Cassou-lager? French brewers make beer from traditional casserole

A Toulouse beer festival challenged local brewers to create a special beer inspired by the local delicacy that is cassoulet.

Source: SBS Food

Last weekend saw the Octobière beer festival take place in Toulouse, and some brewers had tongues wagging with their cassoulet-flavoured beers. 

Cassoulet, a rich casserole dish typical of Toulouse, is made with white beans, pork and duck. 

Three brewers took part in the festival challenge, which asked them to create beers scented by the popular dish from the south of France. The participating breweries were La Garonette (with the Hopscotch pub), l’Iron and l’Oustal.

"We cooked the beans and added them during the mash conversion, this step during beer-making when we extract the sugar from the cereals," Benjamin Serralta of Hopscotch pub told actuToulouse.

"We reduced the cooking juices from the meat and the beans, then we added them to the fermentation process. It was hard to do because the fat was preventing foam to form, but in the end it worked and gave us a light beer."

The Cassou’Ale was created especially for Octobière and won't be for sale after the festival, but the beer created by l’Oustal will be available during special events organised by the brewery.