17 craft beer producers throughout France

Some shots are harder than others. It’s the waiter, unloading his tray, honking” rosé for Madame and beer for Monsieur? “. The wine merchant, who immediately recommends a white or a light blond, ” less bitter, more feminine “. O our father, who does not find ” not very elegant a woman drinking a pint.

It infuriates, especially since beer, traditionally considered an alcohol” male », has been a women’s business since ancient times! Its preparation, like meals, has long been part of the domestic tasks assigned to the women of the house. The brewers, on the other hand, excluded from the consumption, but above all from the production of beer, as soon as it became profitable and industrialised, as Anaïs Lecoq reminds us in Maltriarchy – When women crave beer and equality (Nouriturfu, 2022).

In France, as everywhere in the world, the beer industry is largely dominated by men. To remedy this imbalance, here is a non-exhaustive list of craft and independent brewers, who are recovering a millenary know-how confiscated from women.

Blüeme Brewery (Alteckendorf, Bas-Rhin)

Graphic designer converted since 2019, Sophie Peuckert is a brewer with a green thumb (“ blueme it means ” flower » in Alsatian). His creations, organic and seasonal, are inspired by herbal medicine: matcha beer, sour infused with linden blossom, oatmeal and buckwheat blonde …

https://brasserie.blueme.fr/

There’s a witch in my beer (La Réole, Gironde)

An organic and feminist microbrewery, founded by Véronique Vérisson and Véronique. Lanceron Bret. With their Virago range, these signatories of an ‘open letter for a more inclusive beer’ are re-appropriating an old misogynistic term for a woman’s appearance and demeanor’ like a man “.

Drao Brewery (Melesse, Ille-et-Vilaine)

Granddaughter of farmers, granddaughter of a cider producer and agro-food engineer, Rozenn Mell has returned to her first loves: the land and beer, which she brewed as a student. Today she grows barley on her own farm near Rennes and procures hops from Alsace, which she transforms into living organic beers.

http://www.brasseriedrao.com/

The Brewer of the Cevennes (Saint-Frézal-de-Ventalon, Lozère)

At Émilie Thisse nothing is lost, everything is transformed! Her beers reflect the Cévénol region: Marcassine (amber with chestnut, of course), Barbasta (” doe “, in Occitan, a white enriched with myrtle)… And the spent grains, i.e. the cereals that have become “waste” after fermentation, are used to feed the animals on his farm and to make anti-waste biscuits.

http://www.labrasseusedescevennes.fr/

Roulier Brewery (Le Val-d’Ajol, Vosges)

Black Sabbat, Pussy Riot, La Barbue verte (homage to Clémentine Delait, famous “ woman with beard ” Vosgienne)… The witch Agathe’z (Nadine Fiegel in town) delivers heavy, and for all tastes: American Pale Ale, Lager, Imperial Stout… A brewer recognized by her peers, as winner of several Gold Fourquets, silver and bronze (awarded by the French Brewery Museum).

http://brasserieduroulier.free.fr/

Brasserie la Bout’ (Boursay, Loir-et-Cher)

In Montreal, he discovered brewing. In Paris he is assistant to the Environment and Urban Agriculture programme. In 2016 she launched. Since then, Lucie Monthioux has developed 13 craft beer recipes (lemon thyme blonde, black bitter chocolate, cherry amber, grape beer, etc.), also produced thanks to the 300 plants of her hop plantation.

Gessienne Brewery (Ornex, Ain)

When Stéphanie Ponsart-Serrano worked in the pharmaceutical industry, a friend introduced her to home brewing. Today it is in the heart of the Pays de Gex that she brews her beers, with cereals grown nearby, such as GPA (Gessian IPA version) or L’Écossaise, smoked and peated, brewed with whiskey malt.

https://www.brasseriegessienne.fr/

Brasserie des Fontaines (Doué-en-Anjou, Maine-et-Loire)

