Written by The Best French Microbreweries
Occasionally you get prompted to write about a specific subject and a few days ago I was fortunate enough to be given a couple of bottles of a fantastic French beer called l’Angelus. So this time I’m going to write about several of the best French Microbreweries. The first is the Annoellin brewery which resides in the village of the same name.
Annoellin Brewery
Situated in the far North East of France almost on the Belgian border we find the village of Annoellin. With a population of 10,000 most of us would actually regard it as a small town. The brewery has produced L’Angelus since 1905 and you can taste the history. It’s a fermented beer and, as the brewery says, it’s a:
“……traditional, well-balanced, full flavoured and refreshing ale, elaborated from barley and fresh wheat grains…..”.
It’s strong stuff at 7% abv but a real must if you’re that part of the country.
Le Brewery
A relatively young brewery, this enterprise started only in 2001. It’s situated in a 900 year old cider farm in Lower Normandy, in the village of Joue-de-Bois. It currently produces three beers as follows – Norman Gold (4.9% abv), Ambree d’Automne (5.1% abv), Conquerant (5.5% abv) and Odo (6. %).
The brewery was actually started by group of English people who detail their confusing
struggles with the local French bureaucracy on their website www.le-brewery.com. The website is fantastically amateurish (but in a good way). Brewing beer is clearly more important than website production, and a good thing too.
**update – the website is no longer amateurish; it’s brand new and updates**
Castelain Brewery
Not too far from the Annouellin brewery is the Castelain brewery. They have been
producing high quality beer since 1926 and it’s a real family business, each generation learning from the last. It’s located in the village of Benifontaine.
It’s beers include Ch’ti Blonde (6.4% abv), Ch’ti Ambree (5.9% abv), Jade (4.5% abv), Derby (5% abv) and some seasonal beers. This is very professional outfit with ambitions to export their product around the world and why not? It’s some of the very best French beer.
