Cantillon Alliance
Description
Cantillon Alliance is a beer made from 2-year-old lambic aged in a whisky barrel provided by the Michel Couvreur house. The barrel previously held Vin Jaune from Domaine André & Mireille Tissot (who also provides the Vin Jaune barrels to Cantillon for La Vie est Belge). After years of two-ways collaborations between Brasserie Cantillon, Michel Couvreur, and Stéphane Tissot, exchanging barrels and ideas, it made sense to all of them to come together and bring to life a truly unique and special beer which displays and showcases both the individual and collective characteristics of their respective crafts, together in one bottle.
History / Other Notes
The barrel used for Alliance held about 4 to 5 vintages of Vin Jaune at Domaine Tissot (since Vin Jaune ages at least 6 years and 3 months, and barrels aren't used new, it would have to be way over 20 years old when passed on to Couvreur, and it spent at least 6 years more holding whisky before Cantillon received it). The lambic used was brew Z34 (season 22/23) from mars 2023, placed in the barrel on February 2nd, 2024 for 10 months before bottling, on November 4th 2024. The barrel was then sent back to Couvreur, and will be then forwarded to Domaine Tissot to continue the experiment.
The partners for this beer
Michel Couvreur (1928-2013) was a Belgian born blender of exceptional whiskies. He had a very personal vision of what whisky should be: in this opinion, more than terroir or the distiller’s touch, it was the choice of oak casks used for maturation that truly shaped a whisky.
Mr. Couvreur died on August 17, 2013 at the age of 85, but his business lives on. His use of experimental barrels still remain the benchmark of the company with barrels such as Vin Jaune, Vin de Paille, and even amphorae. According to him, 90% of the quality of a whisky comes from the cask rather than the spirits supplied by the distilleries from which he sourced. Therefore, each barrel must be of the highest quality and character. The house worked previously with Cantillon providing the barrel for the beer known as Couvreur.
Stéphane Tissot, owner of the winery of the same name in the Jura region of France, famous for Vin Jaune (or "yellow wine"), a unique oxidative wine aged at least 6 years and 3 months in barrels leaving evaporation happen without topping off (as it is usually the case with wine), creating a one-of-a-kind profile displaying flavors of walnut, fenugreek, curry, ... He is a long time collaborator and friend of the brewery, providing, among other things, the barrels for La Vie est Belge.
Bottle log
| Bottle date
(mm/dd/yyyy) |
Cork Date | Bottle Size | Label / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/04/2024 | Season xx/xx | 750 mL |
References