The partial reopening of the restaurants is coming soon, but their closure for two months will have put a stop to the biennoise brewery “La Marmotte”, which sold its beers at the bistro more than in stores. How to fill the tanks and maintain jobs? By distilling the beer to produce hand sanitizer!
From the start of containment, on March 14, the brewer Lukas Klinger teamed up with pharmacist Fernand Jolissaint to make a hydroalcoholic disinfectant solution. “It’s a win-win association: my alcohol suppliers were out of stock,” said the pharmacist.
Neighborhood
On the way to the Verdan barn, a city farm converted into the artisanal production of beer, coffee, honey, whiskey, juice and dried almonds, Fernand Jolissaint discusses a new way of production induced by the pandemic. “The Covid-19 strengthens neighborhood relationships,” he says.
The Federal Customs Administration having facilitated the production of alcohol which can be transformed into disinfectant, several craft breweries have converted to the production of ethanol, like “Dr Gab’s” in Puidoux or “Gotan” in Avully. But for “La Marmotte”, whose main production went to bars, restaurants – including on the boats of the Biel / Bienne navigation company – and cinemas, it was a question of survival.
The strongest
Unlike other brewers, Lukas Klinger did not replace malt with molasses made from wort and sugar. Its germinated barley ferments for five days in tanks, as usual. “Before, we made the best beer possible, but now we make the strongest possible, the aim being to distill it on site, at the Chêne distillery,” explains the brewer.
“His alcohol smells like beer!” Laughs Fernand Jolissaint. Its recipe consists in diluting the alcohol and adding glycerin and essential oil of tea tree to this alcoholic solution at 70%.
“We must make this alcohol unfit for consumption by denaturing it: its use is strictly external,” says the pharmacist, handling a graduated cylinder. “The goal is not to produce a zero-rated alcoholic drink …”, he adds.
Big work
“La Marmotte” can produce 500 liters of disinfectant instead of 15,000 liters of beer. “For 50 liters of disinfectant, you need 300 kg of goods. It’s a big job! ”Breathes Lukas Klinger.
The cost price is higher than that of industrial ethanol, but the goal is not to make a profit. “We pay our wages, but we earn nothing,” says the brewer.
The disinfectant produced according to the pharmacist’s formula is sold in bottles or cans by the two partners, each with their own brand: the brasserie “La Marmotte” and the pharmacy of “Pont-du-Moulin”.
Vincent Donzé
Created: 04.05.2020, 06:46
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