The French and Beer.

Beer in France?

Yes. And everybody thinking that all French were sipping wine all day long!

But beer is very popular in Paris and the whole of France. Every bar/café will sell you ‘une pression’ a draft beer, at the right temperature in a clean glass. Mostly you can even choose between several brands, most of them French (of course) but in later years also Belgian beers such as ‘Stella’ and’ Leffe’, two brands of InBev, one of the largest brewers in the world.

France has always been a ‘beer country’. A country with two totally different climates and crops; grapes in the south but no wheat, so only a wine production. In the north wheat and more wheat but no grapes so no wine but beer! Following the website of the Brewers Association of France, in 1910 there were 2827 breweries in the country, 1929 concentrated in the north of the country. Note that in 1910 the Alsace region was still annexed by Germany till after WW1. In these numbers of breweries those of the Alsace region are not included.

France is obviously a beer country!

French breweries are still concentrated in the Alsace region near the German border and in the North near the Belgian border. Beers from each region are different when the Alsace beers are more German inspired, the beers of the north of France have a Belgian touch.

For sure was the ‘1664’ by Kronenbourg the most popular beer in the bar/cafes when I lived in Paris. A beer from the brewery with the same name in Strasbourg who’s history goes back to 1664. The beer is a light leer, lager type, fresh and attractive when you are thirsty.  

It was the beer I had after a day in the office but also as aperitif before lunch or dinner and sometimes just because I liked it! 

Ever noticed that a draft beer is always tastier than one out of a bottle?

Well know was, and still is, Pelforth, a beer from a brewery near Lille. Pelforth was a well-known brand in Europe thanks to their marketing through the sponsoring of a cycling team competing in the Tour the France.

But back to the French and their beer.

The French consume average 30 liters of beer/per capita every year, the equivalent of 120 beers a year for every French citizen of every age. Compared to Belgium where they consume 70 liters per capita it’s an important volume if you know that the French also consume 40 liters of wine per person every year and 2 liters of Pastis, the anise drink the people in the South have daily as their aperitif.

As in Belgium you can also have your beer with your McDonalds burger in France. In Belgium, France and Germany McDo offers a chilled beer with their meals. I can imagine that a lot of Americans will be shocked when they enter a McDo in Paris, Berlin or Brussels during their stint in Europe.

From INSEE studies (the national institute for statistics) I learned that 11% of all the French, babies and children included) consume alcohol every day. The north of the country scores 18% and the Languedoc-Roussilion region 17%. In the north it’s the beer consumption, in the south the Pastis and the chilled rose-wine!

A popular drink in France is also the ‘panache’, a mix of beer, mostly a lager, and lemony soda such as Seven-up or Sprite. Very refreshing when served over ice. Before it was prepared by the bartender on demand but now you can buy it in the supermarket. The industrial produced ‘panache’ has 1,2% alcohol and can be sold as soda. 

In the north of the country they have also, just as in Belgium, a mixed beer drink called a ‘mazout’, 50% beer and 50% coke. Not really the drink I prefer.

Nowadays there are only a few French beers in really French hands. Kronenbourg in Alsace is now part of the Carlsberg Group, Pelforth was bought by the Dutch brewer Heineken. The only breweries still ‘French’ are the smaller ones brewing craft beers and the numerous microbreweries whom popping up everywhere!

Next time you are in Paris in summertime, try a chilled 1664 'pression' (draft beer) on a sidewalk table of a Parisian bar/cafe.

You will like it. Enjoy.