“I started brewing three days before the lockdown”: Rémi Vignollet gets the Larzac brewery going

In the hamlet of La Blaquière du Larzac, Rémi Vignollet took over the family brewery five years ago.

It's 2006. A sheep farmer on the Larzac, Jean-Marc Vignollet decides to try his hand at beer production, an activity that is still in its infancy and allows him to diversify his production.

The years go by. His knack is refined. A few years later, he retires, not without making his son Rémi's mouth water, who is now carrying on the family business.

“I was a PE teacher, a freelance nurse for ten years, but I didn't see myself on the farm. One day, while talking with my father, I understood that I could take over the brewery without having to look after the sheep. I sent a message to Camille, my partner: do you want to make beer ? She said yes. We moved from Toulouse. I started brewing three days before the lockdown."

Today, the Larzac brewery has five employees. Rémi Vignollet is responsible for production, Camille Foulquié is in charge of administration, Clara is in charge of order preparation, Quentin has been an apprentice for a year, and Arthur, a seasonal worker who came to help meet summer demand.

Making a craft beer

Whether you are a seasoned zythologist or not, everyone knows that to produce beer, one ingredient is essential: malt. Once harvested, it is processed in a malting house, where it will be heated until it germinates. Then the cereal will be dried, before being sent to the brewery.

There, in the hamlet of La Blaquière du Larzac, Rémi will then grind it coarsely using a mill and then mix the seeds with hot water. "The English brewing method is used, by infusion." The proportions are approximately 175 kilograms of cereals for 1,000 liters of water.

Rémi and Quentin are brewing. Midi Libre – Noélie Lemaire

Rémi and Quentin use their fourquets (giant spatulas) to make the mixture homogeneous. "Some say it smells like bread, honey, or the biscuit…" The mixture called mash will rest for around forty minutes before being filtered. During this step, the must (liquid part) and the spent grain (solid part) will separate. The must will serve as a fermentation support for the next stages. The spent grain is rinsed and then removed from the process. "We have farmers who come to collect it for their animals. "

80 % cleaning 20 % brewing

After boiling, the liquid goes into a cooling tank where it will remain for a week. The hops will be added in two batches, hot to provide bitterness, then cold for aromas.

“Before bottling, sugar is added to allow refermentation in the bottle.” During this stage, saccharification will begin. The yeast contained in the hops will break down the sugars, generating CO2. Trapped, the gas thus produced mixes with the liquid: the beer is ready!

“A brewery is about 80% cleaning and 20% brewing. It's hygiene that makes a good beer. We have a lot of tanks, it's true that we could save a little time by buying a new machine but if we all had the same equipment, we would all have the same beer."

The Ipa Imperial Blaque brown beer comes from a solidarity brewing, all profits are donated to Sea Shepherd France. Midi Libre – Noélie Lemaire

The workshop presents a wide range: around fifteen variations.” For the purchase of a beer, La Monotrace, for example, fifty cents are donated to a Millau association that maintains the trails." The Larzac brewery offers a tour of the workshop, followed by a tasting.

The Larzac Brewery located in La Blaquière du Larzac. Open all summer from Tuesday to Saturday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.