Culturally, wine is known as the official French drink…is this cliché or reality?

It is true, French wine is famous for its quality. French people know it and enjoy it: They still are the world’s biggest wine consumers. Despite this, the new generation (18-34yo) has left the “Red” and “White” behind for the “Mousse”, beer!

In fact, the beer market has grown considerably over the last few years, mostly the craft beers market. Small regional breweries, like Brasserie Saint Germain and its Page 24 or Brasserie Castelain, have increased their sales drastically and a lot of new ones are emerging like Craig Allan, a British brewing company in France or “l’Anosteké”, an IPA by Le Pays Flamand.

All these good French beers however find our Belgian and Dutch neighbors are some strong competitors, being not only lovers of pints themselves but also outstanding brewers.  The most famous are the “Trappist beers”, 11 century-old beers brewed by the monks in Europeans abbeys, including the best beer in the world, the Westvleteren XII.

Just like with wine, different types of beers are known by amateurs (IPA, Stout, Barleywine…) and beer-tastings happen around the best beers in the world.

Nowadays, we can even try to brew our own beer at home thanks to “Beer kits”! But brewing, as cooking, is about dosage and experience and the first results are often… surprising.

Let us know in the comment if you ever drank a French beer! Which one?

*IPA: India Pale Ale is beer brewed with more hops. They have a stronger and bitter taste than the common blond beer (lager).