Beer in LORRAINE and MEUSE

"Lorraine, Land of Breweries".
This nickname might raise a smile yet no other region in France has such an ancient tradition of beer-making. Beer arrived in Lorraine c. 5,000 B.C. and there are still countless reminders of beer production during the Gallo-Roman period in our museums and hidden in the soil itself. Some of the beer brewed here under the protection of the Gauls' god of brewers (Sucellus) could be stored for some time, giving rise at a later date to the traditional "Christmas beer" and "March beer".

It was here, in Champigneulles in 641 A.D, that Arnould performed the multiplication of the tankards of beer and became the patron saint of brewers in France, Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium) and Luxembourg. In the Middle Ages, monks in the great Benedictine abbeys developed the growing of hops and improved production techniques. It is thought that, in some parts of Lorraine in the 17th century, every second town had at least one brewery, and beer was the favourite drink of the Dukes of Lorraine.

It was also in Lorraine, in Tantonville, that Louis Pasteur finished writing his Studies on Beer (1876). Modern malting techniques were developed in Maxéville, on the outskirts of Nancy.

By 1900, Lorraine had become France's leading beer-producing region. Every sector of the beer business could be found here – farms growing barley and hops, maltings and breweries, mechanical engineering and boilermaking companies, and a brewing college. Almost 200 breweries have operated in Lorraine over the past century.

The département of Meuse still had numerous traditional family breweries in 1900, selling top-fermentation beers locally.
There were also industrial breweries selling bottom-fermentation beers throughout France. In 1900, the 27 breweries in Meuse produced some 300,000 hectolitres of beer, and the département ranked 7th nationally for its beer production.

Most of the breweries disappeared between 1914 and 1918; the last ones closed in 1949. One of them, the "Brasserie de la Meuse" in Bar-le-Duc, gave rise to the largest brewing group in France, the "Brasseries de la Meuse". It was one of the founders of the largest brewing group in France today, Kronenbourg, which is part of the international Scottish & Newcastle group.

More information about convivial drinks in Lorraine [+]