France has not been known for its craft beer, being the poor cousin to the wine industry which is a part of the fabric of the nation. But that is changing – and fast. Microbreweries and brew pubs are popping up at an unprecedented rate.
And one of the new crop of breweries gaining much attention in the craft beer scene is La Debauche which was founded in July 2013 by friends and amateur brewers Eglantine and Aurelien. They started their brewery with just two 120-hectolitre fermentation vessels. There immediate success warranted an expansion which was achieved by crowdfunding.
They are known as being very much experimental and creative brewers, producing a range of styles from stouts to barley wines, funky saisons to barrel aged sour beers.
But if we need to establish a benchmark on a brewery, given our love of IPA’s it seems an appropriate beer to pick to introduce our newest brewery in our portfolio. And it’s a decent introduction.
A good dose of tropical fruit aroma follows through into the taste, along with a medium grainy malt body and a solid level of bitterness that lingers long into the aftertaste.
Bevog's core range IPA is a really nice balance between fruity and floral hops and the solid malt body
An old-school triple dry-hopped IPA, with a solid malt body and a Belgian yeast
De Molen's annual spring time release is 'Day & Dew' - an IPA featuring a bevy of US hops and bergamot fruit
De Molen's first take on the currently trending north-east IPA
One of De Molen's Bereft Festival 2017 beers, this is a smoked Earl Grey IPA - heavy on the smoke and tea, light on the IPA!
This is a fun IPA from De Molen with extracts of vanilla, chocolate and orange
The spring seasonal offering from De Molen is technically an India Pale Lager
A beer sitting between a pale ale and an IPA, celebrating 50 years of Maris Otter malt
An old-school IPA, the gift of De Molen's brew team to John Brus for his recent marriage to partner Petra
A west coast IPA from one of California's early microbreweries
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
20% rye, 10% smoked malt with Simcoe and Cascade hops
A clean, crisp and sessional IPA from the team at Troubadour
by Brouwerij Palm (Swinkels Family Brewers)
An English-style IPA from the third generation Martin's family brewery
An IPA featuring a bevy of different hops, with a big caramel malt body
An IPA from Kees, finished with a French saison yeast for an interesting mix of beer styles
Kees' version of a NEIPA - or at least a hazy IPA - full of Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops
Pineapple, coriander and szechuan peppers plus a little lactose make for an intriguing milkshake IPA
As the label suggest, this is an IPA brewed using all French ingredients
Described as an International IPA, this beer is full of mango and citrus
Our first beer from Poland's Maltgarden brewery is this DDH Hazy IPA
A super-tasty hazy IPA featuring Enigma and experimental hop HBC 630
by Browar Pinta
Pinta's first ever beer was this American style IPA named 'Hops Attack'
A deliciously fruity and aromatic IPA featuring Centennial, Chinook and Columbus hops
The classic West Coast IPA from Sierra Nevada
Uiltje's flagship IPA is a superbly balanced combination of a solid malt base and loads of American hops
A variation of the original Bird of Prey with the addition of grapefruit
An old-school IPA featuring Willamette, EKG, Columbus and Centennial hops
A Belgian style ale, something of a cross between and blond and amber ale
This black IPA from La Debauche is full of dark chocolate, coffee, liquorice with a little fruit and sustained bitterness
A really interesting, slightly sour Imperial Stout that has been barrel aged for 12 months and spiked with wild Brettanomyces yeast
A milkshake lager with popcorn and pineapple - a crazy combination that just seems to work
A delicious imperial milk stout with the addition of coffee beans, cocoa beans and lactose
La Debauche presents their interpretation of the classic Belgian Dubbel style
As the label suggest, this is an IPA brewed using all French ingredients
Described as an International IPA, this beer is full of mango and citrus
A lightly soured blonde beer with the additional of passionfruit and lemon
A refreshing witbier 'hopped' with a healthy dose of jasmine
A Hoppy Wheat Ale with a light malt body and fruity, slightly spicy hop character
An imperial stout aged with American oak from bourbon barrels
This big barley wine is spiked with Brettanomyces and aged in oak barrels for 18 months
A delicious milk stout with the addition of lactose
