Brouwerij En Stoemelings sells production resources to avoid bankruptcy

“Despite numerous attempts to revive the company due to various crises in recent years, the sale of the premises has proven to be the only solution to avoid bankruptcy, preserve the brand and continue our development in Brussels,” write En Stoemelings co-founders Samuel Langwie and Dennis Van Elwijk in a press release.

The two young entrepreneurs opened their first brewery on Spiegelstraat in Marolles in the summer of 2015, before finding a larger space in the Greenbizz workshops in Laeken. The beers Curieuse Neus, Jawa and 1897, developed with Cantillon for the Union Saint-Gilloise, found their way to the capital. But successive crises eventually took their toll.

Prince Boyer

In search of funds to pay their creditors, Samuel and Denis sold the production equipment to two entrepreneurs, Camille Roy and Maxime Leonard, who will also pay the rent to Greenbizz. The duo runs four beer bars in Brussels: three Amère à boire (Flagey, Uccle and Sint-Gillis) and one L’Impasse (Châtelain).

“We used to have beer made for our cafés by different breweries, such as La Source and Jandrain-Jandrenouille,” explains Camille Roy. “From now on we will make our own beer.”

The production equipment will remain in Laeken, as will En Stoemelings brewer Grégoire Piel, who will manage production at “Amère en Fût”. This name refers to the packaging that will be used exclusively for Amère à boire and L’Impasse beers. “There will be no cans or bottles, only stainless steel kegs and a very short supply chain, with the distance between Laeken and our various bars being no more than 10 kilometres,” adds Roy.

a race

There are many small breweries in Brussels, which provide great competition among themselves – and with the big beer players. “Everyone makes good beer,” says Arthur Rees of Beerstorming. “So the margins are small.”

“Many breweries are having problems for many different reasons. Prices have generally gone up, logistics have become complicated for small businesses, and the weather has an impact as well.”

So it is essential that there is something unique that stands out among all the beers. For example, the L’Annexe brewery now produces more lemonade than beer. “I think there is saturation in Brussels. We were the seventh brewery in Brussels and I think there are about twenty now,” says Max Lagreliere of L’Annexe. “This growth cannot continue, the market is not big enough for that.”

The curtain is not yet drawn on En Stoemelings. The three Brussels masterpieces are still being brewed and bottled by a subcontractor. Samuel and Denis are also continuing their Experimentation Sauvage project, a series of complex barrel-aged beers. These 75cl bottles are primarily intended for export.