A double Hatt trick (Jerome Hatt)

The name Jerome Hatt might not be familiar to many of us but two people with that name have played a major role in putting French beer on the map. Lewis Eckett reports

When it comes to alcoholic drinks, France has never really been widely associated with anything beyond wine and brandy. Indeed it has shouted loudly to the world that it does both better than anyone.

But here’s a strange thing: France has a long tradition of producing other drinks products and has not been vocal about them. And when you consider that the French consider themselves masters of all things food and drink, and that they tend to sneer at anyone even daring to suggest that they can thrive in this arena too, that’s surprising.

Beer is a case in point. Ask most people and they’ll tell you that the French don’t do beer worthy of the name. And while the more enlightened will point to the Northern beers that are now being recognised in their own right, they will almost certainly argue that such products are recent additions to Franco-cuisine.

Not so. French beer goes back centuries. And in Kronenbourg 1664 we have a name that gives a few clues as to just how old the country’s beer industry is, and why it has remained an unspoken aside, if not exactly a secret.

Beer in France is centred around two regions. Lille is close to Belgium and looks across its borders for its style. And Alsace, close to Germany, is responsible for the heavier Germanic styles.

In actual fact Alsace has been something of a political football over the years, and it has been annexed on any number of occasions, most recently by Hitler before the Second World War.

There’s an irony immediately in .....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Beers of the World to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Lewis Eckett

Section : Beer Legends

Page number : 48