La Jungle: a new direction
The Beer Idiots visited Brasserie La Jungle at Studio Citygate, an old industrial site near Gare Du Midi. We talked to Felix Damien and Christophe Bravin about La Jungle's location and then went inside where Damien led us through brewery. He talked about La Jungle's re-vamped approach to brewing, simpler and more focused. It's been a five year trip and more is to come, says Damien.
India: state of beer
Shweta Panicker, who is in Belgium as a judge for the Brussels Beer Challenge 5-7 November, is from Hyderabad, India. Now living in the Netherlands for the past six years, Panicker talks to the Beer Idiots about the current state of the craft beer sector in India.
BXLBeerFest: one last blowout (maybe)
Jean Hummler, co-owner of Moeder Lambic Original and Moeder Lambic Fontainas bars in Brussels and co-organiser of BXLBeerFest, 28-29 Sept., tells us why the 2024 is the last edition of the festival in this format. He plans to severely downsize it to a few local breweries next year. Along the way we talked about the state of beer festivals and breweries and bars in Belgium. Some choice quotes: ' We lost it. The industry won the war. They are more powerful than ever....Winning the game was not the goal. Playing the game is already an achievement.....We have to come back and think about the business model. Before Covid you could open a brewery, pee in a can and it was sold out....It's over. Now we can get back to brewing more serious stuff.'
'T Verzet: the resistance breaks free
Alex Lippens, co-founder of Brouwerij 't Verzet updates us on the state of the art brewery since the Beer Idiots checked in with them four years ago (https://www.idiots.beer/the-resistance-brews-at-tverzet/). The brewery has now paid off all of its investors and has plans in place to channel their rock 'n' roll philosophy in a sustainable direction.
Belgium's 'hidden' beers in the spotlight
Breandán Kearney of Belgian Smaak and photographer Ashley Joanna talked to the Beer Idiots about their just released book Hidden Beers of Belgium, an insightful look at 24 beers and their brewers. For this they travelled across Belgium over three years, uncovering as well the diverse heritage of traditional and more modern styles being brewed in the country. See photographs from the launch event on 19 September here: https://www.idiots.beer/belgiums-hidden-…in-the-spotlight
Roman Gorin: a taste of Resist part 7
Daria Palamarchuk updates the Beer Idiots on Varvar Brewery in Kyiv, Ukraine. We last spoke to its founder, and her father, Vasyl Mikulin at Leuven Innovation in 2019 (https://www.idiots.beer/from-ukraine-with-love/). Palamarchuk sees the brewery as doing its bit to keep the economy alive within the larger context of a war and the sacrifices being made by her fellow citizens. We spoke to her at Brussels Beer Project's Wanderlust 2024. See article here: https://www.idiots.beer/varvar-beer-among-the-bombs/
Katia Warny: Leuven Innovation 2024
Katia Warny, organiser of Hof Ten Dormaal`s Leuven Innovation Beerfestival from 24-25 August, talks about the festival's evolution over the nine years. This year's festival featured 20 breweries from Belgium and around the world. Warny is The Girl Who Loves Beer.
Krishan Maugdal, president of the Belgian Brewers Federation and director of Belgian Beer World, talks about the relationship between beer culture and tourism and the state of the beer sector in Belgium. We talked with Maugdal at the The Brewers of Europe Forum and @EBC Congress in Lille, France.
Krishan Maugdal, president of the Belgian Brewers Federation and director of Belgian Beer World, talks about the relationship between beer culture and tourism and the state of the beer sector in Belgium. We talked with Maugdal at the Brewers of Europe Forum and EBC Congress in Lille, France.
Julia Leferman, the general manager of the @Brewers of Romania, takes up her new role as secretary general of The Brewers of Europe in August 2024. The Beer Idiots talked with Leferman about her priorities in leading an organisation representing 10,000 brewers across Europe. These include addressing increased public health concerns over alcohol products and proposed EU packaging requirements that are set to add to the economic pressures brewers are facing today.
