Croix, Lille

Visits to Croix and adjoining communes, in September 2024 by Tim Thomas, were inspired by reading a post on The Good Life France titled The sparkling Beer scene in Lille, northern France. This included a section on Brasserie Cambier, one of three 'brilliant Lille brewers' featured.

Without a car or a bicycle, all travel to visit Brasserie Cambier in Croix and nearby Heavy Brique, a Brique House taproom, just across the southern boundary of Croix in Villeneuve-d'Asque, was by public transport and on foot.

Croix - accessible via M2 metro and R tram from Lille and Roubaix

Croix is about 3 km southwest of Roubaix and Croix is also bordered by Wasquehal to the west and Villeneuve-d'Ascq to the south. Croix is about 7 km northeast of the centre of Lille and is part of  the Metropole Europeenne de Lille (MEL).

Ilévia is the public transport operator for the Lille Métropole, the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Lille in northern France. It operates a mixed system, comprising buses, trams and a driverless light metro system. Photos above show the platform at Croix Centre metro station and a tram at the southern end of Parc Barbieux between Villa Cavrois and Bol d'Air stops.

Heavy Brique

In the extreme north of Villeneuve-d'Ascq commune, this Brique House taproom / restaurant is located within La Maillerie building at 132 All. des Mannequins. 

The ground floor of Heavy Brique (HTSM) is open all year. In summer months it's supplemented by a popular rooftop bar separated from the ground floor by a multi-storey garage. Opening hours are 12 noon-12 midnight (Mon-Sat) and 10.45 - 15.00 hrs (Sunday).

The ground floor premises with glass windows has a large 850 square metre floor area and high ceilings. It has several different areas and can accommodate up to 300 people with seating at a mix of bar stools, small tables, some large tables and a lounge area. 

The best way to get an idea of the size of the place is to watch a video from the Brique House website made to promote the venue for private hire. The website also includes interior photos.
The long bar has 30 beer taps set in a wall behind and there is a separate food bar.

Tim visited on a wet Tuesday evening after a ride on the R2 tram (green line) from its northern terminus, Roubaix Euroteleport to Bol d'Air, near the southern end of Parc Barbieux, followed by a 1 kilometer walk westwards.

Arriving soon before the end of the daily 5pm-7pm 'Happy Hour', a 50cl glass of Superdelic Wanderlust NEIPA, reduced from 7.50 to 6 euros, a collaboration between Brique House and Berlin's Unverhopft, was the first beer of the trip, enjoyed at a small table by a side end of the bar. 

Instead of a printed menu, it's necessary to find menu details online using a QR code on the table. After explaining this, the waiter later returned to take the order for Chicken Maroilles, prepared with a sauce made with Maroilles cheese, a strong smelling cow's milk cheese, which is locally produced and supplied in rectangular form. 

He soon returned as the dish was not available and instead Flemish Carbonnade was ordered (16.90 euros). The beef stew was served on a board with salad and fries and a basket of bread. A tasty and satisfying first meal of the trip. There are nine 'sharing' items, 3 salads and 15 items in 'The Brewery' section of the menu to choose from.

Free standing tall fridges have bottles of Brique House beer to take away after payment at the bar. Tim chose 33cl bottles of Chateau Binouze (Saison, 3.40 euros) and Super Coron (Belgian pale ale, 2.50 euros) to take back to his holiday accommodation at Plaine Images and enjoy later that evening. This destination was reached after a ten minute walk to Croix-Centre metro station and a ride on the M2 metro (red line) just beyond Roubaix to the Alsace - Plaine Images stop.

Other Brique House taprooms are located in: 

Lille, near Lille Flandres and Lille Europe stations - Hein Brique House - includes a microbrewery;

Saint-Andre-Lez-Lille, 5 km north of Lille Flandres - Brique Land - pizza menu;

Paris, near Grands Boulevards metro - Brique Machine;

Reims - Brique House;

Bordeaux - Back Yard Brique House

The Brique House brewery is at Motherland, on an industrial estate 10 km southeast of Lille Flandres.

La Maillerie and La Branche de Croix

La Maillerie project - image from www.lamaillerie.fr/le-projet

The large area of new buildings that links Villeneuve d'Ascq and Croix includes the Maillerie building with its rooftop garden in the north east corner of the site. A video, La Maillerie 2019, shows the previous buildings on the site and its transformation into the concept illustrated above. Since 1852 it was the site of the Holden company until its demise. Founded in Roubaix in 1932, as a wool spinning mill, the 3 Suisses redeveloped the site in 1956. The company became a giant in mail order catalogues and later online sales of clothing and furniture. The project website includes a site history page with further details. A concurrent development that reaches to the north west corner of the La Maillerie site is the revival of 'La Branche de Croix'. 

