Les Deux Alpes

Craft Beer in the French Alps?

I wasn't sure what to expect beer-wise from our January trip to the mountains of France.  Wall-to-wall Kronenberg and Stella?  Thankfully not, as craft beer, or 'artisanal ales', are thriving in this region.

Bad Start

It didn't start so well.  Bad weather saw us diverted from Chambery to Lyon and our itinerary was unexpectedly updated to allow us 4 hours of 'leisure-time' in a dull hall in the airport.  The small Replay shop, unprepared for several plane-loads of Brit winter holidaymakers, promptly ran out of beer.  I got there just in time to make canned Kellegen 8 my first ale of the trip.  The giant 8 on the can does stand for 8%, but surprisingly for something that looked like a Park Bench Special, it was reasonably drinkable.

Veddett Extra Ordinary IPA
in Bar le Bivouac

We eventually made it in the wee small hours of Sunday morning to Les Deux Alpes and enjoyed a first day on the slopes in fresh, soft snow.  The meeting point, late afternoon, was the Umbrella Bar, an apres-ski spot at the bottom of the slopes near the Jandri lifts.  In mild temps the snow had turned to rain at resort level and bizarrely the rain seemed a cue for the staff to take down the large umbrellas which folks sitting outside were sheltering under.  So ironically, in the rain, the umbrella bar had no umbrellas.  Inside though there was a good atmosphere with live music and quality beer on offer in the form of Goudale Ambree.  This was brewed by Las Brasseurs de Gayant from Douai in the north of France and was a decent amber ale which went down a treat.  With this coming in a €7 a pint, I realised I wasn't in line for bargain drinking on this trip.


Later that evening we headed to Pub Windsor (70 Avenue de la Muzelle).  Its British theme seems to involve filling every nook and cranny with pub-tat, much in the same way as 90's Olde English Ale Houses did.  I'm not complaining though - it's comfortable and welcoming with a decent soundtrack of indie rock and grunge music in the background.  I also like the collection of worldwide bank notes pinned to the ceiling as well - I'm easily pleased.  I stuck with a Warsteiner pilsner here, not realising that Pub Windsor had the best bottle fridge in town.  A group of lads in the corner are doing a good job of filling their table with empty glasses but moan that they've come to the "quietest resort in France".  

A couple of nights later we found ourselves in the Polar Bear Pub (104 Avenue de la Muzelle).  This is characterful timber-heavy alpine bar with a wood burning stove warming the room, sport on TV and wild-west saloon style doors to the loos.  Here a local Goodwin Brewery Pale Ale called Codswallop is available on tap and very tasty it is too.
By 10pm this is getting pretty busy and the music turned up a couple of notches louder.  The same group of lads from the Pub Windsor have squeezed themselves onto a table in the corner and seem happy - I don't think Les Deux Alpes is ever likely to qualify as a quiet resort with some thirty-plus bars to explore and the kind of party atmosphere and craziness that comes from quaffing pints of Hoegarden.

Goodwin beers in Smokey Joes

For the full line-up of Goodwin beers, Smokey Joes (9 Rue de Sagnes), close to the lift station ticket offices, is the place to be.  It's a mix of sports bar/Tex-mex diner and you do have to put up with the "will you be eating with us tonight?" query on arrival.  But we visited a couple of times for drinks only, grabbing a table by the TV screens to watch the mid-week football.  Goodwin beers come from Bourg d'Oissans, 12 miles away.

We made one visit to Smithy's Bar (7 Rue de Cairou) which pours a pint of St Austell Proper Job for anyone homesick for an English ale.  That's 927 miles away.  This is a spacious bar, advertising live bands and DJs and I'm sure it's a rockin' lively place, except we headed there when the crowd barely reached double-figures because I'm a light-weight and can't do this staying-out-late thing.

The Board Room, Les Deux Alpes

A final mention goes to The Board Room  (102 Avenue de la Muzelle).  This has a pretty regular beer choice, with La Chouffe being the best thing on offer for my taste.  But this small bar offers up a friendly atmosphere and dishes up free cheese and olive tapas.  It also has a giant TV screen, table football and a pair of brilliant  pub dogs.   Our tapas was replaced with several complimentary shots and this, mixed with the fact that I've just spotted on Ratebeer that the La Chouffe was 8% explains why I left the Board Room with a tipsy swagger.


There's also ample opportunity to grab a selection of good bottles from the regular supermarkets or specialist regional product shops in the town.  Beers from Brasserie du Mont Blanc and Brasserie du Dauphine from Grenoble found their way into my hotel room, with a couple of offerings from local micros popped into the suitcase as a take-home.
So, all in all, a pretty fine selection of beers to drink on this snowboarding trip, from a region that I reckon would have been the preserve of big-brewery lager ten years ago.  Craft beer is indeed finding its way everywhere.

Not a bad view from the far side of Les 2 Alpes