Brasserie Sainte-Hélène

Brasserie Sainte-Hélène belongs to the first wave of modern Gaume microbreweries: born from Eddy Pourtois’s homebrewing experiments, named for a street in Orsinfaing, and shaped by repeated moves toward larger facilities. Its range became recognizable through characterful Belgian ales such as Mistinguett, Lily Blue and Gypsy Rose, while its later barley wine showed a willingness to step beyond familiar regional styles. From Orsinfaing to Florenville The brewery’s first brewing experiments date to 1995, with its first beers reaching the market in 1999. It began in Orsinfaing, in the municipality of Habay, on Sainte-Hélène Street—the source of the brewery’s name. Growth brought moves to Virton and then Ethe before the brewery established itself in Florenville in 2016, at Rue d’Arlon. A compact but varied Gaume range The brewery became associated with a small family of distinctive beers: Mistinguett, a blonde; Lily Blue, an amber beer; and Gypsy Rose, a triple. Other documented releases included the hoppy blonde La Grognarde, the winter beer La Prime, Black Mamba and a Belgian-style barley wine. Contemporary accounts describe the beers as made with malt, hops, water and yeast, using traditional methods and bottle or keg refermentation. A pioneering small brewery, now part of regional memory Brasserie Sainte-Hélène was one of the earlier artisan breweries of Gaume’s modern brewing revival. By 2024, specialist beer reporting said that six principal recipes had emerged over its twenty-five-year history and that brewing equipment was being sold amid an apparent liquidation. The brewery’s working life therefore spans both the optimism of Belgium’s microbrewery movement and the difficult economics faced by small producers. A Gaume microbrewery defined by a compact, expressive range and an unusually adventurous barley wine. Orsinfaing, municipality of Habay, Belgium; later based in Virton, Ethe and Florenville in Gaume. 1999 1995: Eddy Pourtois began brewing the first experimental batches. 1999: The first Sainte-Hélène beers reached the market in Orsinfaing. 2003: The brewery moved to Virton and produced the beers then known as Sainte-Hélène Blonde, Ambrée and Triple D’Jean. 2005: A larger brewing installation was established at Ethe. 2016: The brewery moved to larger premises in Florenville. 2024: Beer.be reported the apparent liquidation of the brewery and the sale of brewing equipment.