Rouens. With his 231 beers, Franck pays tribute to Sotteville la cheminote
By Valentin Lebosse
Published on
In recent years in Seine-Maritimethe development of microbreweries follows the cadence of a locomotive driven at full steam. In the agglomeration of Rouen, Frank Lequien jumped on the bandwagon planning The brickbeginning of 2020. From its vats emerge English-inspired beersappointed “231”. UN a nod to the railway heritage of Sotteville-les-Rouenwhere the brewer is from.
Retraining
At 52, Franck is a convert. This former social worker was “looking for a job” when he was steered down the path of malt and hops by “a friend with Breton roots”. The geographical origin deserves to be specified since in terms of the revival of artisanal breweries, “the Bretons were the first to shoot”, underlines the Sottevillais.
Like many of his fellow microbrewers, Franck started brewing “in his garage”. “I was doing manufacturing tests, it was fun,” he recalls. Before following a one-week training course, “thanks to Pôle emploi”.
Tribute to “the city of railway workers”
With his partner at the time, Fabien Delaroque (who has since gone on to other adventures), the self-employed entrepreneur begins by renting premises “under a precarious lease”, in Sotteville, rue de Trianon. This is where he bottled his first 231s.
This name translates its desire to “integrate into a territory”. Having “not found a trace of an old brewery” in the area to which he refers, Franck thus pays homage to this “city of railway workers”, known for its huge marshalling yard. 231, it is indeed the code assigned in France to the Peaceful, famous steam locomotive one of which was restored and put back into operation by the Pacific Vapeur Club, deployed in Sotteville.
The Peacefulit is also “the locomotive driven by Jean Gabin in the film The human beast, on the Paris-Le Havre line, recalls Franck. We see her pass on the English bridge [autre nom du viaduc d’Eauplet, NDLR] then in front of Sotteville station. »
- Excerpt from the film The human beast (1938) by Jean Renoir, adapted from the novel by Émile Zola, where we see successively, from 7 min 50 s, the arrival at Rouen station, the entry into the Sainte-Catherine tunnel, the passage on the English Bridge and a brief view of Sotteville:
Beer, pizza, vegetable basket and bicycle
18 months after the beginnings of La Brique, the lease did not benefit the brewery at an end. Its manager did not have to look far to find new premises. It moved at the end of 2021 to 128b Avenue des Martyrs de la Résistance, a stone’s throw from the Jardin des Plantesat Rouen.
A space designed as a third placethat it shares with the mobile pizzeria The Biciclettathe bike workshop Pinion on Rouen and the short circuit food sales association The radish. “We are in a logic of cooperation which can echo the worker cooperatives which were numerous in Sotteville”, explains Franck.
It is thus possible to pick up a basket of vegetables or a Neapolitan pizza by coming to stock up on beers. An approach defended with conviction by the boss of La Brique, when 76news had visited the place for its opening:
The object of the game is for people to buy or consume here in the neighborhood. As in England, each village has its own brewer.
Spirit British
The mind British is also found in the 231 that Franck declines in a series of recipes “rather light in alcohol, with medium/sweet bitterness”. Their availability varies according to the seasons: in winter, “character” foams; in summer, the “lighter” ones.
The range goes from White beer (blond) at the carry (black), passing through theirish red beer (redhead), the scottish beer (amber) and the lemon pale ale. The peculiarity of the latter is to be flavored with kaffir lime, an exotic citrus fruit similar to “a small lime”, describes the brewer who uses its zest and leaves. With its lemony flavor and its lightness, the lemon pale ale serves as a white, absent from the menu.
Not in the “shallot race”
Franck’s production amounts to 60 hectoliters (6,000 litres) a year. A “small” volume according to the entrepreneur who nevertheless refuses to embark on “the shallot race”, “if it is to have large underused equipment”. A fortiori in a context of high inflation where “everything is taken: the grain, the glass pallets…” Franck indicates having “cropped on [s]a margin so as not to increase the price of beer too much. »
These are available in direct saleto take away or eat in when the associative bar is open. The opportunity to enjoy a exposure (photos, paintings, sculptures, etc.) or a concert proposed by local artists, depending on the events organized. Note that the 231 is also delivered to the refreshment bar RouenBaseball 76.
The Brick Brewery. 128b avenue des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance, in Rouen.
Open Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m., Fridays from 6 p.m. and occasionally for exhibitions, concerts, bike cafés, documentary screenings, etc.
Information on the Facebook of The Brick and his Instagram account.
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