1664 Beer

Raimondo and I are sitting in the lounge of our Paris hotel, toasting to a great trip with a couple of cold 1664 Beers.

Think of France and perhaps the thing you are least likely to think of is beer. In fact, it's French premium Kronenbourg and is France's top-selling beer - more than one out of every five beers sold in France is a Kronenbourg. The 1664 comes in a Phillipe Stark designed fluted glass bottle by with a screw top to keep it hygenic and fresh. Starck's goal was to highlight the noble nature of beer.

Why "1664"? - It all began one day in the now famous year of 1664, when young Jérôme Hatt proudly filled a brand new barrel with his first official brew. Jérôme had just been awarded the diploma of brewer-cooper, which meant he could henceforth brew and sell his own beer. He set up his brewery right in the centre of Strasbourg, at the Brasserie du Canon, a few steps away from the cathedral. Little could he imagine what the future would hold.