Ninkasi

The brainchild of three young graduates, Ninkasi’s origins can be traced back more than twenty years to a roadtrip across the United States. The challenge? To introduce the microbrewery concept to France. Adopting Ninkasi, Goddess of Beer, as their totem, the project first saw the light of day in 1997 in Lyon, one of France’s historic brewing centres. This pioneering business has continued to grow, and its empire now counts 13 bar-restaurants across eastern France. For some twenty years now, Ninkasi has brewed much more than beer, focussing on savoir-faire, different styles, cultures and tastes.Its watchwords have always been shared moments, honest products, and diversity, based around three key concepts, namely live music – with more than 1,000 gigs each year, restaurants serving locally-sourced food, and of course great beer. Based at an old dye factory in Tarare, some 40km north-west of Lyon, the brewery is blessed with exceptionally soft water, a critical element in creating quality beer, sourced from the Beaujolais hills, to which they add 100%-natural hops, yeast and malt, all carefully selected by their Master Brewers.