Surprisingly, French beers always appeal to more… Belgians. For what reasons ? We took stock of both sides of the border.
It seems that the secret to making good beer is no longer held solely by our Belgian neighbors. French beers are popular across France and more particularly in Belgium, (re)known for its ancestral know-how in this area.
A few meters from the border, Reynald brews nearly 25 000 liters of beer at the Brasserie d’Amblise de Crespin (59). The success of his beverage, if it owes it to a sophisticated recipe, is also due to the Belgian clientele. “They really like visiting the places, they like stopping by the brewery, they find the atmosphere nice. As they like beer, they also like to taste French beers to see if there are any differences with their own.”
The beer produced by Reynald Grzelczyk at the Brasserie d’Amblise
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© L. Colinet / B. Thery / France Télévisions / RTBF
If tastes and colors cannot be discussed, when it comes to beer it takes on all its importance. French beers are renowned for being less sweet than those of our counterparts, and this would be one of the reasons for its success.
The quality of our products is still the Belgians who talk about it best. “The quality of French so-called Abbey products has evolved terribly over the last ten years. Today we find ourselves with products that are at least equivalent to what we can find in good Belgian craft breweries.” testifies Luc Janssens, director of the Cora Hornu hypermarket in Mons (Belgium).
The quality of French so-called Abbey products has evolved terribly over the last ten years.
Luc JanssensHypermarket Director Cora Hornu
Will French beers dethrone those from the flat country? For the moment, this has not yet been done. Every year, French brewers export 700 million liters. “We export to the United States, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain” says Xavier Bailleux, co-manager of the Au Baron de Gussignies brewery (59). “Our big export destination is naturally Belgium.”
French brewers are trying to do well, and it’s working. But they remain far from the 1.6 billion liters exported each year by our Belgian neighbors.
