The Loire, the land of organic beers

For about twenty years now in England and about ten years in France, beer has found a new personality, exactly like vintage wines, and it is a pleasure for beer lovers who are more numerous than can be imagined. 

As a result, craftsmen brewers are working again.  Initiatives abound (more than ten in Rhône-Alpes) and beers have been regionalized by flavouring them with local produce such as: bilberry, pear, chestnut, lentils... They also work with more demanding specifications and propose products in small quantity, but high-quality, using organic farming methods. In brief, by returning in force to the market, beer recovers its health.

In Pilat, and more exactly in the Regional Natural Park, the Brasserie du Pilat does not take quality requirements lightly. The seven, 100 % organic hand-made beers (four lagers and three amber beers) use Pilat spring water, naturally pure, 95 % of which enters into the beer's composition.

Non-pasteurized, they preserve all their trace elements and their vitamins B1, B2 and B12, with anti-anaemic virtues. As soon as possible, brewers will try to produce hops in the region (farmers are testing) and why not barley also.

In Saint Juste Saint Rambert, in the Forez, it is a woman, Anne-Laure Pelloux-Prayer Molle, who brews by hand, in a former market garden. Her beers are non-filtered, non-pasteurized and her recipes are unique.

These two breweries can be visited and you can also buy all the beers. To take them away and then savour them at home or between friends, with moderation of course) ...

* This is how we say « cheers! » in German, in Münich, the land of beer. Prost is also a common name in the Loire. Of course we think of a certain Alain...which has nothing to do with the subject however!

Recipe : Beer Tart