“La Cress”, a blonde beer brewed on the basis of Belgian hop and watercress cultivated on the fertile grounds of the agricultural Haspengouw region.
Last year, watercress farm “Sint-Lucie”, based in Belgium, was granted Protected Geographical Status under European Union Law. The farm obtained the “recognized label” that promotes and protects the reputation of regional quality products and ensures that only products genuinely originating in that region, in their case “Haspengouw” region, are allowed to be identified as such in commerce. And today we have big news again! But before elaborating on that story, we would like to tell you a bit more about our passion called “watercress”.
Watercress is a low calorie vegetable rich in iron, calcium and iodine, and an excellent source of the antioxidants vitamins a and c. Moreover, it helps regulate our blood pressure and nerve muscle functions. Watercress is useful in maintaining fluid balance, purifying the blood, and stimulating appetite. We are proud to say that watercress is the healthiest vegetable you can find in the store shelves.
Sint-Lucie is a third generation of watercress growers, but that does not mean the tradition can be simply handed over and repeated. The numerous new norms, regulations and restrictions that have surged over the years, require continuous adaptations and improvements of our processes. The cultivation of watercress is extremely labour intensive. With exception of a lawn mower and brush cutter, the process is entirely manual, ensuring the highest levels of care. Moreover, our watercress is grown and cultivated in open air spring water basins, indispensable to the quality of our vitamin rich delicacy. As you see we are extremely proud of our watercress and will always do everything within our power to serve you the freshest product there is to find.
But this is not everything. Just as any top chef, we are continuously experimenting with our watercress. We attempt to create new recipes such as for example watercress pesto, watercress sabayon, and … revealing the big news we have for you today… blonde beer! Yes indeed, Watercress farm Sint-Lucie has done what has never been done before. We brewed a beer based on Haspengouw watercress and Belgian Hop.
The idea originally came to live during last year’s beer festival, “Bier Anders”, in Tongeren, the only Roman city in Flanders. A family member remarked that before the existence of hop, the Celts used to add watercress to their beer in order to give it the typical bitter taste. As passionate beer enthusiasts, we decided to restore this tradition and united forces with brewery “Anders” -well known for their remarkable craftsmanship and brewing techniques- to embark on the quest to discover the magic combination for the finest beer. The experimenting started with the most obvious ingredient, the watercress plant, and later on watercress juice. But none of those brewages delivered the desired results. After many trials we added watercress seeds to our brewing process. The missing ingredient was found and La Cress was born, exactly one year after the “Bier Anders” beer festival.
La Cress is a delicious blonde beer that leaves a rich smooth feel in the mouth. The brewing process includes a secondary fermentation in the bottle, providing natural carbonation. The watercress seeds add the herbal flavor. In addition to the inherent bitterness of the watercress, you will also appreciate the beautiful hop aroma generated by the 100% pure Belgian hop varieties.
We are extremely proud to be introducing to you our “La Cress” exactly one year after the idea was born at the “Bier Anders” beer festival. We received many praising comments, even from the ladies. Now it´s you “La Cress” wants to impress.