Photos from a related post on Twitter / X by Metropole Lille / MEL

A post by Lille Actu reported that with its inauguration in Wasquehal on 4 October 2024, the 'dead arm' of the Roubaix canal - La Branche de Croix - has found a new life with a green space spanning Wasquehal, Croix and Villeneuve d'Ascq. The 30 million euro project, which started in 2022, included cleaning of the canal bed and removal of polluted sediments, restoration of the banks, new quays and four new footbridges. 

Brasserie Cambier

The Brasserie Cambier bar and shop is open Wednesday to Saturday. Hours are 4pm - 10pm (Wed-Fri) and 10am - 8pm (Sat).

It's situated 700 metres north west of Croix-Centre metro station along the tree-lined Rue de la Gare and just beyond a water tower.

Tim arrived on Wednesday at 18.30 hrs and found that both inside and outside spaces were busy.

The bar area includes windows into the brewery, seating and a darts board to the right of the entrance.

Tim's first draught beer (La Dame Jeanne - 25cl / 3.60 euros) was brewed in collaboration with La Dame Jeanne Craft Beer Shop & Bar, situated about 4 kilometres north of the brewery, near the Trois Suisses stop of the T tram (blue line) from Lille to Tourcoing.

From an initial rather windy and chilly standing position outside, Tim came inside to order his second beer and found a stool to perch on, by a handy shelf, with a view of the bar. 

The draught Brasserie Cambier NEIPA Mosaic / El Dorado (25 cl / 4 euros) was hazy and juicy and less dry than the previous beer.

It's nice when a brewery features colourful original artwork on their labels and also displays it on the walls. 

Brasserie Cambier also has a colourful 'Library of Sensations' wall of painted wooden modules by Floriane Dupont, the Lille based artist who has designed artwork for Brasserie Cambier labels since 2021 and provides a selection of these as free downloads from a link on the fl0uk website.

A view through the window into the brewery shows there is a high standard of shiny equipment.

Tim shared his shelf from the bar with a display of bottles and cans available from the brewery shop. 

The Mongy range of staple beers from Cambier takes its name from Alfred Mongy 'an emblematic figure from the 2nd industrial revolution, who gave his name to the Lille metropolitan area tramway which passes through the town of Croix'. The Cambier range is made up exclusively of limited edition beers.

The brewery website also explains that its logo is 'inspired by the brewer's star: it is a symbolic representation of brewing alchemy involving the four elements (water, fire, earth, air)'.

The blackboard behind the bar includes sections for A Emporter (take away) beers and Merch. 

Always keen to find a Saison, Tim ordered a 33cl bottle of Mongy Saison Bio and a 33cl can of Saison Pebranle (a collab beer with Daddy Brew based in Waziers, 40 km south of Croix) to enjoy later.

Leaving after about an hour and a half, the sky to the north looked ominous but it remained dry for the walk back to Croix-Centro metro via Gare de la Rue.

Visit Heavy Brique and Brasserie Cambier

From Wednesday to Saturday it's possible to combine visits to Heavy Brique and Brasserie Cambier.

Marked with orange squares on the map above, both are an easy walk from Croix-Centro metro (M2 red line). To avoid doubling back, since the opening of La Branche de Croix, it must be possible to combine the path along the newly landscaped stretch of the canal bank from Rue de Professeur Perrin at the east end to the bridge at Avenue Georges Hannart further west.

The eastern part of Croix

72 Bd. du General de Gaulle, Roubaix. Photo: Pymouss 
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Roubaix_-_Boulevard_du_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral_de_Gaulle_72.jpg

The R tram (Green line) runs beside the handsome houses and mansions of Bd du General de Gaulle on the west and the green spaces of Parc Barbieux on the east, dividing urban, commercial and industrial Croix on the the west from the leafier, affluent, residential areas of Croix on the east.

Before heading to Brasserie Cambier, Tim walked around the eastern part of Croix visiting Parc Mallet-Stevens and later getting a glimpse of the majestic Villa Cavrois from the rear entrance (architect: Robert Mallet-Stevens). 

With its broad, tree-lined streets and detached houses set behind hedges and security gates, this area with streets and avenues named after Winston Churchill, President J F Kennedy and Robert Schuman, must be where the Lille elite enjoy their leisure time.

NAO, Lanzarote

 A guest post by Richard Scullion, Campaigns Officer South East Sussex CAMRA.

Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, is a great place to visit in November! Apart from warmth, blue skies, dramatic volcanic scenery, and the amazing architecture of Cesar Manrique, craft beer can be found with a little effort. At the main resorts most bars serve international brands but a little sleuthing will reveal the strong Estrella Galicia 1906 Reserva Especial from mainland Spain, and the Canarian brewed Dorada - a perfectly acceptable lager with a pleasant sweetness.

