Brasserie A Vapeur - The Steam-Powered Brewery

Rue du Marechal, 1, B-7904 Pipaix (Leuze-en-Hainaut) Belgium. Tel/Fax: int. + 32.69.66 20 47
-by Tim Dalton



This small brewery ( ~ 1,000 hL/year) is located in the Province de Hainaut, in Pipaix, near the town of Leuze. It is easy to find by just driving through the small town of Pipaix, home also to Dubuisson, makes of Bush beer (a.k.a. Scaldis). The following is from literature picked up at the Brewery, edited slightly.

The brewery is open to visitors full of good intentions. Our fondest wish is that we become friends. Please let us know if you want to come round on weekdays. Do so by making an appointment.

On Sundays, at 11 a.m. there is a regularly organized guided tour. We only ask a modest contribution towards the cost, inclusive of a gustation. Every last saturday of the month, the brewing operations begin at 9 a.m.

The Steam-Powered brewery has a 19th-century mill, so it is definitely a living museum.

A nine HP enginge, constructed in 1896, actuates, through a driving belt, a transmission shaft from which several pulleys and driving belts start the brewing machinery: pump, mixing machine, crushing machine, fermentation tub, rotary device, residue container, malt pump...everything is late 19th century material. A 19th century to which you feel transfered when you enter the brewing compartment.

This steam-powered machine, the very heart of the brewery, gives the rhythm. This steam circulates and brings everything to life.

On average we brew once a month. That makes about 6000 bottles. The important thing here is quality, not quantity! If you are willing to be patient, there is no doubt a bottle of beer for you...

Our beer won't leave you indifferent because it is scarce and it has a very particular taste, wether you lite it or not...Here's to You, here's to us...

Characterisitc Features:


Natural beer, unfiltered and unpasteurized. High fermentation, no chemical products added. Refermentation in corked-up and capsule-covered bottles. Matures well in cellars: falvor subject to ripening. Bottled only in 75 cl bottles.

Production:


Open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Closed on Thursday, Sunday afternoon, and on Mondays during July and August.

Visits and purchases after opening hours or by appointment.
Guided Tour every saturday at 11 a.m. or by appointment.
Open House every last Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. onwards





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Page Author: tjd@tiac.net (Dr. Timothy J. Dalton)

Last Updated: 16 August, 1995
Die Bierjägerseite - The Beer Hunter Page: http://www.tiac.net/users/tjd/bier/bier.html