Alvinne Explained

Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Location:Moen (Zwevegem), Belgium
Owner:Davy Spiessens, Glenn Castelein, Marc De Keukeleire
Foundation:2003
Industry:Alcoholic beverage
Products:Beer

Alvinne is a small brewery in the hamlet of Moen near the Belgian city of Zwevegem, founded in 2002.

The brewery creates a range of beers, including versions of 'traditional' Belgian styles such as strong golden ales, abbey-style beers and saison, as well as original creations that cross stylistic boundaries and beers inspired by styles from outside their home country like imperial stout. Alvinne has gained international attention.[1] [2]

Name

The name of the brewery derives from a female spirit, Witte Wieven, of local folk tales.

Their earlier name included the term "Picobrouwerij", a play on the scientific terminology for very small objects. It is based on the fact that the brewery's production is smaller by several orders of magnitude than that of a typical microbrewery. The prefix Pico- is combined with "brouwerij", the Dutch and Flemish term for brewery.

History

At the beginning of Alvinne's existence in 2002, they brewed their beers at the De Graal brewery premises in Brakel, East Flanders,[3] later moving to their own premises in the town of Ingelmunster proper in 2003. In 2006 they relocated again to their current facility in Heule.

The brewery makes beer about three times per week to make up the annual volume. A brew kettle of 600 liter capacity is used, but batch volume is restricted to 300 liters for the stronger beers due to the limited size of the mash/lauter tun. There are four 1000 liter steel fermentation tanks.

The Alvinne products are generally only available in 33cl bottles (of the short, squat variety popularly associated with beers like Duvel) and on tap. All of the Alvinne beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized. The brewery lists most ingredients of their beers on the label. English and Czech hop varieties are most common in their recipes, and the beers produced combine traditional Belgian brewing techniques such as the use of sugar and spices with the methods and styles of other nations. The large quantity of beer styles in production is particularly uncommon for a brewery of such modest size, as is the fact that the diverse brews are created using different commercially available yeast strains (as opposed a single 'house' strain) to obtain specific flavors and aromas.

Beers

In addition to marketing their products under their own names, the brewery also follows the Belgian practice of offering "label beers" (Etiketbieren) for pubs, restaurants and other establishments. In this practice batches of the beer are produced and given a special label with the name and design of the client. These are typically the same beer recipes as the regular line, merely issued under a different title. Brewer Glenn Castelein also teaches an annual brewing course.

Alvinne has made its brewing apparatus available for other projects, including the "Kroegbier" line of brews made by the owners of the 't Kroegske craft beer pub in nearby Emelgem.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archive 2006 . Simpson.uk.com . 2006-02-27 . 2012-02-03.
  2. Web site: Best Beers of Belgium 2007 . Ratebeer.com . 2012-02-03.
  3. Web site: John White of White Beer Travels . White Beer Travels Beer Archives . Whitebeertravels.co.uk . 2012-02-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120206114140/http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/archives.html . 2012-02-06 .
  4. http://www.zythos.be zythos.be
  5. http://www.wyeastlabs.com wyeastlabs.com
  6. Web site: Bierblog . Blog.seniorennet.be . 2012-02-03.

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