A VISIT TO FRENCH BREWERIES. – 1924
By Fred M. Maynard.
In response to a request that a second trip to French breweries, similar to that earned through by the present writer to Paris in 1922, might be organised this year, H. Lloyd Hind was induced to make the necessary arrangements The itinerary decided upon was:- Rheims, for the Cathedral and Champagne Cellars; Nancy, for the Brewing School and the Maxeville and Champigneulles Breweries; Strasbourg, for the Schiltigheim Breweries and Maltings, and Colmar, for a new brewery and the liqueur distillery.
This sounds a very business-like and prosaic programme, but what made the tour so thoroughly enjoyable was the cordial welcome and bountiful hospitality met with everywhere. In addition to which, the journey was through the most delightful country, and the towns stopped at possessed the double charm of both picturesqueness and antiquity; these, alone, more than justifying the trip.
The party, which included Messrs. Jas. Stenhouse, 0. J. Flamen, W. W. Butler, B. W. Crew, T. A. M. Gardiner, C. E. Sutcliffe, Jun., C. J. Smith, H. Lloyd Hind and Fred M. Maynard, left London on June14th.
On the Sunday an interesting time was spent in viewing the terrible damage done to the Cathedral and town of Rheims during the war, whilst the battlefields, being within easy reach of that city, some of the party availed themselves of the opportunity to visit them, seeing, among other things, the Crown Prince’s observation post, Prince Rupprecht’s headquarters, and the Forts at Verdun.
Messrs. Perrier Jouet having expressed their willingness to show us their extensive champagne cellars, Monday was spent at Epernay. M. Budin, the managing director, while conducting us through, explained the various processes to which the wine is submitted, from the picking of the grapes to its final shipment to the customer. After having sampled the 1919 cuvee, which experts consider to be a vintage of exceptional excellence, a short motor drive brought us to the firm’s vineyards at Avize, where the vines appeared to be very healthy, the grapes just forming. Near the vineyards was the building containing the great wine presses from which the must is conveyed in casks to the cellars at Epernay.
On Tuesday morning M. Floquet, of the firm of Pommery & Greno, conducted the party to the firm’s establishment just outside Rheims. The new buildings, which have replaced those which were almost razed to the ground during the war, are of very handsome design, and are equipped with the latest machinery and labour saving appliances. The premises, including the cellars, occupy an area of 120 acres, but with the various other properties, vineyards and so forth, the total acreage covered is 700. Whereas at Epernay the cellars were in three tiers, here they are on one level, but some 60 feet below ground, and are reached by a broad flight of 116 steps. The long corridors, which have a total length of 10 miles, join up what were ancient Roman chalk pits. The sides of these old pits have been built up in the form of a cone, tapering to the surface of the ground, and are used as working rooms, where several of the operations in the treatment of the wine were seen being performed. The various corridors or galleries, which contain some 12 million bottles of champagne, are named after towns such as Dublin, Moscow, Buenos Ayres, etc., etc. Several fine bas reliefs have been carved in the chalk walls, representing the ” F£te of Bacchus,” “Silene,” etc. The damage wrought above ground did not extend luckily to the cellars, nor was the immense stock interfered with in any way. After lunch at the Lion d Or, at which we were the guests of Messrs. Pommery & Greno, the party visited the ruins of Fort Pompelle, and on the way back, the park was seen, which the firm has provided for its staff; this is most tastefully laid out and contains a large tiled swimming bath.
