Here are the first lessons to be learned from June 16:

On the market: 

• The global market is down slightly (1%). The market is slightly larger in France (3%), with marked inequalities between breweries.
• Many breweries are experiencing a slowdown in growth, but those with a strong local presence are continuing to expand.
• Competition is increasingly fierce beyond the 20km radius around the brewery, particularly in supermarkets.
• Demand for kegs is exploding. It is driven by associations, brewpubs and events, and can be broken down into two needs: inexpensive thirst-quenching lagers on the one hand, and pleasure beers on the other (e.g. IPAs).
• Bars are always complicated to convince and manage on a day-to-day basis. Even though they are fond of local, hoppy beers.
• IPA takes up a significant share of sales, often coming second in the range.
• Making IPA is a challenge every year, because hop availability is unpredictable.
• The trend is for customers to demand novelty and increasingly hoppy/aromatic flavours.

On tomorrow's organic IPA (with European hops): 

• The IPA style, which we have tried to define by means of a survey, is vast and can accommodate beers that are more or less bitter, more or less dark, more or less aromatic, with an alcohol content of around 6%.
• All the beers produced in collab' (6 participating breweries) and tasted blind meet this definition, even though they're all different. We can say that choosing very aromatic hops, making varietal associations and increasing the dosage (over 5gr/L) makes it possible to obtain an IPA.
• The collab' that put everyone in agreement was that of Brasserie Slalom. It's close to what seems to be our "common standard" in terms of IPAs. In other words, an IPA that's very close to the US craft IPA wave (between west-coast, old-school, ...). In other words, a very Aromatic , well-balanced beer with a sharp bitterness, clean exotic aromas and a lingering finish that prolongs the pleasure. To achieve this, we had to use 5 hops (for a total of 10gr/L), master the fermentation process, avoid theBittering at the start of boiling to avoid adding astringency, and pay particular attention to the yeasts and DH temperatures to enhance the nose.
• There was unanimous agreement that all the beers tested lacked nose, with the exception of the aforementioned IPA, whose nose was the most interesting, without being explosive.
• In conclusion, it' s possible to make good IPAs with European hops , but to get a really good IPA you'll need to complement them with hops richer in terpenes, thiols, etc., such as New Zealand hops.

And a special THANK YOU to the breweries who agreed to play with us and experiment with EU hops in the IPA of the future ;-): Slalom, Divatte, Paille, Irvoy, Terres de Possible, La Fosse aux loups