Duvel Moortgat is aiming to acquire assets associated with the bankrupt Liefmans brewery. It was reported yesterday that the Belgian courts have granted Duvel the right to take possession of the Oudenaarde plant and temporarily resume production of the famous Goudenband, Kriek and Frambozen beers. However, two Liefmans directors have set out to prevent the acquisition, which they believe will result in a closure of the brewery.
Never trust people who think beer subdivides into "lager", "bitter" and "Guinness".
Never trust people who say they like chain bars because "they always know what they're getting".
Never trust people who list "socialising" as an interest on their CV.
Never trust people who can't give a straightforward answer when you ask them where they're from.
Never trust people who invite you on skiing trips when you have never expressed any interest in the sport (or indeed their company).
Never trust blokes who try and ban the c-word from conversation because their bird doesn't like it (just say it more).
Never trust people who "don't like to lose control".
Finally and most importantly, never, ever trust people who don't drink beer, unless they have a very good excuse - and for the avoidance of doubt, being an uptight, miserable sod is not a very good excuse.
Stonch lives in London, where he runs a pub.
5 comments:
The brewery (in Dentergem) where all the beers are made, is not included in these assets, so it seems like Duvel will have to brew elsewhere.
Hopefully they will continue to use the Oudenaarde plant to ferment the beers (one of the very few places with open fermentation tanks), otherwise these lovely beers like Oud Bruin, Kriek, Goudenband, Jan Van Gent will lose their unique qualities...
Mark. Both breweries were owned by Riva SA when I visited Liefmans some years ago. What happened to Riva? I've been wondering this since the news broke. Presumably if the beers were contract brewed at Dentergem as they have been for many, many years, that could continue in the same way with brewing at Dentergem under contract and fermentation by Duvel at Oudenaarde??
The Riva group changed their name to Liefmans Breweries, and they did own the two breweries (Dentergem and Oudenaarde). Brewing was done in Dentergem alone. After the bankruptcy the former owners established the New Liefmans Holding. They (+ a new investor) were one of the three parties interested to acquire the temporary license (the former owners went into appeal against the bankruptcy, so a court case is still hanging).
Bidding to allocate the license was held last Wednesday. Initially New Liefmans Holding had the highest bid, but they didn't manage to secure the necessary guarantees from the bank. A potential third candidate for the takeover backed out, and Duvel secured the license over Liefmans Breweries.
The brewery at Dentergem was NOT a part of the assets concerned by the bidding, but all the rest was.
So Duvel has (at least temporary) control (until the decision of the court case for the appeal against the bankruptcy) over the Oudenaarde brewery (where no brewing was done, except fermenting), all the beers and all the recipes, but they did not acquire the Dentergem brewery.
Thanks Mark, so it is still possible that existing or should I say previous arrangements can be resurrected?
It seems that Duvel is not interested in the breweries themselves, so what will happen to the 50 employees is most uncertain. As things stand now (we'll have to wait for the court's decision in the appeal case) it seems that Duvel could start brewing in their own brewery in Puurs instead of Dentergem, but fermenting could still be done in Oudenaarde.
I suppose that Duvel does have the funds to make Liefmans survive, but it's clear that a lot of the beers will be axed.
Since Duvel is clearly interested in the fruit beers, I believe there is good hope that Oud Bruin (as the basis for the Kriek for example) and Goudenband will survive.
Post a Comment