The newest, and smallest, of the trinity of breweries around the town of Rochefort is Brasserie d’Ambly, set in the tiny village of that name in the heavily forested foothills near Nassogne of the Ardennes.

Young Pierre Jacob is justifiably proud of the operation which started in 1996 in the converted barn behind his parents’ farmhouse, which looks out onto a yard complete with wandering calves.

After a few unrelated jobs Pierre, a keen home-brewer for years, took the plunge and set up his own professional outfit after a month’s intensive course in the art of brewing.

The barn conversion and construction of the brewplant was done by Pierre and his brother to a surprisingly good standard for such a small, self-built affair. The tiered design of the plant takes advantage of the generous height of the barn, leaving a good amount of spare floorspace allowing scope for any future expansion.

The brewplant essentially consists of two multi-functional vessels, one above the other, with a series of steps and platforms from which to work. An old gas-fired steam boiler (recycled from a mayonnaise factory) is used to pump the water and liquor to the top vessel, enabling a good use of gravity in the rest of the operation. The overall set-up is well thought out and makes very efficient use of the space.

Bottling, corking and crowning is all done by hand and the barn has a warm room in one corner.

At the time of writing the book there was just the one beer produced, but Pierre has been very busy in developing the breweries portfolio and now has a number of beers available. Additionally he also produces the beers under different labels for local festivals.

THE BEER RANGE

La Saint-Monon

7% Alc/Vol. Available in 75cl bottles.

Saint Monon was an evangelist monk who had travelled from Scotland in the 7th century and became the patron saint of Nassogne. The beer named after him has a high degree of hoppiness which balances the strong fruit and tannin elements. It is also sold as Vieille Cuvée D'Ambly.