Something old, something new
Distillers have always been inventive when it comes to using waste or surplus products – and these genever producers using old beer and rainwater to make spirits are no different
As with most innovative solutions, there first has to be an issue to solve. One such issue affecting the entire global population is Covid-19. It brings many pressing matters, so spoilt beer is probably not very high up the priority list of governments, healthcare agencies and other official organisations.
But for the hospitality industry it is one of the marks of a troublesome year marred by lockdowns, lay-offs and even closures. To soon have something worthwhile come out of it, is a welcome and optimistic sign.
RECYCLING BEER
According to estimates from the Dutch Brewers Association, there are roughly 9 million litres of beer in Dutch pubs, restaurants and bars in danger of being wasted. When the hospitality industry eventually reopens this beer can no longer be served safely to customers. But it also offers an opportunity to enterprising breweries such as Lowlander. It previously collaborated with Wynand Fockink – one of the oldest working liqueur and genever producers in the Netherlands – to create the Lowlander IPA Genever. Now it is looking to revive this project.
Instead of making the decision to use its own Lowlander IPA beer as a base, it has been collecting old IPA beer kegs (of any brand) from all over the Netherlands. “By turning surplus beer into genever we offer a small solution to a much bigger problem,” says Frederik Kampman, Lowlander’s chief botanical officer. “We also create awareness and show that simply throwing out beer isn’t the only available solution.”
During the Covid-19 crisis there have been other creative solutions to prevent wasting beer. It’s been repurposed as feed for livestock and redistilled into disinfectant.
But there’s still a lot of urgency to deal with the lake of beer that’s unintentionally been created by Covid-19 restrictions. Kampman explains, “We asked around at dozens of bars and restaurants and quickly learned that many of them still have excess beer for which they’ve no destination.” For every keg of old beer a bar supplies to the project, they receive a bottle of Lowlander IPA Genever.
The previous iteration of this genever expression proved very successful; in 2018 the first batch sold out within a month. “We’re botanical brewers and draw inspiration from herbs, spices and fruit,” says Kampman. “These ingredients are not just used in our beers, but also important components of genever. To us it is the perfect combination to create a new, unique and distinctive spirit – even better if we make it from beer that would’ve been thrown
out. It’s a way to provide some relief to entrepreneurs and add value and flavour to an otherwise wasted product.” Lowlander and Wynand Fockink expect to release their genever made from old IPA beer around Father’s Day in June.
REPURPOSED RAINWATER
Meanwhile, Hooghoudt Distillery has launched another innovative and sustainable genever made with rainwater. Its Hemelwaterjenever provides a solution for excessive rainfall and potential flooding on the business park where the distillery is located. As important (if not more), it decreases the dependence on valuable tap water for the production process.
The recipe for Hooghoudt’s innovative and truly unique spirit is based on the producer’s
Premium Jonge Graanjenever. It’s a blend of column-distilled alcohol with a generous dash of maltwine providing a rich, grainy character. Botanicals such as juniper, orris root, fennel seed, cardamom, star anise, elderflower and pear as well as local heather honey make for a balanced drink, intended to be drunk neat or as a boilermaker.
The project is a collaboration with D2D Water Solutions, which received funding to prove it could make drinking water out of rainwater, eventually to be used in the beverage industry. The Hemelwaterjenever by Hooghoudt is the result of years of research and work.
“Filtering and purifying rainwater is not a new invention”, explains Laurens Speek, brand activation manager at Hooghoudt.
“But for it to be consumed and used in genever, that’s revolutionary.”
For now, the rainwater is used to bring the Hemelwaterjenever down to bottling strength; there’s far from enough to completely replace reverse osmosis treated tap water in the production process. But Hooghoudt wants to use all the rainwater possible. Speek explains, “We’re going to try to use it as much as possible, but during dry spells we can naturally use less rainwater.
So, we need to plan our production needs rigorously. We’ve tested which products and processes are suited for rainwater. We’ll start with those and hopefully we can further expand our use of rainwater in the future.”
Hooghoudt has limited the first batch of Hemelwaterjenever to 700 bottles.