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Hoegaarden bites Inbev !
In an age of worker economic uncertainty and selfish business practices, it comes as great pleasure to me when some corporate bastard gets its
arse kicked by a minnow.
This is exactly what happened in that most conservative of European countries, Belgium -- home of some rather delicious chocolate, fascinating
beers and some pretty crap football teams.
In 2005, the world's biggest brewer, InBev, announced it was going to close its Hoegaarden brewery and transfer brewing operations to its huge
lager factory situated at Jupille, near Leige. There was just a minor detail to consider: The renowned Hoegaarden Wit (White) Ale was brewed in the
town of Hoegaarden as it had been since Belgian brewer Pierre Celis revived the Wit style in the mid-1960s. To close the brewery would mean the
loss of several hundred jobs, remove a famous beer style from the town, and literally remove the soul from Hoegaarden where the brewery was the
main employer.
Another issue was the cultural difference. Hoegaarden is a Dutch-speaking area of Belgium while Jupille is French-speaking. For all intensive
purposes, Hoegaarden Wit was being sent up a certain creek without a certain instrument.
But hey, that's no big deal for InBev who have a ruthless track record of buying small breweries and then promptly closing them down -- all in a days
work at the InBev corporate office.
The entrance to the Hoegaarden brewery. The InBev management
are all hiding behind the windows.
However, in a move virtually unknown in Flemish Europe, the locals in Hoegaarden got some bollocks and not only protested the move but actually
got involved in demonstrations ! CAMRA's Roger Protz noted that just about every shop and business in Hoegaarden had posters in their windows
(written in Dutch) saying "Hoegaarden brews Hoegaarden". CAMRA rallied against the move as did their European counterpart, The European Beer
Consumers Union.
The momentum continued -- now in a global fashion -- with the world's beer press making InBev look rather silly and sad. Two years on, in October
2007, InBev did a U-turn and sheepishly announced that they had shelved plans to close the Hoegaarden brewery - instead, pumping sixty million
Euros in its Belgian breweries in Leuven, Jupille AND Hoegaarden !
It was a magnificent victory for the little town of proud people; the corporate folks at InBev are probably still scraping the eggs off their dismal faces !
Hooray for the little man !
"Hey, InBev -- F**k Off, you miserable bastards !"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pierre Celis: The Wizard of Wit Beer
Following the annoucement by InBev not to close the Hoegaaden brewery, Pierre Celis congratulated them on their brave move. It was, in fact, Celis
who was the brave one, considering the bullshit he's had to put up with from giant corporate brewers since they first got wind of the magnificent wit
beer he was brewing.
Pierre Celis and his missus Juliette in
their home town of Hoegaarden.
The Hoegaarden region of Flemish East Brabant in Belgium has a proud brewing history. Brewing in the area by monks has been traced back to
1318, although its believed that local brewing goes back as far as the Roman occupation -- The area was perfect for making Wit beers, not just
because of wheat, oats and barley malts but also because of the high calcium in the village water. Also, Dutch and Flemish traders were bringing
back exotic spices and fruits such as coriander and Curacao orange peel, which were used in the brewing process. In 1560, the Hoegaarden
Brewers Guild was formed, and by 1758 there were 38 local breweries.
Alas, it was not to last. With the usual reasons of economic decline and failure to compete with mass produced Pilsner lagers from Leuven, the
breweries began to close in the 19th and 20th centuries at an alarming rate. The last brewery in Hoegaarden, Tomsin, called it a day in the 1950s.
Enter Pierre Celis, a local milkman. The story goes that while drinking a few bevvies with his mates, he was encouraged to change from one white
liquid to another (i.e.milk to wheat beer). A lightbulb lit up in Pierre's head and by 1966 he was running his own micro-brewery called Brouwerij Celis,
producing a wheat ale which he named Oud Hoegaard's Bier (Old Hoegaarden Beer). The recipe for this beer can be traced back to 1453 and had
thus been remarkably revived by Pierre.