On Wednesday morning, at Nancy, M. Adam, the representative of the Maxeville brewery, conducted us first to the Brewing School, where we were received by M. Raux, who showed us round the various departments of the experimental malting and brewery, and the laboratories, which appeared to be very fully equipped in every detail. In the malting was a Saladin Box as well as an ordinary growing floor; the kiln is of the usual hot air type almost exclusively employed in Continental makings and of the Calorifiere pattern. The brewing plant includes mash tun, mash copper, converter, mash filter, and pressure and other coppers, so that all modern processes can be experimented with. The fermenting cellar contains glass enamelled rectangular Agen tanks, and the lager cellar closed vertical cylindrical vessels. In addition is a pure yeast culture room, ice plant, steam-boiler, engine and dynamo; in fact, everything necessary for the practical, as well as the scientific, training of a modern brewer. That the Ecole de Brasserie et Malterie with its perfect equipment emphasises the lack of such conveniences for similar practical work at our Birmingham Brewing school goes without saying and makes English brewers envious of the advantages the French student enjoys.
From the Ecole Brasserie we proceeded to the Grandes Brasseries Reunies de Maxeville, where M. Dillon, the managing director, received us and piloted us through the various departments of this extensive brewery. Among the many interesting things shown us, three deserve special mention, namely, 1, the mechanical floor turner, which serves the six malting floors and displaces no less than ten trained maltsters. 2, The two large mash filters, capable of turning out 2,000 hectolitres (over 1,200 barrels) per day, and 3, the central control panel from which all the machinery can be started or stopped throughout the brew-house, all valves opened and closed, and upon which are mounted the various pressure and vacuum gauges, registering thermometers, etc. This clever labour-saving contrivance was designed by M. Dillon.
Having exhausted all there was to see in the brewery we were invited to lunch at the restaurant attached, at which M. Dillon presided and Professors Petit and Raux joined us. After the customary speeches, among which those of M. Dillon and Professor Petit were most happy and cordial, the party proceeded to les Grandes Brasseries et Malteries de Champigneulles, there to see the largest and most wonderful brewery in France. Here the managing director, M. Krampitsch, conducted us round as much of the brewery as time would allow, and in this connection an apology is distinctly due to him that we should have had so little time to do justice to the many most interesting things which he had to show us. To an English brewer the brewhouse was simply a revelation, its many large coppers and other metal work being kept brightly polished, but the most imposing sight of all was the Buhler mash filter installation which was capable of dealing with 120 quarters four times a day. Altogether the spotless cleanliness reflected by the white enamel finishing of the whole room and the general air of light and brightness will linger in the memories of all those privileged to see it, for many a day.
The malt stores and crushing plant were of a similar character in their completeness and the modern character of the machinery and reflected great credit on the firm responsible for the design and equipment of the brewery. The mechanical cooperage, cask pitching and washing departments possessed many new features of interest. We were given to understand that 24,000 hectolitres can be fermented at once and that in the lager cellars a stock of 100,000 hectolitres maltings is regularly maintained.
On Thursday morning, at Strasbourg, a deputation of the Alsace Brewers’ Association, introduced by the Secretary, M. Kauffmann, among whom were MM. Kleinknecht, Kurtz and Hatt, arrived at our hotel to take us out to Schiltigheim, the district of Strasbourg where many of the breweries and maltings are situated.
The first of the former to be visited was M. Schutzenberger’s Brasserie de la Patrie; this was found to be on orthodox lager brewery lines. Here, as in all other breweries visited, was the ubiquitous mash filter, in this case of 24 quarters capacity, and whatever may be said as to equally good results being obtained from the Hellwig or other systems of clearing tun, the fact remains that with only one exception, no clearing tun was met with in the whole of our travels and that one was only being used until a recently purchased mash filter could be started.
The other Schiltigheim brewery that we were invited to inspect was La Perle, M. Kleinknecht, the proprietor, showing us round. This was in many respects similar to La Patrie but on a slightly smaller scale, the mash filter having a capacity of 22 quarters only, the annual output of beer being 50,000 hectolitres (about 20,000 barrels). Here the opportunity was afforded of comparing two different linings employed in the ferro-concrete fermenting vessels, some being coated with paraffin wax, which we were told has to be frequently renewed, and others, more recently installed, were lined with the permanent Ebon plates, as fixed by the Swiss firm of Borsari, a lining which, by the way, was very favourably reported upon by Mr. Chaston Chapman some few years ago and which on account of its impermeability, durability, non-toxic nature and scale repelling property would appear to be peculiarly suitable for lining old and badly scaled stone squares, particularly as it may be put on in such a way as to eliminate all awkward corners and crevices.