Producing beer in a very wine-growing region, in the heart of the Coteaux du Layon AOP area, was a great challenge, especially in 2007. But Anne-Catherine Sailly, whose grandmother made a ” domestic beer “, Succession. For fifteen years, it has been producing binouz with mischievous names or those celebrating local heritage: Pouss’Mémé (blonde with nettles), Black Widow, Troglotte, Dame de Monsoreau…

http://brasserie.fontaines.free.fr/

Charlotte Beers (Nantes, Loire-Atlantique)

Charlotte Goin trained in brewing in Lille, Paris and Montreal before returning to set down her suitcases – and vats – in her hometown. In addition to a permanent range, he creates ephemeral bottles according to the season or his mood: Christmas beer (the 2022 vintage was an amber with notes of lemon and verbena), white with Sichuan pepper or even a harvest beer, with hops just collected.

http://www.lesbieresdecharlotte.fr/

Béglaise Brewery (Bègle, Gironde)

A singer-brewer who has lived in Bègles for ten years, the Brazilian Alê Kali pays homage, through her beers, to the former workers of the cod dryers, who have made the reputation of the city since the 20th century. It is in a room intended for this activity that the artist, feminist and committed, set up her micro-brewery in 2020, where she also offers concerts and workshops.

https://www.facebook.com/labeglaise/

Merlin (Penmarc’h, Finistère)

Sara Bambagiotti has exchanged the satellites for hops, which she grows herself. The former space engineer delights Breton beer lovers with more than twenty recipes to his credit, from the wisest to the most daring: Smoked IPA (smoked malt with beech wood), Lazy Mango (IPA brewed with mango) or the amazing Abyss , stout with oysters.

https://merlin.beer/

Brewery of the Loire, Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert (Loire)

Biochemist on technical unemployment, due to lack of work, Anne-Laure Pelloux-Prayer becomes a chemistry teacher, but she lacks research. A visit to a craft brewery rekindles the flame, which has been burning for twenty years now. In her laboratory she prepares blondes, browns or whites, but also special beers: multigrain triples, with toasted bread or hints of honey.

https://www.brasseriedelaloire.fr/

La Voisine Brewery (Coignières, Yvelines)

A former water engineer at Veolia, Harmony Voisin made the switch to beer in 2017, then from her parents’ cellar to an independent venue, where she brews tantalizing creations: amber infused with holiday spices, vanilla stout, white elderberry-hibiscus or yuzu – ginger wheat beer.

Brasserie & Actualités

Artmalté (Epagny Metz-Tessy, Haute-Savoie)

Passionate about beer since her teens, Stéphanie Altermatt can’t find work in her field, microbiology. Too bad, it will be the microbrewery that will give this profession back its letters of nobility and make the public rediscover beer, with recipes for all palates: stout with coffee, white with toasted and smoked wheat malt or IPA with Haut Savoyard malts .

http://www.artmalte.com/

Ile et Elle Brewery (Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron, Charente-Maritime)

She is Mélodie Séguier, newly converted. The confinement postponed the inauguration of his microbrewery, but allowed him to refine his recipes. On her island of her, better known for her oysters than her beer, she brews organic, against all odds, blonde, white or amber beer.

Brasserie Thibord (Aix-Villemaur-Palis, Aube)

Third generation of a family of cereal farmers, Clémence Thibord has not betrayed the clan by launching the microbrewery in 2018. Better than her: her beers are brewed with barley harvested by her brother. Six permanent and two ephemeral references, including André, pepper binouze designed in collaboration with a local sauerkraut.

https://www.brasseriethibord.fr/

Brasserie 5 Bis (La Palme, Aude)

Winemaker, Delphine Roulier was, for twelve years, cellarman of a prestigious estate. During a fair, a man points out to her that beer is not a feminine drink, indeed even vulgar. Click. Switching from grapes to hops, she now brews by the sea, in addition to the classic, sharp references: Sour Ale, Black IPA, ginger blonde …

http://www.brasserie5bis.com/

Thanks to Carol-Ann Cailly, enlightened brewer, for the invaluable inventory work done on her blog Hoppy Hours.

Alcohol abuse is dangerous to your health, consume it in moderation.

Front page photo credit: Instagram screenshot.

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