Affligem Brewery / De Smedt Brouwerij (Alken-Maes)

Production

Affligem Brewery / De Smedt Brouwerij (Alken-Maes) image 1

More about Affligem Brewery / De Smedt Brouwerij (Alken-Maes)

Status Operational
Established: 1790
Visitor Policy: Not generally accessible
Tel: +32 (0)52 359 911
Website: alken-maes.be
Pronounced ‘Aff-LINg-Hem’ with a soft ‘g’, Affligem beer is one of 22 abbey beers. Brewed for centuries by the monks of Affligem Abbey, who still own the brand and oversee its brewing, Affligem is now brewed at De Smedt. De Smedt Brouwerij, now better known as Affligem Brewery is part of Alken-Maes Breweries SA, a group of three small specialist Belgium breweries owned by Heineken International. Affligem’s main market is across the border in France where 235,000 hectare litres were sold in 2012 with approximately 50/50 split between draught and bottle. Thanks to Heineken’s support and distribution, thankfully the rest of the world can now also sample the delights of this abbey beer and its Body & Soul serving ritual.

Address

18 Ringlaan
Opwijk
B-1745
Belgium

Affligem is brewed with malted barley, lightly aromatic hops (Spalte, Saaz and Savinski Golding), fresh single strain yeast and well water. No hop oils or other extracts are added (hop oils add bitterness but very little aroma). Both the malt and hops change slightly from year to year so the recipe has to be tweaked to ensure consistency.

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The malted summer harvested barley used has a high starch content imparting nut and vanilla notes to the beer. This malt is lightly kilned to brew the Blond but heavily roasted for the Double, imparting toasty flavours and darker colour to the beer.

The malt is milled to a course flour and this is placed in the stainless steel mash tun along with brew water drawn from the brewery’s three wells (two are 80 metres deep and one 280 metres deep). The water is demineralised and then some calcium added to create the ideal mineral balance for fermentation. The treated water is heated to 60°C so activating natural enzymes present in the malt (no enzymes are added) which convert the starch to fermentable sugars (a process known as saccharificiation).

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The wort is then filtered using a horizontal mash filter and the spent grains are removed and sold as cattle feed. The wort is then pumped to the stainless steel boiler which sterilises, helps coagulate the remaining proteins and evaporates some of the more volatile compounds which otherwise would detrimentally affect the finished beer’s aroma and flavour.

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At this stage the density of sugar in the wort is tested (specific gravity) and adjusted to ensure the correct alcoholic strength in the finished beer - 15g per 100g for Blond, 15.5g per 100g for Double and 19g per 100g for Triple. Hops are added at the beginning of the boil to impart bitterness and again 15 minutes before the end of boil for aroma.

Single varietal European hops are used in the form of dried pellets: Spalte, a noble German hop known for its low bitterness and spicy aroma; Saaz, the renowned Czech pilsner hop with an earthy herbal aroma; and Savinski Golding, a traditional Slovenian variety with a strong hoppy flavour.

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On visits and in photographs of the brewery, you’ll see that De Smedt has retained its still functional three original copper kettles which were in use until the larger stainless steel replacements were installed in 2005.

The boiled and hopped wort is then spun in a whirlpool to remove the hops and proteins sediment to leave the wort clear and free of vegetal aromas. It is then cooled to 20°C in a heat exchanger and oxygenated with sterile air to optimise fermentation.

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The now cool, sugary, hoppy and aerated wort from the brewhouse is pumped to the 600 hectolitre vertical fermenter where yeast captured and propagated from previous fermentations is added. Cooling pipes maintain a temperature of 25°C during the fermentation which lasts five days for the blond and double, and seven days for the triple. These long fermentation times produce the fruity esters which are important to Affligem’s flavour. The ‘green’ beer is then cooled and the yeast sinks to the bottom of the tank.

The yeast used is a proprietary strain of fresh top fermenting ale yeast and twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday) this is harvested as it bubbles at the top of the tank. As the beer foams over the side of the tank it is collected and propagated in starter tanks to be added to the next week’s fermentation. Although samples of the yeast are held in a cryogenic state at a nearby university in case of calamity, it has not been necessary to cultivate Affligem yeast since production restarted after World War II. The yeast is treated with the kind of care lavished on a new born baby to ensure it is not stressed. This rather spoilt and so happy yeast imparts an overripe banana aroma and spicy yeasty bite to Affligem beer.

The green beer is matured for seven days in horizontal tanks which better retain the carbon dioxide in solution so ensuring a better head when poured. Horizontal tanks also give a larger surface area than vertical tanks so allow more volatile notes to evaporate thus improving flavour and aroma. During maturation the beer is tasted and tested to manage its acid and ester profiles. At the end of the week long maturation the beer is filtered and extra carbonation added, although as much as 80% of Affligem’s carbonation is naturally produced.

The beer is then moved by tanker and after final laboratory testing is ready for kegging or bottling. Bottled Affligem undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle in a process very similar to that employed in Champagne. More of the same fresh Affligem yeast is added directly to each bottle with 0.5% sugar to fuel a further fermentation in the bottles while they rest for 14 days in a warm cellar. Secondary fermentation during this period results in 5 to 7 grams of carbon dioxide in each bottle, an increase of 1% alcohol, as well as considerable extra flavour. Secondary fermentation also uses and so eliminates oxygen in the bottle so reducing the risk of oxidation and its associated off-notes. Double fermentation also changes the colour over time as the dead yeast cells infuse in the beer.

The difference in flavour between draught Affligem and bottled Affligem, whether Blond, Double or Triple is striking. If presented with the choice be sure to opt for the double fermented bottled product. It is Affligem’s yeast which really sets it apart from other beers and the double fermentation in the bottle amplifies the contribution it makes to the beer’s flavour.

As a safety precaution, a small quantity (around 15% of the total production of Affligem) is brewed at another brewery. Only Blond is produced there with the yeast similarly harvested so ensuring the one- off yeast strain is replenished at two locations.

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