Band of brothers
Taken
over by Antoine and Etienne Onorati, two brothers who shared a passion in beer
and all things organic, the Brasseurs Savoyards, which was struggling, entered
a new dimension on 4th February 2014. The dimension of organic bubbles. The
only thing to remain was the original name. The name "Brasseurs
Savoyards" was already a strong brand which was worth a thousand words!
Everything
was in this name. Brewing expertise, the local and artisanal dimension of the
brewery and the pride in local produce. Why change? And so the Onorati brothers
decided to keep this name Brasseurs Savoyards to return its former glory. The
objective was quality, 100% organic and innovative, but authentic beers, just
as US Craft Breweries, and therefore a brewery which fulfilled 3 essential
criteria: human scale, independent and traditional.
As
well as the name Brasseurs Savoyards, they also kept the brewery, but got rid
of everything else from the past. Everything else changed when they arrived:
the beer bottling line, bottle label designs, the name of products with the
creation of new ranges of beers, packaging and of course, the recipes!
MASTER
BREWERS
Inseparable
from this audacious u-tern and this gamble on the future of organic artisanal
beer, they recruited an experienced master brewer. Claude Thiery, with 35 years
of brewing to his name for some world-renowned breweries or for himself, joined
the adventure from the outset to bring his expertise and touch of genius to the
already existing beers: blonde, blanche, ambrée, brune, génépi and blueberry.
After
two years of trading, the Brasseurs Savoyards created a more elaborate range,
in the "craft" spirit and inspired by various countries (USA,
Belgium, etc.) named La Nonne [the Nun]. A name which may appear incongruous.
And yet. Since the outset, beer has been intrinsically linked to women. Abbaye
beers have been a part of the brewing history for centuries and are a permanent
part of its effervescent history.
Hildegarde
de Bingen, a Benedictine and who had quite a character, botanist and
beerologist before the term had been invented, was delighted with the idea of
inventing hops into beers made from cereals at the time. More than an
evolution, it was a revolution! By bringing this beverage a new-found
bitterness and complexity, she created a new future for beer. Enough for the
Brasseurs Savoyards to pay homage to her in La Nonne range which was created in
2016. The first beer in the range was Nonne Triple and this was closely
followed by Nonne I.P.A (India Pale Ale). The range then expanded with new
beers: Nonne A.B.I. (Authentic Belgian Inspiration) and Nonne A.P.A. (American
Pale Ale) at the end of 2017.
KING
OF COMPETITIONS
Very
soon, Brasseurs Savoyards took part in competitions and won many awards:
Concours Général Agricole (Salon de l’Agriculture) 2016/2017/2018, World Beer
Awards, France Bière Challenge… which they enjoyed as much as a good swig of
beer to celebrate these awards with an expanding team which includes as many
beer lovers as members. This allowed them to find more space for their
wonderful adventure. Due to their success, the Brasseurs Savoyards moved to
Alby-sur-Chéran in summer 2017, into premises two and a half times the size of
the previous premises.
And,
in their new brewery, they also made 7 new creations in 2018, taking the number
of their products to 19. Almost as many as they have employees! This allows
them to brew new ideas and also high quality organic beers, more than ever
artisanal and traditional.
As
what doesn't change are the values of the company with, at the core of the DNA
of the Brasseurs Savoyards, respect of the environment, love of the brewing
sector in respect of the product and client, the will to develop a family
company whilst keeping the spirit of fraternity and mutual assistance between
all employees, advanced integrity and clearly the desire to make healthy
products for daily consumption.