Belgian microbrewery, uses its own unique yeast strain.
Alvinne brewery not only unique for its beers, but also their yeast strain is quite special. Moen, Belgium – Alvinne opened in 2004 and moved in 2011 to a new production facility in Moen, a small village near the city of Kortrijk. The brewery is situated in an industrial building with a long history. The target audience is the passionate beer lover from all over the world. The mission statement is to deliver world class & innovative beers, pushing the classical barriers and by only making use of malt ingredients, water, hops, yeast and the flavor of used wooden casks. Brewing about 15 different beers, a clear positioning of the portfolio became necessary. The Classical collection, with the Morpheus branding, holds the 3 basic beers of the brewery, accessible for a wide audience. Apart from this range, there is an Oak collection (barrel aged beers), Seasonal collection (cherry beer, Christmas beers) and the famous Sour collection.
The Alvinne team consists of 3 enthusiastic people (from right to left): Davy Spiessens: brewmaster, Glenn Castelein: 2nd brewer, PR and Marc De Keukeleire: yeast and hygiene management. Marc joined the brewery end of 2009 and brought in his passion and baby: his own cultivated yeast strain.
The quest of the Morpheus Yeast
Marc (“the yeast whisperer”) has a Master degree in food science engineering with a specialization in dairy. For years, he has been vacationing in the French Auvergne. This is the place to be for cheese lovers. It is there where the best French AOC cheeses like Saint Nectaire, Bleu d’Auvergne have their origin. It was in that particular mystic area of France, with its old volcanoes, where Marc found his yeast, or must we say, the yeast found him?
He created his own recipe for growth of yeast, and trapped his strain in the open air of the Auvergne. Of course, some unwanted yeast strains were growing in the beginning, but after years of careful selection only the most interesting ones prevailed. What is the criteria for great brewing yeast? First of all, it must be capable of fermenting maltose, the sugar that is found in malt. Furthermore, it doesn’t produce off flavors and it is alcohol tolerant.
Pilot tests were utilized to confirm the above properties of the yeast culture with pleasing results. By January 2010, all of the sour range of Alvinne beers and some selected other beers were fermented with the Morpheus yeast culture.
Almost none of the microbreweries around the world have their own unique yeast. Most breweries use commercial yeast. Alvinne owes a much of its uniqueness to this yeast. For the big traditional breweries that have existed for several generations, the yeast is their treasure and kept safely in yeast banks under -70°C circumstances, in order to have a backup if things go wrong. Alvinne, of course, keeps a backup, safely put away in these super deep freezers.
The University of Leuven is known for its brewing yeast knowledge, so it was there the Morpheus yeast was analyzed. They found 2 Saccharomyces Cerevisae strains and lactic bacteria (see pictures on the left). Saccharomyces Cerevisae is the standard yeast type we know for brewing ale. Lactic bacteria is commonly used in dairy applications, but also in sour beers, but unwanted in “traditional” ales. Both are kept together in a medium that Marc calls a “matrix”. Finding a protocol to keep the matrix alive and active was the next challenge. Fermenting with lactic bacteria and yeast together is called a mixed fermentation. The brewery is geographically situated in the heart of the historically “mixed fermentation” area in Flanders, Belgium.
Brewing with the Morpheus Yeast
Because of the mixed culture, they can brew both traditional fermented beer resulting in a traditional ale; or mixed fermented beer, resulting in a sour beer. The Morpheus yeast has a very high alcohol tolerance. The traditional ale Cuvée de Mortagne has an alcohol level of about 14% ABV. Few yeast strains can tolerate that amount of alcohol. Thanks to the Morpheus yeast, Alvinne is recognized as the worldwide innovator for the mixed fermentation sour beers. There are a complete range of sour ales now.
Enjoy the “probiotic”, super healthy sour ales!
Our Sour collection:
Morpheus wild Undressed
· Type: Flemish Oud Bruin
· Alcohol: 6.9%
· Color: Brown
· Aging: foeder (large wooden vesse/barrel)
Wild West
· Type: Blond Sour Ale
· Alcohol: 6%
· Color: golden blond
· Aging: wine barrels
Cuvée Freddy
· Type: Dark Sour Ale
· Alcohol: 8%
· Color: dark brown
· Aging: oak barrels
For more information please visit Picobrouwerij Alvinne