I started the brewery in 1996. I was about 35 years old, and I had worked for more than 10 years for a big company in human resources. It was a good job, but I decided to change my life and start my own business. I wanted to be independent, to organize my lifestyle, and to make my own choices.
I visited a few breweries in Belgium. My wife is from Canada, so we also traveled to Canada and the northern United States quite frequently, and I could see that some very small breweries were starting. It was the beginning of the craft revolution, and I thought it was a great idea.
I’m originally from Lille, a big city in northern France. There was a very big brewing tradition here, but at the same time it was kind of a desert. There were very few breweries left; the bigger industrial breweries controlled everything. But I wanted to be in the countryside, using raw and simple ingredients to produce something sophisticated. If I’d been born in Bordeaux, I probably would have made wine instead of beer.