Get behind the scenes of the Duyck Brewery, from the family home to the storage barrels and take a closer look at what Jenlain is made of.
This is one of the oldest independent French breweries. It kept evolving over the years to expand its production line but the mindset remains unchanged
This house is the soul of the brewery, where ideas and generations of Duycks have succeeded one another. Robert and his wife Chantal lived there before the dining room, the kitchen and the bedrooms were converted into offices.
I remember that clients were received in the dining room while my mother was in the kitchen. This house is really the soul of the brewery
Since late 2014, the brewery has invested in a new brewing hall with four stainless steel tanks. The mashing tank is used to mix the milled malt with warm water to turn the starch into fermentable sugars. The filter tank separates the malty liquid called "wort" from the barley husks. The boiling tank is then used to boil the wort and add the hops. Finally, the whirlpool tank eliminates what could alter the fermentation
"Today the know-how of the brewer is in the right mix of raw materials and the mastery of high-end technological equipment
This is where the yeast is pitched into the wort, cooled down to 20 degrees, and then fermented in tanks for a week. The yeast then transforms sugar into alcohol producing carbon dioxide. The beer is then kept in tanks where it will mature for 3 to 4 weeks
We have always used the same yeast. It is part of the brewery, reacts to the environment and gives life to Jenlain beers
Here the beer is filtered to get rid of its natural yeast sediment. A necessary step to give the beer its clear, bright final appearance.
This painstaking task is the last step before packaging, the beer must be perfect before bottling
The Duyck Brewery has 3 packaging lines totaling an average of 210,000 liters of beer/week packaged in bottles (70%), barrels (15%) and cans (15%).
This is the final stage of production, the finished product must match up to our expectations of the beer that was brewed. The container is as important as the content itself and must showcase it at its best
The Duyck Brewery handles large volumes of beer. On one side the incoming empty containers and on the other the delivery of the final products to supply warehouses all over France and some overseas customers. To accommodate them, the brewery has a warehouse of approximately 1,500 m² which can hold up to 2,500 pallets according to the product type: 75cls, 6x25cl packs, cans or barrels.
This is the final step. We’ve kept our beers away from any external light and at the right temperature and we finally hand them over to be distributed. The work is done, we let our baby go
Since 1922, five generations of Jenlain brewers have
contributed to the history of the family brewery.
In the Duyck family (a surname of Dutch origin) we used to speak Flemish and had been cultivating the land for generations. To supplement his income, Léon Duyck decided to develop an extra activity already popular at the time: brewing. He devoted one of the rooms of his farmhouse in Zegerscappel, a modest town in the Flanders region. At the time, there were over 2,000 breweries in the region.
Introduced to the craft of beer-making by his father, Félix Duyck established his own farmhouse brewery in the village of Jenlain. From the very beginning he stood out from other brewers by producing a more refined and less sweet beer than the ones traditionally sold within days of their production. He decided to keep his beer in barrels for several weeks to prolong fermentation and develop its aromas. By doing so he created the famous high fermented Bière de Garde, the Jenlain Ambrée, one of the very first French craft beers.
At the end of the war, bottles were scarce. Felix and his son Robert came up with a brilliant idea. For the first time, they use recycled champagne bottles to contain their bière de garde, using a cork and wire to hold the cap. The Jenlain champagne bottle was thus born and the Duyck’s signature beer could then be shared at home.
Robert Duyck took over from his father. The Bière de Garde of this small brewery was becoming increasingly well-known and people started travelling from quite far away to taste it. In 1968, the Duyck family beer renamed itself after its birthplace, the village of Jenlain, to become ever since “la Jenlain”. The labels decorated with a shield designed by Robert Duyck’s brother-in-law started appearing on the hitherto anonymous bottles.
At that time the brewery supplied two regional warehouses, one of which mainly targeted students in Lille who, coming across Jenlain for the first time, quickly adopted it as THE beer to drink. So much so that they were keen to continue enjoying it when back in their native regions. To meet with the demand, Robert Duyck undertook the modernization of the brewery production site.
Raymond Duyck, the great grandson of Leon, took over the family business.
