Many seem to know them, and yet many seem to not. Tucked away in Laeken (Brussels) at the BeHere sustainable village exists the microbrewery, La Source Beer Co. Frequent readers may recognise the name. La Source were mentioned in the article about their neighbours Fermenthings’ vinegar. They were also referred to by Aylin of Tipsy Tribe, listing La Source’s Imperial Apricot as her favourite beer. This is a brewery well respected in their field and I had the privilege of sitting down with Mathieu Huygens to discuss a few of the sustainability projects behind their beers.
Conversation commenced by delving into the initial vision for the brewery. Established in October 2019 by Mathieu and his partner Nina, La Source was primarily conceived as a brewpub serving as close to 100% of its beer production as possible to enthusiasts in Brussels. Envisioning this endeavour not only as a commitment to providing the most sustainable option for beer drinkers in the city, but also as a dedication to delivering their beers in a manner unparalleled for freshness. The brewpub would require patrons to drop-by for a beer, an atmosphere the co-founders were keen to curate. These three principles set the tone of the remaining discussion.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns lurking around the corner, La Source’s plan did not quite unfold as intended. Nowadays, La Source manages to sell around 30-40% of their production on-site. The majority of the remaining beer is sold within the city of Brussels. Currently unable to achieve their intended 100% of sales on-site, La Source still keeps their supply chain post-brew as short as possible. Once again, this is a purposeful action by the microbrewery to assure both the absolute freshness of their beer and the mitigation of any additional carbon footprint.
The shift away from the brewpub paradigm meant La Source was forced to package a higher volume of its beer than initially planned. Nonetheless, the co-founders had already considered how they would best package their beers for takeout purposes within the bar. Mathieu reminisced on reading an article about the carbon footprint of beer packaging and how positive data around canning beers helped to influence their decision. Once more, this decision went hand-in-hand with La Source’s commitment to delivering fresh beers to its clientele.
This did beg the question as to whether La Source felt trapped by the consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown. Not at all. Mathieu and Nina’s intentions for the brewery remain the same: not to grow and necessarily sell to more distributors, but to attract more and more customers through its doors (hopefully achieving a 70% on-site sale rate). Should they exceed this capacity, many ideas for additional locations are brewing. The size, scale, experimental nature and even city would all be up for debate should this come to fruition. La Source 2.0 in Liège? Let’s see!
It was interesting to hear Mathieu speaking of a potentially smaller, more experimental version of La Source. Why? This brewery is already plenty experimental. From its frequent use of chilli peppers in its beer, to the April 2023 launch of their Deux Boules Vanille Imperial Stout, served in the style of an ice cream float. Yes, you read that right. Thus, the sourcing of ingredients was certainly a topic worth discussing. The brewers at La Source are rarely closed off to an idea, so when opportunities arise to utilise new local ingredients Mathieu is always enthused. He emphasised the accessibility of fantastic local produce, with a specific mention of their working relation to BIGH. BIGH is an urban project in the region of Anderlecht utilising hydroponic and aquaponic systems to create a sustainable farm seamlessly merged with the existing urban infrastructure of the Brussels commune.
Even closer to the brewery are the merchants of Be Here’s sustainable village. To the left as you step out of the brewpub is La Marché Bio, an organic food market. Mathieu detailed his wanderings through the market, perusing its seasonal stock and purchasing ingredients to take back to experiment with in the brewery. La Source also works directly with organic chocolate producer Nao for any nuts or chocolate they require for their recipes. Beyond this, Mathieu and Yannick of Fermenthings will often be found collaborating or exchanging in and around the many seating spots in Be Here.
Similarly, a positive consequence of working with the local artisans has offered La Source the opportunity to explore secondary uses of their byproducts. Soon opening in the Be Here vicinity is Next Grain, an organisation that takes brewers’ spent grain (BSG) and upcycles them into flour for future use in baked products. Mathieu holds even bigger visions for this new partnership. He spoke with great passion about the potential of Be Here to replicate a similar project he is intrigued by, Plant Chicago. Could the BSG from La Source be milled into flour by Next Grain, then utilised in Les Coopains de la Boulangerie, a bakery located in Be Here, and these products then be sold in the brewpub? It’s certainly a beautiful vision.
La Source is dedicated to maximising water reuse in their operations, with a commitment to recycling water in upcoming brewing processes to minimise needless water wastage. Additionally, they aim to enhance their brewery infrastructure by implementing a system that collects and circulates water used for cooling back into their hoses for future cleaning of the brewery’s equipment.
One thing customers will always find on La Source’s extensive menu is a sour option – they happen to be very good at producing acidic beer (my personal recommendation is any La Source gose). The quality of their sour production aside, Mathieu is committed to ensuring that their sour beers are also no-boil beers. He noted that almost every week the La Source team is brewing a no-boil sour. The benefits of this brew are that the energy-intensive hour long boil is no longer necessary for production. Mathieu experimented widely with lacto-fermentation techniques in order to achieve this outcome.
Beyond their fantastic selection of beers, La Source also offers itself as a cultural hub for concert goers as well as beer drinkers. Both Mathieu and Nina shared a passion for music before their brewing days and were enthusiastic about hosting musical events at the brewpub from the outset. Nevertheless, this enthusiasm soon evolved beyond their initial expectations. When the opportunity to expand the brewpub presented itself, they made the decision to incorporate a stage. This space lends itself perfectly to the vision the co-founders held for their brewpub, to bring people together to enjoy a beer. In addition to their shared love for music, Mathieu and Nina both had careers as graphic designers in their earlier lives. Mathieu observed that La Source always aimed to establish and nurture these connections and crossovers between beer, music, and visual arts.
“It is all art. It is taste, sound, and it is sight”
These are certainly the senses of the brewpub. Upon entering, customers will notice the artistic stylings of Nina which adorn every almost visible surface. Additionally, all the designs, whether they be on the cans, the merchandise or the concert posters, are also designed by Nina.
The brewery’s seating also exudes a rustic charm, with benches crafted from repurposed pallets and up-cycled wooden materials. This furniture certainly adds a definitive touch to the bar’s ambiance, reflecting a sustainable consciousness. The multitude of plants inside the brewery gives this place a ‘green feel’ – a highly appreciated inclusion from my perspective.
La Source simply feels like a place you want to drink. Not only are their beers delectable, but their ambitions admirable. Whilst their flexibility to adapt to the changing situations consequential of the COVID-19 pandemic have led them slightly astray from their primary ambitions, La Source can certainly put itself on the map as a brewpub drinkers from all over Brussels and beyond wish to visit. If Be Here can truly harness the potential of its artisanal producers to further enhance circularity and sustainability as Mathieu hopes, La Source will undoubtedly be one project for those in the beer sector to keep a close eye on.
What’s your favourite beer?
Mathieu is a session-IPA drinker. For him, few have done this as well as Founders’ All Day IPA. In house, La Source’s session-IPA is Carpe: a beer that Mathieu spends a lot of time tweaking and improving (at the time of writing, Carpe was on its 16th edition). As this discussion around Carpe’s evolution developed, Mathieu settled on Triangle by Garage.
Where can you buy La Source?
As discussed, La Source is distributed in and around Brussels. You can find it in most of your favoured beer shops. However, this is first and foremost a brewpub so get down to their location and sample these beers as fresh and sustainably as you can: on site! They are located at 4 Rue Dieudonné Lefèvre, Bruxelles 1020 inside Be Here. La Source’s canned beer can be bought both inside the brewpub, but also at their web shop.
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