Winemakers: Bières Ney

Antoine Ney is a native of the small village of Bucey-lès-Gy (locals are referred to as Les Bucéens) in the department of Haute-Saône, located just above the Jura in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Here, he brews his artisanal, small-batch ales in the space that served as his father’s former leatherworking shop for 40 years, just adjacent to his childhood home. The agricultural production of the area is dominated by barley and wheat, and Antoine works with a plethora of local products—including barley, hops, and fruit—in addition to grape marcs from neighboring (and occasionally further off) winemakers. His indigenous yeast-fermented ales, aged for a minimum of six months, are reflective of the unique terroir and farming of the region. As he puts it: “If fermentation is the soul of the beer we produce, it is by drawing from the land that I give the mashes their spirit. The vines and the orchards cultivated by our ancestors for centuries are the most profound source of fermentation material for indigenous beers.”

In addition to expert brewer, Antoine is an engaged agronomist committed to sustainable practices. He is heavily involved in an on-going project that shares organic and sustainable farming practices with cacao, vanilla and vegetable farmers on the Ivory Coast (where he also finds the time to make the traditional local beer, the tchapalo, with the village brewers…).