To my knowledge there are just three independent brewers on Lanzarote: Malpeis which produces three beers, Jable, a 5.3% golden ale, Bermeja, a 6.7% double malt pale, and Rofe (the local name for the black volcanic ash which covers much of the island and is actually spread over fertile soil to retain moisture), a dark beer at 7%. Whilst available in bottles in shops and some bars, I didn’t track any down on draft.

The second brewery, Los Aljibes, was the first craft outfit on the island with two bars serving their two draft beers. Aguita is a dark American pale at 4.8% and TEA is a 4.8% red ale. Despite bus trips out from our base in the capitol, Arrecife, to first, Costa Tequise, and second, Puerto del Carmen, both their establishments were closed and looked unlikely to open any day soon!

Success was achieved however at the island’s star show! Located in a former fishing net workshop and hardware store in the harbour area of Naos, El Camarote is the Nao Brewery taproom (at 5 Calle Foque, Arrecife). 

Established by Miquel Lasso and his partner Loreto about five years ago their operation began with just two beers, La Gloria, a 3.5% Berliner Weisse, and Capitan, a 4.8% copper American pale ale. My son Paul and I started gently with the Berliner Weisse in draft form.

We then shared a bottle of the excellent Black Patron, a 7.6% beer described as a black APA, but in my book a first rate porter. This was followed by a draft Mucho, a 6.5% malty copper IPA (delicious), and a Marinera, their 4.8% blonde. 

All these were served efficiently with charm and complimentary peanuts by our host, Aida. 

Our final beer was a bit special! 

Many decades after the destruction of most of the island by volcanoes between 1730 and 1736, agriculture in a basic form began to return, and it was discovered that, with a clever system of rock-built windbreaks, the land could support vines. A Portuguese grape, Malvasia, was brought in from (relatively) nearby Madeira, and this has formed the basis of the island’s wine production. To those who may be interested the reds are probably best ignored, the whites are quite good, but the sweet, dessert style whites - a tempting golden colour – are exceptional. 

All this to say that our final beer was a shared bottle of their Maresia. This is an 8% limited edition full bodied grape ale, using the malvasia and served from an a suitably elegant blue corked bottle – is it a beer, is it a wine? It’s for you to decide when you visit this delightful and welcoming island!

Richard Scullion - 25 November 2021

Richard Scullion is a real ale (and more recently craft beer) enthusiast, born and brought up in Horsham, Sussex, where his first pint was King and Barnes, probably in the Dog and Bacon. Work took him to the West Midlands where he particularly enjoyed Batham’s and Holden’s. Moving to Newbury, he rejoined CAMRA and became first Social Secretary and then Chair of the West Berkshire branch. He has always believed that since the demise of K and B, Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter, is the gold standard for that beer style. Helpfully he now lives on the Sussex coast which has a plentiful supply of Harvey’s outlets, and where he greets each seasonal beer with enthusiasm. Recently he has become Campaigns Officer with the South East Sussex CAMRA Branch, and is on the organising committee for the April 2022 CAMRA AGM and Members’ Weekend.  

Brakspear brewery tour with Reading CAMRA

Thanks to Reading CAMRA, Quinten Taylor and the Clifton Arms in Caversham for the opportunity to join a trip to Witney for a Brakspear /Wychwood Brewery tour on Saturday 23 November, 2019.

Quinno's joining instructions mention 'We will be departing from the car park at the Clifton Arms in Caversham at 12 noon sharp - we won't wait around for stragglers, so make every effort to be a few minutes early. The pub will be open to prior to departure from 11am. As they have been instrumental in helping us secure this tour, please consider getting drink before or after the trip to show your appreciation.'

Following these instructions gave me a chance to drink a half pint of Brakspear Gravity (recently rebadged Brakspear Bitter), before boarding the minibus in the pub's car park.
Departure was delayed until 11.10am but one missing member failed to arrive. About 20 minutes later Quinno received a phone call to say that the latecomer had seen our minibus driving off from a short distance away. An otherwise uneventful journey, via Swinford toll bridge, resulted in our arrival at the brewery by 12.15pm.

An iconic, carved Hobgoblin figure stands at the public entrance to the brewery and taproom.

We entered and ordered beers from the bar in the cellar taproom. The bar prices charged here are reasonable eg £1.70 for half pint of Brakspear Gravity.

Chris, our tour guide, would later tell us that the taproom has been open to the public for 9 months and that the circular floor of the original Brakspear mash tun is now repurposed as a feature of the taproom floor (photo above).

The taproom was busy but I found a stool to sit on facing Quinno (photo).

When it was time for our tour, we headed for the bar reserved for tour groups, passing some members who would rejoin the main group after finding space in the overflow seating area for the taproom.

