Brewing up a successful business

Brewing up a successful business

Inès Otosaka et Gaspard Charles

A craft beer story in the land of Pastis 

     The “Bière de la Plaine” is a craft brewery located in the neighborhood of "La Plaine" in Marseille. The establishment was founded in June 2013 by two beer lovers: Salem Hadji and Sylvain Perrot. The former merchant marine officer and the pharmacist decided to throw themselves in a bold new career: brewing. They were recently joined by two employees to help with the increasing demand of thirsty locals.

-Q: What raw materials do you use and where do they come from?

-A: Beer is made with 4 basic ingredients: water, barley malt, hops and yeast. We use sugar as well for refermenting.

     The water is Marseille tap water, which is very basic. The malts come mainly from Belgium; however we are planning to create a partnership with a local organic kiln. We try to use as many French hop varieties as we can but it’s hard to avoid the citrus freshness of American hops!

-Q: What are the different stages of the brewing process?

-A: It all starts in the mash tun, or “brewing tank”, where 1000L of water are heated to 70°c. Then we add around 150kg of malt, depending on the recipe, and let it steep for an hour. When the enzymes have turned all the starches into fermentable sugars and the water has taken the sugars away from the grains, we remove the malt and add some of the hops. The mashing process is over.

     What remains in the mash tun is called the wort. The water is brought to a boil, then we add the rest of the hops and the hot “wort” is filtered and transferred to a fermenting tank through a heat exchanger. The yeast is pitched in when the temperature has fallen to around 20°c.  Next, the fermentation process begins. The yeast feeds on the sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide for about 3 weeks. The beer is then bottled with sugar, or bottle-fermented, and has to be stored for another few weeks before it hits the shelves.

           “Fine and simple ales, refreshing under the sun and soothing during the Mistral”

-Q: What kind of beers do you like?

-A: We both love the kind of beers that spurred the craft beer movement in America in the 1970’s: full-flavored and very hoppy.  This encompasses many styles, but IPAs really were the poster-children of the craft beer revolution. As curious professionals, tasting different beers from all over the world is part of the job, in order to improve our palates, define what we want in our beers and compare them with famous brews. Tasting is definitely the best part of our job, and we keep it for the early evening. It’s something we really look forward to after a long day, although we are sometimes surprised by extreme beers. We recently tried a beer from Scotland that boasted 18% alcohol by volume and a pitch black color; not a session beer!

-Q: What are IPAs?

-A: IPA is a historical style of beer that has known considerable interest 30 years ago and is now the most popular among craft-beer lovers. There is no real definition, apart from an emphasis on taste and especially hop character. The term means India Pale Ale and their origin dates back to the British Empire, when ships journeyed back empty to India and soldiers were thirsty there.

     Some brewers decided to ship their pale ales to the colony, and added extra hops and alcohol to sanitize the brew and help it endure the long trip unscathed. The beer arrived in India hoppier, stronger, but nicely barrel-aged and it was an immediate success, soon to be served in England as well.

-Q: Do you have a “signature” style?
-A: Throughout our beer range, you could say there is a perceptible trend. All our beers are unfiltered, which provides extended aromas and a distinct mouth feel. Although we want to pack as many flavors as possible and a hop punch, we never brew higher than 6% alcohol. While our beers can seem quite hoppy to a newcomer, we try to keep them drinkable and stay away from extreme trends.

-Q: Some say you run a social brewery. What does that mean to you?
-A: To us, the neighborhood is as important as the beer. Some craft brewers decide to set up in commercial areas to brew and sell their beers. For us, the neighborhood of La Plaine was an obvious choice. The brewery is quite close to the city center and benefits from the alternative attitude of La Plaine. Our brew house is much smaller that it could be, but the locals are really proud of their beer and we proudly sport the “market day at La Plaine tree” on our bottles! Cheers.