He continued the development of the brewery and inspired by the Jenlain Ambrée, created the Jenlain Blonde quickly followed by other new original beers. Keen to protect and promote the interests of his profession, Raymond became the representative of small brewers in the Brasseurs de France association.
With a brewing trade dominated by large industrial groups, the Duyck Brewery remained independent and continued to develop its production. Raymond made new investments in such equipment as new fermentation tanks, filtration equipment, a packaging line and a wastewater treatment plant at the brewery.
Mathieu Duyck, son of Raymond, has now joined the brewery, full of enthusiasm to continue brewing beer and new ideas. He wishes to pursue the expansion of Jenlain internationally but also to offer new bières de garde and explore new tastes. His arrival coincides with brand new production facilities while the Jenlain image keeps evolving thanks to a newly revised design in line with the values and spirit of the Duyck Brewery.
Brewery tours
Visit the brewery and see how our beers are made
A family-run business, the Duyck Brewery is the largest of the small French breweries. At a time where most French brasseries had to scale down in the 70-80, the Duyck Brewery managed to remain independent thanks to the success of its Jenlain Ambrée. To date its independence still stands with regards to its shareholders and management style but also when it comes to its non-reliance on banks or other financial institutions: all its investments are self-financed (on average € 1 million / year)
Today the Duyck Brewery has 45 employees and brews 0.5% of the total volume of beer produced in France. It has been striving to constantly diversify its range for 25 years, embracing successes and setbacks with the same spirit. It is this spirit that inspired Félix Duyck to create his first Biere de Garde, that of Robert who had the idea of the Champagne bottle or that of Raymond when he created new beers, and today that of Mathieu who continues to brew both ideas and beers.
All these innovations have made the Duyck Brewery a source of inspiration for many small French breweries and a key contributor to their development over the last 20 years.
Sustainable development is a key focus of The Duyck Brewery which has been working to build an eco-friendly tool. Water is high on the green agenda as a central element of the brewing process.
Jenlain has always used the water from the groundwater table situated directly beneath the brewery. The well you can see in the yard draws the necessary water required for the brewing process. The Brewery is mindful of the water it needs but also of the water it sends back as it’s all part of the same virtuous cycle. The less it pollutes the longer it will last.
To this end, the brewery has been equipped with a sewage treatment plant (€ 2 million) for 25 years and further invested in a new plant in 2013. The brewery uses a natural process: methanation. It recovers and purifies wastewater using methanizers, which in turn produce biogas that feeds the methanizers and fuels a heating system as well. Just one of the ways of ensuring the brewery’s self-sufficiency.
The design of the brewing hall also follows an eco-friendly approach as the vapors from the mash are condensed and reused in the brewing process. Since 2003, a cleaning plant also contributes to save on water consumption: 20 years ago we used 20 liters of water to make 1 liter of beer whereas today we only need 5 liters of water for 1 liter of beer.
The Duyck Brewery has always campaigned against too much uniformity in the French brewing landscape, the domination of large industrial groups and the standardization of taste.
When offered to join the l’Association des Brasseurs de France (ABF), Raymond Duyck saw this as an opportunity to promote diversity.
Aimed at the protection and promotion of breweries, this association now has about 130 members, from the largest breweries (Heineken, Kronenbourg) to the smallest ones (worth a few hundred hectoliters). Raymond Duyck is part of the Executive Board of ABF as the representing small breweries. In June 2014 he was appointed president of the Brasseurs du Nord and campaigns for the breweries in northern France. His actions and engagement with ABF over the last 20 years have won him the recognition of small breweries everywhere.
The Duyck Brewery is keen to pursue its commitment, and thanks to is knowledge of the decision-making bodies, is well positioned to defend, unite and act as the spokesperson for small breweries.
The Duyck Brewery believes that the emergence of microbreweries will positively impact the beer market. It is keen to continue Raymond’s action within ABF but is also conscious that further expanding internationally is the way forward. To this end, Mathieu Duyck’s goal is to take a step further with the French Craft Brewers (association created ten years ago for the promotion of French beers worldwide).