Ille-et-Vilaine has 31 craft breweries, many of which are recent creations in line with the resurgent interest for craft beers from Brittany, a region with a long brewing tradition. There are beers of every colour and to suit all tastes.
In Rennes, the most famous brewery was Graff which later became Kronenbourg Brewery until it closed in 2003.
There are a good many craft breweries and micro-breweries in the area around Rennes, like the well-known Brasserie Sainte-Colombe run by the first female master brewer in France. Brasserie Skumenn (Acigné) meaning froth in Breton, produces top-fermented beers and Brasserie de l’Ombre on the edge of Brocéliande Forest specialises in brewing rare, mysterious beers.
Others like the Brasserie du Vieux Singe are led by the desire to run a firm which champions and promotes cooperation, creativity, motivation and above all taste, in order to move away from the standard « Lager, White Beer, Amber Ale » brews.
All of them give star billing to cereals, malt, barley and wheat which are found in abundance within the département of Ille-et-Vilaine… plus a few secret ingredients !
Logo Vieux SingeMaking beer is a combination of science and art, a mixture of common sense and folly.
