With the heat, the terraces of Parisian cafes and restaurants are full. If the cards rather offer beers, sodas or glasses of wine, the Gallia Paris brasserie displays a product called “vière” on the menu. A beer-wine hybrid that wants to break the codes.
Rather “beer”, “wine” or “life”? While France is chaining heat waves, Parisians have taken the opportunity to settle on the terraces of cafes, restaurants and brasseries in the capital. If you are used to having a pint of beer or a glass of wine, you will now have to taste a brand new product from the Parisian brasserie Gallia: la vière, a beer-wine hybrid.
“It’s first of all a recipe (and a name!) invented by Gallia: that of a co-fermentation between grapes and beer wort creating a sparkling drink with an alcohol content that varies between 7 and 11 % according to the references”, explains the Gallia brewery to CNEWS.
“La vie is neither a Lambic nor a beer flavored with grapes, but a category in its own right. It’s a link between the brewing and wine worlds,” she adds.
Regarding the name “vière”, it was born during a discussion between friends with two well-known traits of the brewery: humor and puns.
“Gallia associates the French terroir and its mosaic of grape varieties with the brewing world. A vast playground with multiple accents with which the Gallia brewery has been having fun since 2019”, tells us Gallia.
Spontaneous fermentation
Developed by co-fermentation enthusiast and master brewer of Gallia Rémy Maurin, la vie is “a drink that is drunk throughout the year. Everyone will be able to judge whether it is a beer or a wine according to how they feel. Organoleptically speaking, it could be similar to natural wine, given its color, nevertheless we still have a frank attack of cereals reminiscent of beer with a very fruity finish”.
“The production method is based on the principle of spontaneous fermentation. Each cuvée is made from a single varietal. The fresh grapes (organic or biodynamic) are de-stemmed, then ferment in a tank thanks to the indigenous yeasts contained on the skin of the grapes. Little by little, beer wort enriches this juice. The mixture will rest for several months in vats, then will be bottled the following year, to be tasted in the year”, comments Gallia.
According to the Parisian brewery, “production begins in September-October, depending on the grape harvest. The first bottles are tasted in April”.
Regarding prices, the 75cl bottle costs 16 euros, the equivalent of the price of a bottle of wine. This price is explained by the fact that the elaboration takes a lot of time. “For several technical reasons, the prices are close to a bottle of wine,” says Gallia.
Finally, note that the wines are tasted in a wine glass, not in a beer glass (and in moderation of course).
