breweries in France, not to mention the history and tradition of a humble glass of ale, Macron hasn’t shown any clear signs of support for this lesser known side of French life. The wine industry may deserve a patriotic thumbs up, but the brewers of France need some kudos for all their hard work too.
Ah bon?
He could, for example, have gone for a lovely French mountain stout.
Featured image source: Instagram
Other image sources: Wikimedia Commons / Author
Three mountain ranges, three black beers, one word: Stout.
This year, Guinness returned as the UK’s most popular pint. Could that popularity be spilling over into Europe, as many smaller French beer makers appear to take their inspiration from British and Irish beer traditions?
The Black Stuff
The brewers of one of the stouts we tasted say the English Porter style was a big influence on their bière noire. And here they are, in no particular order:
These three are all stouts in the traditional sense. The only outsider is the Roche Noire, a milk stout, the story of which we’ll explore below. These beers are all made by independent breweries situated between the outskirts of Grenoble, and the feet of the three mountain ranges which surround the city. They are a small selection of the flavoursome black beers being made in the Isère region.
Mountain Juice
Dublin’s famous creamy pint is brewed with water flowing from the Wicklow mountains, south of the capital. Fresh mountain water: could that be the secret? It’s certainly a nice connection. Water drawn from this mountainous French landscape is known for its quality and taste. And stouts, brewed with dark roasted malts for a rich, complex flavour are known for their strength and character. An acquired taste, some say. Alongside this, there is also a sense of tradition with a stout. It’s a solid, old-style beer, with an intriguing history, something which has begun to influence movement in the beer market.
Too cool for craft?
As the craft market slows for another year, the latest beery news suggests that drinkers are turning away from those colourful cans and hoppy American IPA style beers. Could they be looking for less hype? More flavour? Something understated yet deliberately different? It seems they are looking to turn new and quirky on its head, drinking something of an established tradition. Thus achieving their original goal of standing out from the crowd.
(Aside: Sigh. People really are choosing beer for fashion reasons, and have been for years. Double sigh. I can’t help thinking: you like beer, you drink beer, who cares who may be watching. Triple sigh. We’d better move on).
Attracting customers via attention grabbing quirkiness is sometimes attempted by focusing on good old history and tradition. According to GQ, a mixture of clever marketing and hipster tastes are driving the current increase in sales of Guinness. A tendency to shun the overtly fashionable beers is emerging.
Whether influenced by the Guinness boom, the search for a more ‘authentic’ ale, or the challenge of creating a complex yet drinkable dark beer, these brewers all provide a stout as part of their range of flagship beers.
Smacked in the chops
With stout, especially with craft ale-type Imperial Stouts, a full pint is sometimes a challenge: the heaviness, the overpoweringly strong coffee flavours, or the overly sweet dark chocolate notes. Therefore, just as Guinness has a deceptively light body and is lower in calories than many lagers, let’s see if these beers can tread that line between good flavour and drinkability.
Noire de Sassenage
Founded in 2015, la Brasserie des Cuves, take their name doubly from the famous caves nearby, and the large cylindrical vats used to brew their ever popular beer.
The caves are one of the region’s most well known tourist destinations, and are very impressive to experience (as are the huge vats of ale visible from the road outside the brewery). Known as a producer of some of the best French beer, they won gold in the country specific category at the World Beer Awards in 2018, for their wheat beer, and silver for their IPA. Their stout mixes soft notes of coffee and bread, it’s moreish and full flavoured. I sip. Coffee and good bread? It really is French, then. Encore!
Roche Noire – l’Ivresse des Sommets
Roche Noire, or black rock, is named after one of the peaks up in the Belledonne mountain range which stretches up behind where the beer is brewed in Goncelin, Isère.
Billed as a ‘milky stout’, this a French beer which gives a nod to the early 20th Century English production of Milk Stout, which was erroneously publicised as having health benefits. The brewers say you’ll have to close your eyes to experience all the nuances of this beer. And it’s the slightly sweet, complex flavour from the addition of lactose (a byproduct of the cheese making process), which may not please inexperienced (or undernourished) stout drinkers. The somewhat heavy aftertaste won’t please everyone.
Eureka Stout – Belledonne Brewery
Belledonne Brewery claim the use of local malts and French hops in their beers, and are certified as organic. This one is brewed with oats, a tradition almost exclusively connected with stouts.
The Eureka has easily the smoothest and most pleasing hit of stouty goodness, with a light hint of coffee and a touch of fruitiness, without being overly sweet. It achieves an almost creamy texture out of the bottle, creating that swirling brown cloudiness whilst pouring. Beer legend M. Jackson describes the effect on a beer of brewing with oats as adding a ‘distinctively silky character’. Eureka achieves this, with a smooth head which lasts a pleasingly long time. In short; earthy, nutty notes give this one a real beery deliciousness.
Good Things…
Of course the popularity of Guinness doesn’t mean that everyone wants to try the latest stout. However, a taste of a little history, something solid beneath our feet as seemingly all goes soft around us: could that be what drinkers are after?
While we can no longer claim stout is good for you (it probably is), these *French Beers do a great job of reproducing the qualities we love in a stout. That malty, bittersweet hit, surprisingly light bodied with a smooth texture: for me, stout is the king of beers.
