Brewery Contreras
History
The brewery Contreras was founded in 1818. Many of the beers refer to its rich history. The four Valeir beers are named after the brewery's founder and the statue in Gavere's market square. That statue stands there in honour of a knight who fought during the Battle of Gavere in 1453. There is also ‘Ode to the brewer’, a quadruple in homage to Willy Contreras. He was the brewery's previous owner. The saison ‘1818’ refers to its founding year.
Tradition
Contreras still brews traditionally in the 1952 brewing room using water from an 1818 well. The water from that well ensures the smooth taste of all beers. Contreras has been brewing ‘Tonneke’ for a hundred years. This is a traditional Belgian style of beer. Tonneke is recognised as a regional product.
Passion
After 200 years, the passion to brew delicious beers is as strong as ever. As a result, all beers are accessible and flavourful. Taste and enjoy.
1818
Brouwerij Latte
Valère Latte starts a farm-brewery at the highest point of Gavere.
To have enough water, he had a well dug. The brewery still uses water from the same well for brewing. Thanks to that water, all beers taste smooth.
1898
René Contreras
René Contreras buys the brewery from the family Latte. As of now, the brewery remains in the hands of the family Contreras. René is a descendant of the noble family "de Contreras" that had fled Spain during the Spanish Revolution.
1920
Marcel Contreras
Marcel Contreras, René's nephew, takes over the brewery.
1925
Tonneke
The beer Tonneke is launched and has been recognised as a traditional regional product ‘Spéciale belge’ since 2008.
1952
New brewery hall
Marcel renovates the brewing hall. It is still in use to brew the beers in the traditional way.
1957
Contrapils
The oldest son of Marcel, Willy, graduated as a brewery engineer. He starts immediately in the brewery.
Contrapils is been brewed for the first time.
1982
Willy Contreras
Marcel Contreras dies op 28 February. His son Willy takes over the brewery.
2004
Valeir
The start of the "Valeir" range of beers. The first is the Valeir Blond. The name Valeir refers to the brewery's founder and to the statue standing in Gavere's market square. This was inaugurated in 1953 to commemorate 500 years of the ‘Battle of Gavere’ in 1453. Later, the statue was nicknamed ‘Valeir’.
2005
Ann Contreras and Frederik De Vrieze
Ann Contreras and Frederik De Vrieze take over the stirring stick.
Beerhunter Michael Jackson decribes Valeir Blond as "one of the hidden jewels in Belgium".
2006
Extension of Valeir: Valeir Dark and Valeir Divers
The range of beers extends with Valeir Dark and the tripel Valeir Divers.
2007
El Toro: the Valeir Extra
In 2007, the passage of the Tour of Flanders in Gavere gave rise to a new blonde beer of 6.5 vol% alc. under the occasional name El Toro. In the permanent offerings, the beer continued to exist afterwards as Valeir Extra.
2010
Bottling plant expansion
The beer bottling plant was expanded and new fermentation tanks and filtration were installed.
2018
Saison 1818
The brewery Contreras is celebrating its 200th anniversary! This is celebrated with a new beer, the 1818, a saison beer 6% with Hercules and Nelson hops. The beer is smooth and slightly dry, thirst-quenching and with a long, nicely bitter finish. The dried grapefruit peel adds a fruity touch.
2020
The launche of "Ode"
Willy Contreras dies on 26 October 2020. As an homage the quadrupel ‘Ode aan de brouwer’ comes to market.
2023
2023
The brewery continues to invest in its bottling plant.
The brewing proces
The main ingredients of beer are water, malt, hops and yeast:The water is provided from its own sources. The malt purchased from the malting plant and delivered in 50kg bags.The flower hops (Saaz, Hallerthau, Styrian Golding, Brewers Gold, ...) are sourced from Belgium, England and the Czech Republic. Four different yeast strains are used: for Contrapils, for Tonneke and Contreras' Especial Mars, for Valeir Blonde, Valeir Dark and Extra and for Valeir miscellaneous.
Grinding the malt Days before brewing, the two boilers (with 37 and 66 hl capacity respectively) are filled with brewing water and heated. At the same time, the malt is milled and prepared in bags over the filtering vessel. Everything is then ready to start on Thursday at five in the morning.
Dumping the malt and preparing the wort. First, the mash (mixture of hot water with malt) is made in the mash and filter tank. Boiling water is then added at regular intervals so that the temperature of the water-malt mixture rises to finally reach the final temperature of 72 °C; then all enzymatic activity ceases.