His beers , aided by his unique eight-sided glasses, made it into the larger Belgian cities, then France and Holland. Production boomed, but disaster
loomed -- a bloody great fire destroyed his brewery, and having a rather sad insurance policy meant that he wasn't able to carry on.
Enter Stella Artois, a large Belgian Lager producing company. They offered to rebuild Pierre Celis' brewing career in return for 45% of the shares.
The partnership began well, but when Stella merged with Piedboeuf of Jupille in 1988, the writing was on the wall. The merger produced Interbrew,
who in later years became InBev, when they took over Ambev of Brazil.
The corporate bods at Jupille told Celis that he had to cut costs and cheapen the ingrediants of his beers. He, in turn, told them to "get stuffed" and
so rather than face more pressure from Jupille, he decided to retire, and sold his company to Interbrew, who hold all the rights to the Hoegaarden
beer.
Nice glass, bullshit beer !
Enter the United States of America. In 1992, Celis set up his latest brewing venture in Austin, Texas. Called The Celis Brewery (by mere coincidence,
the English name for Brouwerij Celis), production reached almost 23,000 barrels annually until his co-investors sold their shares to the next
corporate nightmare to plague Celis: Miller. Once again, cashflow was emphasized over integrity, with Miller insisting that Pierre Celis replace the
Czech hops with cheaper rubbish. And once again, he told a corporate bastard to "get stuffed". Celis sold the brewery to Miller in 2000, who closed it
down in 2001.
Celis Beer, produced by the Michigan Brewing Company,
who put product over profit.
Enter Michigan Brewing Company. Following the Miller fiasco, The Miller Brewing Company offered their services to Celis, which he accepted. To this
day they continue to brew his wheat beer recipe from 1453, simply called Celis White (review of which can be found on the 'Tis the Season article).
Celis oversaw the production of the beer before returning to Belgium. There are rumours that the 81-year old is planning a brewing return in
Hoegaarden with a 90-year old mate -- watch this space !
Cheers !
In an age of worker economic uncertainty and selfish business practices, it comes as great pleasure to me when some corporate bastard gets its
arse kicked by a minnow.
This is exactly what happened in that most conservative of European countries, Belgium -- home of some rather delicious chocolate, fascinating
beers and some pretty crap football teams.
In 2005, the world's biggest brewer, InBev, announced it was going to close its Hoegaarden brewery and transfer brewing operations to its huge
lager factory situated at Jupille, near Leige. There was just a minor detail to consider: The renowned Hoegaarden Wit (White) Ale was brewed in the
town of Hoegaarden as it had been since Belgian brewer Pierre Celis revived the Wit style in the mid-1960s. To close the brewery would mean the
loss of several hundred jobs, remove a famous beer style from the town, and literally remove the soul from Hoegaarden where the brewery was the
main employer.
Another issue was the cultural difference. Hoegaarden is a Dutch-speaking area of Belgium while Jupille is French-speaking. For all intensive
purposes, Hoegaarden Wit was being sent up a certain creek without a certain instrument.
But hey, that's no big deal for InBev who have a ruthless track record of buying small breweries and then promptly closing them down -- all in a days
work at the InBev corporate office.
The entrance to the Hoegaarden brewery. The InBev management
are all hiding behind the windows.
However, in a move virtually unknown in Flemish Europe, the locals in Hoegaarden got some bollocks and not only protested the move but actually
got involved in demonstrations ! CAMRA's Roger Protz noted that just about every shop and business in Hoegaarden had posters in their windows
(written in Dutch) saying "Hoegaarden brews Hoegaarden". CAMRA rallied against the move as did their European counterpart, The European Beer
Consumers Union.
The momentum continued -- now in a global fashion -- with the world's beer press making InBev look rather silly and sad. Two years on, in October
2007, InBev did a U-turn and sheepishly announced that they had shelved plans to close the Hoegaarden brewery - instead, pumping sixty million
Euros in its Belgian breweries in Leuven, Jupille AND Hoegaarden !
