E-Malt.com News article: USA & Belgium: Green Flash Brewing and Brasserie St-Feuillien make “handshake agreement” on brewing Green Flash beers in Belgium

One of San Diego’s fastest-growing craft breweries is expanding its presence abroad.

Green Flash Brewing announced on July 21 a unique brewing partnership with Belgium-based St-Feuillien. According to a press statement, the two breweries have made a “handshake agreement,” whereby St-Feuillien will brew, bottle and ship Green Flash’s flagship West Coast IPA for broader distribution throughout Europe.

Company spokeswoman Natalie Sellers described the brewing arrangement as “flexible,” and explained that Green Flash is not licensing its name to the Belgian brewer.

“We are working with them as friends,” she said. “Because of the unique relationship we have with St-Feuillien, we can sit back, see what happens with West Coast IPA being brewed there and respond to demand as needed.”

The two companies have made a series of collaborative brews together, starting in 2010.

St-Feullian, which Sellers said has recently expanded its brewing capacity, will produce, package and help oversee distribution of West Coast IPA throughout the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Germany and France.

“We’ve been pursuing European distribution of West Coast IPA for some time, however the obvious challenges in delivering fresh IPA to the region have been a huge roadblock,” Green Flash co-founder, Mike Hinkley, said in a statement. “After testing various export scenarios on a small scale, it became apparent that the quality of our IPA when transported to Europe was not ideal and cost-prohibitive for consumers. We were not satisfied with the customer experience and felt we had to come up with a better solution.”

Producing the hop-forward beer in Belgium will allow European consumers to purchase it at a lower price than if the product was imported from the U.S., Sellers said.

St-Feuillien will profit on the beer as if it was the producer, Sellers said. So what’s in it for Green Flash?

“The goal is to get fresh West Coast IPA in the market more so than it is to profit from this relationship,” said Sellers. “It is about building the brand awareness and visibility in Europe.”

About 200 barrels of the beer were initially produced and are already beginning to ship across Europe.

Green Flash brewed upwards of 56,000 barrels in 2013 and has been rapidly expanding its distribution. It began selling beer in Hawaii, its 49th state, last month.


Located in the southern part of Belgium, Brasserie St-Feuillien was established in 1873 by Mrs. Stephanie Friart. Since that time, the Friart family has been brewing various beers, St-Feuillien among others. But the story goes back even further. In the 7th Century, an Irish monk by the name of Foylan came to the continent as a missionary. Unfortunately, while travelling through the forest, he was killed and beheaded near what is now Le Roeulx, Belgium. On the site of his martyrdom, a chapel was built, transforming into the Abbaye St. Feuillien du Roeulx. The Abbey prospered until the upheavals of the French Revolution. During these troubled times, it was condemned by the revolutionaries. The St. Feuillien legacy lives on as a brewery bearing the same name. Four generations later, the Friart family remains in charge of the facility, dedicated to keeping the tradition of passionately brewing traditional Belgian beer alive for scores of enthusiasts’ worldwide.

Green Flash Brewing Co., is located in San Diego, California, and was founded in 2002 by Mike and Lisa Hinkley. Brewmaster, Chuck Silva, leads brewing operations. Green Flash is an award-winning brewer of fine, hand-crafted ales, and specializes in brewing assertive and distinctive beers, such as the nationally acclaimed West Coast I.P.A.: an award-winning beer whose wide acceptance has helped define a category. Green Flash brews a variety of front line styles of beer regularly, which are available on draught and in bottles as well as a growing lineup of seasonal and special offerings, including several barrel-aged beers, throughout the year.


23 July, 2014