Located on a farm in the village of Alverskirchen, 10 kilometres from Münster in western Germany, Jan and Nicole make beer, cider and fruit wine. They cultivate 4.5 ha of orchards along with meadows and arable land, and work with a trusted network of farmers and neighbours. The fruit wines and cider are made with local fruit including apples, quinces and mirabelles which are picked and sorted by hand to ensure only the highest quality reaches the press. Local microflora are sometimes used to encourage fermentation, such as elderflowers which are well-stocked with natural yeast. Beer-making starts in the field, with the harvest of grains such as barley, wheat, spelt, oats and rye. The grain is malted: water awakens the dormant seeds and after around 5 days of sprouting, a further 2 days of drying halts the process. The malt is crushed and combined with hot water, where the enzymes released during germination work with the grains’ starch to create a sugary liquid. This liquid, known as wort, is separated, boiled, cooled and a house culture is added to start fermentation. In the brewery, which is a converted livestock barn, sit around a hundred oak barrels where the beers mature and these barrels are more than a mere vessel, their porous nature encouraging the natural yeasts and bacteria. Flavours range between sour, bitter and herbal depending on the recipe, with many aged for lengthy periods (anything from 9 months to 3 years) and finished with herbs or fruit, in keeping with the tradition of the area.
Aoltbeer is the historical sour ale of Münster. This particular edition from Kemker has been a firm favourite with us at Off Grid over the past months; refreshing and with high acidity, it’s best enjoyed chilled as a thirst-quencher on a hot day. The beers in this blend were matured for around 12 months in red wine barrels and this, combined with the addition of organic rhubarb, gives it a touch of fruit and a wine-like character. Bottled in December ’22, 900 bottles made.