The passage leading to the tour group bar passes some framed original pastel artwork used for subtly advertising Brakspear beer.

As part of the tour, Chris poured us our choice of beer before giving an introductory talk about the history of the brewery.
Brewing started at the Eagle Brewery premises in Witney in 1831 as Clinch & Co.. In those days there was also a maltings and a stables associated with the brewery. In 1961 Courage bought Clinch & Co for its pub estate and closed down the brewery. In 1983 Paddy Glenny rented part of the site and established Glenny Brewery. Chris Moss took over and changed the name to Wychwood Brewery in 1989. Beers were named after Wychwood Forest myths and legends with Hobgoblin as the best known ruby beer.
The brewery was taken over by Refresh UK, a subsidiary of Marston's in 2002. Marston's bought Refresh and Wychwood Brewery outright in 2008. Jon Tillson was appointed Head Brewer in 2018.

The Cross Keys, Witney, was the original home of Brakspear Brewery. In 1769, Robert Brakspear became the pub landlord and this is where Brakspear Bitter was first brewed. In 1779, Robert and his uncle Richard Hayward moved to the Bell Street brewery in Henley-on-Thames. in 1812, the brewery moved to New Street in Henley.

In 2002, Brakspear moved away from direct brewing and its beers were brewed under licence at Wychwood Brewery in Witney. Vessels including the top of the copper and the double drop fermenting vessels were moved from Henley to Witney.
Chris mentioned that bottling and kegging for Wychwood and Brakspear beers has been done at Marston's in Burton-upon-Trent for some years but that more recently casking has also moved there. A tanker takes beer from the brewery to Burton leaving at 4am.

Chris led us into the brewery for the tour.

Standing in front of the white grist cage, Chris pointed out some other equipment including the red roller mill. The whirlpool is on the left of the photo above. He explained that separate yeast strains are used for Wychwood and Brakspear beers which are stored separately.

We walked to the other side of the building and Chris showed us some Isinglass from Brazilian lumpfish that is used for fining beer. There is a framed poster, showing the layout of the brewery. Chris also passed round small containers of different malts to taste and hops to sniff.

We were standing near the wooden steps to a platform around the Copper which has an open chimney above. The next stage was to climb the steps for a view of the rest of the brewery.

A large square shaped vessel at the back on the left is the Hot Liquor Tank. The nearer, circular vessel is the mash tun. Chris explained the brewing process and mentioned that the capacity of the Copper is 29,000 pints and that there are 10 brews per week.

The final stage was to see the Double Drop fermentation system used exclusively for Brakspear beers.

Chris explained that the wort is fed from the copper to the whirlpool and then via a heat exchanger to the circular top fermenting vessel where it rests for four hours. It is then allowed to drop, by gravity, into the square vessels below for the final fermentation period. The drop process adds some oxygen and also allows some sediment to be left behind in the top vessel.

The final part of our visit was an opportunity to taste a variety of bottled beers produced at Wychwood brewery. Chris opened a pair of bottles which were passed around our group to pour and then taste and offer comments about the flavours and ingredients. On this occasion, we tasted Arrowaine (3.6% ABV Mild), Brakspear Oxford Gold (4.6% ABV), Imperial Red (4.7% ABV brewed with Scottish rolled oats), King Goblin (6.6% ABV brewed with chocolate, crystal and pale malts), Black Wych (5% ABV also brewed with Scottish rolled oats) and Bah Humbug! (5% ABV spiced with cinnamon and cloves).
We learned that many of the distinctive label designs for Wychwood beers like Hobgoblin and Black Wych are the work of artist Ed Org.
There are various historic mementos in the brewery tour bar.

Chris told us about Piledriver, a beer named after Status Quo's fifth album. The giant label is signed by members of the band.

We also heard about the framed photo of the occasion when David Cameron presented Barack Obama with a bottle of Hobgoblin in 2011.
Our guide Chris had plenty of other interesting tales and some good jokes and earned our thanks after answering remaining questions before it was time to leave, nearly two hours after the start of the tour. Before leaving we were each given a souvenir half pint Wychwood beer glass.

Finally, there was a chance to visit the store which has merchandise and a large range of bottled beers at reasonable prices.

Details from 2019 Wychwood Brewery taproom, store & tours leaflet:
Brewery Store: Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm
Wychwood Brewery Tap: Wed, Thu 5pm - 10pm; Fri 2pm - 10pm; Sat 12pm - 10pm, Sun 12pm - 6pm
Tours: (£12 per person): Thu, Fri 3pm, 6pm; Sat 11am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 2pm, 4pm & 4.30pm; Sun 2pm & 2.30pm
Check availability and book at www.wychwood.co.uk

Wychwood Brewery, Eagle Maltings, The Crofts, Witney.  OX28 4DB
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