Raise a glass to the taste of the past
Tante Wies’s golden tasting moment
Every morning at 8:00 a.m., a critical first sip. For 75 years, Aunt Wies tasted the first glass of Alfa Edel Pils every morning at 8:00. Without her approval, no beer left the brewery. After her passing in 2009, we’ve continued this tradition. To this day, an organoleptic tasting still takes place every morning at 8:00 a.m. Foam, colour, aroma and flavour are carefully tested and assessed. Only when the tasting team unanimously agrees and the true Alfa taste is confirmed, can the beer leave the brewery. For us, this moment is the final quality check before our beer reaches the customer.
Aunt Wies was more than just the guardian of our beer quality; she was an icon within the brewery. She spent her entire life living next to the brewery, closely observing the brewing process and becoming an indispensable part of the family tradition. She was also the only person to have known all five generations of the Meens family, and watched with pride as the brewing craft was passed down from one generation to the next. In addition to her morning tasting ritual, she had another unique habit: she was frugal and never wasted a thing. Any leftover beer found its way into her lunch recipes – hearty soups, or her famous Limburgian ‘zoervleisj’ (sour meat). Everything was reused; nothing went to waste.
Every morning at 8:00 a.m., during the golden tasting moment, we continue a tradition that has lasted for generations. Just as Aunt Wies once safeguarded the quality of Alfa Beer, we now protect the family recipe with the same care and dedication – just as Joseph Meens intended back in 1870.
Aunt Wies (1913-2009) : Good aete, good drènke, gaer hie zin.
