In Belgium it is possible to run very small scale commercial brewing operations, and there are breweries that only sell a few hundred bottles a year. Obviously the brewers in this situation don't make their living this way, but in some cases they gain valuable experience toward opening larger operations.
One very small operation is the Brasserie La Caracole, which is owned by three partners--the minimum allowable when forming a partnership in Belgium. One of the partners owns a well-known local specialty beer store, La Cave de Wallonie, which serves as the primary outlet for the brewery's products.
Since I have previously reported on this 4 hl garage brewery in HBD I will not review the entirety of their operations. However, my return visit did give us a chance to cover some new ground, some of which will be of particular interest to small-scale commercial brewers:
Equipment: The brewery uses a converted steam-jacketed Army-surplus soup kettle. The jacket and inner kettle were separated, with the interior becoming their mash tun and kettle, and the exterior jacket becoming their lauter tun. Water is heated using a European-type flash hot water heater, and is added to the lauter tun just the way we do it--one dipper at a time. The fermenters are located in individual closets, which are heated when necessary and protected by UV lamps.
Yeast: Yeast is obtained fresh from a yeast bank at Louvain-La-Neuve, and the same yeast is used for their white, amber, and dark beers. The yeast comes in a 30 liter sealed container, with a yeast count of 5 million cells per centiliter.
Like most breweries this one has a device for cooling and oxygenating its wort. However, they've been having a problem with generation of too many yeast cells during fermentation, making it difficult to get a clear beer. They have therefore decided to temporarily do without oxygenation to see if this will reduce the respiration phase and the resultant increased cell count from reproduction.
Malt: The brewers here have lots of good things to say about the DeWolf-Cosyns malts, which are also available here in the U.S. Not only do they feel these are the best available in Belgium, but they also have fewer business problems with this maltings. When dealing with other sources they report constant problems receiving the wrong thing. In addition, they report that while different maltings produce the same lines of malts, if you order the same thing (say, caravienne) from each source you're going to get somewhat different products. Apparently there are no strict definitions regarding what a malt should be if its called by a particular name. Of course, this would also discourage brewers from switching malt suppliers once they've gotten used to something.
The malts from the Deskamps also got a favorable mention. They have at least one maltings, in Gembloux.
Spices: The brewery uses two different types of orange peel. Bitter orange is used for their white beer, and sweet orange for their strong ales. The former is a greenish-gray color, quite bitter in flavor, and provides very little orange flavor in the beer--only a mellow form of bitterness is imparted. Bitter orange is used at a rate of 0.5 grams per liter of finished beer.
The sweet orange provides a more conventional orange flavor, and is used in quantities ranging from 0.5 grams/liter to double that or even more. Both types of peel are purchased in 50 kg sacks.
Training: The brewer (one of the three partners) received a 6 year brewing degree from Louvain-La-Neuve. The first four years focus on chemistry and biology, and the last two specifically in brewing. Presumably this is roughly equivalent to a B.S. and an M.A. I can't recall now what his day-job was (the brewery operates only on weekends), but I believe it dealt with commercial production of yeast for food products.
Economics: The brewery hopes to move to larger quarters, preferably a 20 hl facility, and is slowly collecting equipment and experience. At the moment it is loosing 60,000 Belgian francs a month, or about $1,800. They appear to see this as a cost to be paid during their education, which is fine as long as they can afford it.
Use of fresh yeast for each batch adds 8 francs (about $0.25) to the price of each 75 cl bottle, but at present the brewery has no yeast-propagation facilities. They must also use new bottles (as opposed to returnables, which are cheaper) because they don't have space for bottle cleaning. For that matter, they don't have electricity or plumbing either, and run a tube down the street to a sewer when they're brewing.
While the brewery sells at least 50% of its beer through La Cave de Wallonie, it also sells a substantial portion through what might be called subscription. In Belgium there are many fraternal and business organizations holding meetings throughout the year, and it is a common practice to have a brewery prepare a batch of beer with special labels for the occasion. (Some American wineries also provide this service.) It can be surprising how much beer can be sold this way, and for a small brewery the arrangement is ideal--they know how much beer they need to brew, and they don't have to worry about distribution. Someone shows up with a truck, takes several dozen cases, hands over a check, and the thing is done. In a business where cultivating and supplying retail outlets can be a major chore, the savings in effort is substantial. In addition, many of these organizations see it as a matter of pride to present unusual or high quality beers, and actually seek out smaller breweries to work with. Regional pride plays a strong role as well.
Last Updated: 16 August, 1995
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