Brewer in beer Groundhog Day

Every beer should taste the same to Paul Van de Walle.

And it his task to make certain each sip of one of the world’s favourite brews has consistency in flavour regardless of where on the planet it is consumed.

Van de Walle is a Master Brewer for international drinks colossus Anheuser-Busch InBev and for half the year he travels the globe ensuring the Stella Artois brand is up to the company’s esteemed standard.

Stella Artois is brewed under licence in 23 cities, including Sydney and Auckland.

Each remote location must adhere to the strict guidelines imposed by the Stella Artois headquarters in Leuven, Belgium.

Then Van de Walle packs his suitcase and flies in any direction to make sure the beer appears, pours, smells and tickles the tongue just as it would in a bar in Brussels. After all, Stella Artois is sold in 100 countries and without the tight measures the beer runs the risk of being different in each market.

“The object of my job is to make sure Stella is the same if I drink it in Perth or Paris,” Van de Walle said during his annual WA visit.

“We are talking about a global brand and the consumer should expect the same quality wherever they are in the world.

“People expect a certain taste when they buy our beer and we must give them the same experience each time.”

So, like being caught in his own version of a beer Groundhog Day, Van de Walle goes through the regular motions with the recipe that Stella Artois has been using for 89 years to experience the same drink he has worked with since 1981.

While beer consumption in Australia has dropped to late 1940s levels (four litres per person per year), there is still a strong demand for premium brews, a category in which Stella Artois falls in this country. It is ranked third in that section in WA.

However, there is still a myth among the thirsty across the Great Brown Land that an imported Stella Artois is superior to one made at the Lionco operation in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe.

Van de Walle said the buyer was wasting money on “aged beer” by preferring a bottle “left on some boat in a harbour somewhere” than a “fresh pour” from the nearest licensed brewery.

“The quality and taste of the beer isn’t different as it leaves the Leuven brewery it is just that the condition has changed by external factors like light, heat and storage that can affect a beer,” Van de Walle said.

“Beer is a very fragile product when it comes to time. And there are factors out of our control.

“As a brewmaster I want drinkers to have the best product possible and that might not be the case with a parallel import.”

In another attempt to ensure quality control ABInBev have stringent guidelines for all remote breweries. Van de Walle is so hands on that he can use a phone app to see all the key data and processing operations from any one of the international locations.

He also inspects any potential new brewery and can be on the telephone in minutes to address an issue across the Stella Artois stables. If need be, he can demand the beer be poured down the drain.

Every three months the licensed brewers are required to throw out the yeast, which alongwith Saaz hops, water, maize and barley constitute the key ingredients in the beer, and obtain a new slope from the Leuven base.

The yeast master strain at the Belgian HQ dates back to the first production of the pilsner in 1926.

Samples are also sent to Leuven each month and put before a tasting panel to ensure the one billion litres of Stella Artois produced annually are adequate.

Stella Artois highlight the importance of their nine-step pouring process in maintaining the beer’s integrity and enhancing the pineapple flavour.

And a local aficionado, Andrew Noll, who works at Perth’s Belgian Beer Café, is on his way to London to represent Australia in the beer’s World Draught Masters, a competition to recognise the best glass fillers across the globe.

Considering the downing of the alcoholic nectar is a daily requirement, how does Van de Walle explain his svelte body shape and lack of a constant hangover? Unlike wine judges, beer professionals must swallow samples to fully appreciate the flavours so there is a potentially strong alcohol exposure.

Drunkenness should be an occupational hazard. Yet, Van de Walle is from a different drinking culture.

“I’m consuming in moderation and I’m not drinking, I’m tasting,” said Van de Walle while conceding he was aware of binging in Australian communities.

“It is the culture of Belgium that we have always had beer with food. From age 10 or 11 I had beer with dinner. It is important that beer be considered a liquid food and be back on the table.

“In moderation it has been proven to be healthy.

“But I cannot binge drink. I have two to three pints a day spread over the course of a day.

“There has to be a limit. It’s the best way to enjoy beer.”