After over a year of R&D, Brussels Beer Project dives into the « Blue Economy » with their new beer … brewed from recycled fresh bread. Its name « Babylone » refers to the ancient capital of Mesopotamia and the very origin of beers.
A beer with a societal conscious The problem is well known : every day, a great amount of food is wasted – especially in the urban areas. Bread waste is estimated to about 12% of total food waste and as such, it represents a real challenge. Inspired by the blue economy, project « Babylone » aims to transform an environmental & societal into a new resource by connected different local players.
Co-creation with complementary actors With the help of Brussels-based sustainable development organisation, CODUCO, the Brussels Beer Project linked different actors to develop this unique beer. Groot Eiland, another Brussels-based NGO, collects everyday unsold fresh bread from Delhaize. Groot Eiland dries the bread, mashes it as to condition it into a new flour to be then mixed with barley malt. Delhaize, in its effort to limit food waste, is being supportive and also fund new equipment for Groot Eiland to increase the process efficiency. After over a year of tests and 5 prototypes, the Brussels Beer Project found a way to conceive a recipe using 30% bread, that is currently brewed at Anders.
For each beer, there is the equivalent of one to two slices of bread ! This « Babylone » project also received the support of Bruxelles Environnement and the federal fund for sustainable development. An innovation that leads us back to the sources of Babylon 7,000 years ago, the ancestor of beer was a sort of porridge made of fermented bread. Babylonian civilisation used to drink it on a daily basis. Antoine Dubois, a former researcher at the Brewing Sciences Institute of UCL university, worked on a recipe combining bread, great barley malt and a good dose of fresh hops. It results into a surprising character with very aromatic notes and a long-lasting bitterness. Available soon If you are tempted by this temporal bridge between the good old Babylonian times and new world hops,
Brussels Beer Project invites you this Saturday March, 21st at rue Antoine Dansaert for its first release. It will be then available in the best cafés and beershops, as well as in Delhaize from the Brussels Area. About Brussels Beer Project Launched in May 2013 by Olivier de Brauwere and Sébastien Morvan, the Brussels Beer Project is a young innovative brewing company based on co-creation of atypical beers. Thanks to a successful crowdfunding the Brussels Beer Project is setting up its urban brewery at 188 rue Antoine Dansaert. Beer Project – www.facebook.com/brusselsbeerproject or www.beerproject.be Press release Olivier de Brauwere – Beer Project – olivier@beerproject.be ; 0486/24.44.66