bière

The French love beer—many young people prefer it to wine. As elsewhere around the world, there are now numerous French craft beers to choose from, many quite local, as well as the big popular beers sold everywhere. Most of these are made in Alsace and points north, especially the Hauts-de-France, where over half of all French breweries produce some 200 different kinds.

The biggest and best known is Kronenbourg or ‘Kro’ as people call it, founded in Alsace in 1664, which is also the name of its superior brew. It is sold in every supermarket in France.

Another very popular beer, sold everywhere is Pelforth (the Pelican beer), the beer of the north, founded in Lille in 1921 and now owned by Heineken France. Sunny Pelforth Blonde with its three-grain brew and 5.8% alcohol content is the most common.