It was a magnificent victory for the little town of proud people; the corporate folks at InBev are probably still scraping the eggs off their dismal faces !
Hooray for the little man !
"Hey, InBev -- F**k Off, you miserable bastards !"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pierre Celis: The Wizard of Wit Beer
Following the annoucement by InBev not to close the Hoegaaden brewery, Pierre Celis congratulated them on their brave move. It was, in fact, Celis
who was the brave one, considering the bullshit he's had to put up with from giant corporate brewers since they first got wind of the magnificent wit
beer he was brewing.
Pierre Celis and his missus Juliette in
their home town of Hoegaarden.
The Hoegaarden region of Flemish East Brabant in Belgium has a proud brewing history. Brewing in the area by monks has been traced back to
1318, although its believed that local brewing goes back as far as the Roman occupation -- The area was perfect for making Wit beers, not just
because of wheat, oats and barley malts but also because of the high calcium in the village water. Also, Dutch and Flemish traders were bringing
back exotic spices and fruits such as coriander and Curacao orange peel, which were used in the brewing process. In 1560, the Hoegaarden
Brewers Guild was formed, and by 1758 there were 38 local breweries.
Alas, it was not to last. With the usual reasons of economic decline and failure to compete with mass produced Pilsner lagers from Leuven, the
breweries began to close in the 19th and 20th centuries at an alarming rate. The last brewery in Hoegaarden, Tomsin, called it a day in the 1950s.
Enter Pierre Celis, a local milkman. The story goes that while drinking a few bevvies with his mates, he was encouraged to change from one white
liquid to another (i.e.milk to wheat beer). A lightbulb lit up in Pierre's head and by 1966 he was running his own micro-brewery called Brouwerij Celis,
producing a wheat ale which he named Oud Hoegaard's Bier (Old Hoegaarden Beer). The recipe for this beer can be traced back to 1453 and had
thus been remarkably revived by Pierre.
His beers , aided by his unique eight-sided glasses, made it into the larger Belgian cities, then France and Holland. Production boomed, but disaster
loomed -- a bloody great fire destroyed his brewery, and having a rather sad insurance policy meant that he wasn't able to carry on.
Enter Stella Artois, a large Belgian Lager producing company. They offered to rebuild Pierre Celis' brewing career in return for 45% of the shares.
The partnership began well, but when Stella merged with Piedboeuf of Jupille in 1988, the writing was on the wall. The merger produced Interbrew,
who in later years became InBev, when they took over Ambev of Brazil.
The corporate bods at Jupille told Celis that he had to cut costs and cheapen the ingrediants of his beers. He, in turn, told them to "get stuffed" and
so rather than face more pressure from Jupille, he decided to retire, and sold his company to Interbrew, who hold all the rights to the Hoegaarden
beer.
Nice glass, bullshit beer !
Enter the United States of America. In 1992, Celis set up his latest brewing venture in Austin, Texas. Called The Celis Brewery (by mere coincidence,
the English name for Brouwerij Celis), production reached almost 23,000 barrels annually until his co-investors sold their shares to the next
corporate nightmare to plague Celis: Miller. Once again, cashflow was emphasized over integrity, with Miller insisting that Pierre Celis replace the
Czech hops with cheaper rubbish. And once again, he told a corporate bastard to "get stuffed". Celis sold the brewery to Miller in 2000, who closed it
down in 2001.
Celis Beer, produced by the Michigan Brewing Company,
who put product over profit.
Enter Michigan Brewing Company. Following the Miller fiasco, The Miller Brewing Company offered their services to Celis, which he accepted. To this
day they continue to brew his wheat beer recipe from 1453, simply called Celis White (review of which can be found on the 'Tis the Season article).
Celis oversaw the production of the beer before returning to Belgium. There are rumours that the 81-year old is planning a brewing return in
Hoegaarden with a 90-year old mate -- watch this space !
Cheers !
