Sacrebleu! French brewers use algae to make blue beer
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[February 04, 2022]
By Ardee Napolitano
ROUBAIX, France (Reuters) - A French brewer
has started using algae with a naturally-occurring pigment to turn their
beer blue.
The beer, with the brand name "Line", is the result of a tie-up between
a firm that wants to popularise the algae as a dietary supplement, and a
nearby craft brewery that was looking for a way to make its beverages
more distinctive.
The beer is selling well, said Sebastien Verbeke, an employee of Hoppy
Urban Brew, which makes the drink. "It's getting an enormous amount of
interest and curiosity on the part of the public," he said.
The blue tint comes from spirulina, an algae that is grown in basins by
a company called Etika Spirulina in northern France. The component of
the spirulina that gives the blue colour, called phycocyanin, is then
added to the beer during the brewing process.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/04/images/ads/current/graue_21BLAZER_081621.png)
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![](../images/020421pics/news_J51.jpg)
Hoppy Urban Brew (HUB) worker Mathilde Vanmansart pours a bottle of
the Line blue beer, which is made with spirulina algae, into a glass
during an interview with Reuters inside the brewery in Roubaix near
Lille, France, January 31, 2022. REUTERS/Ardee Napolitano
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/04/images/ads/current/beltone_lda_LUAL_2021.png) Tasting a freshly produced bottle of
the beer, brewery employee Mathilde Vanmansart described it as
hoppy, light, and with fruity notes, while the only evidence of the
added algae was the distinctive colour.
Xavier Delannoy, whose farm provides the spirulina, said after
several test batches, the brewery had found a blend that appealed to
customers.
He said 1,500 bottles of the blue beer were sold between October and
December last year, and the brewery is now preparing to ramp up
production to meet demand.
(Writing by Christian Lowe. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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