When we had completed the round of the brewery M. Hatt took us over his Kronenbourg Maltings which are on a very large scale, but, as one of the party observed, no English maltster could possibly afford to install the extensive mechanical equipment as was apparently found to pay at Schiltigheim. The steeps, each of approximately 60 quarters capacity, were arranged for washing and aerating the barley, by pumping it from one to the other. Malting was carried out on both the ordinary floor and Saladin Box System. With the former, malt could be made right through the year (except during August when the annual clean down takes place)—the temperature of the air being regulated by chilled brine pipes in the hot weather and by steam in the winter. The floors are below the ground level. Although the Saladin plant was on a somewhat large scale and fully equipped with air purifying, cooling and humidifying chambers, it was said to demand more careful watching than the open floors, as the malt rapidly heated in the deeper bulk.
In the evening we were the guests of the Association at a banquet given in our honour, at which Professor Petit was present. The front page of the menu card conveyed the kindly spirit of freemasonry, inspiring the friendly welcome and overflowing hospitality of which wo were the recipients. This was crystallised in M. Schutzenberger’s speech, to which Mr. Stenhouse replied, in English, on behalf of the Institute of Brewing, and Mr. Flamen and Mr. Lloyd Hind also thanked our hosts in French for the delightful day and evening we had spent with them.
A motor drive of 42 miles brought us on Friday to Colmar, the capital of Upper Alsace. Here the new brewery of the Grandes Brasseries et Malteries de Colmar, which was completed only last year, was inspected. It is built of ferro-concrete throughout, and although the mill room is equipped with new machinery of the latest Buhler design, including two five roller mills, much of the rest of the plant is second hand, having been bought from German breweries which were compelled to close down after the war. It was at this brewery that the only clearing tun we observed was in use, but since that was installed, one of the latest Humboldt mash filters has been acquired from the St. Avoid Brewery, and is to take the place of the former vessel as soon as it has been put together. Other items of interest were a pneumatic transport plant which appeared to do service in many directions, and six ferro-concrete malt silos, each of a capacity of 700 quarters. The necessary low temperatures in the fermenting and storage cellars were maintained by the circulation of cold air. Several different types of fermenting vessels were in evidence, but the Borsari system appeared to predominate, whilst in the storage cellar wooden lager casks and glass enamelled steel tanks were both represented. Although the indiscriminate use of new and second-hand plant, and that of various patterns, was a little odd, the general arrangement and design of the brewery showed that it had been very carefully thought out by a thoroughly practical man and afforded a sound object lesson as to how a modern lager beer brewery should be planned.
After lunching with the firm at the Hotel Terminus, wo proceeded to the distillery of M. A. Schick, where liqueurs of every description are made, and, as this branch of the liquor industry is practically unknown to English brewers, it proved a most interesting and instructive experience. The extensive cellars filled with enormous vats also indicated the important trade done by this firm in Alsace wines.
This record of a week’s joumeyings in France would not be complete without an expression of the heartiest thanks to Professor Petit for his kind offices with the owners of the breweries we visited and for the great trouble he took in generally assisting in the arrangement of the trip, also to all those who so generously contributed to our enjoyment in the various cities visited. Mr. H. L. Hind is to be congratulated on the way in which he arranged everything for our comfort and pleasure, without which the trip could not have been the great success it was.
In conclusion, the hope may be expressed that the opportunity will be given for English brewers to reciprocate the honour paid them, by a visit of our French friends to England, which perhaps Professor Petit and Dr. Fernbach may in the near future be able to bring about.
Crescent City Brew Talk 