“I recently received a photo from China. My beer was simply in the store there.”
Tommie Sjef can still laugh about it himself. From his warehouse in Den Helder, his wild beers are now going all over the world. From specialty shops in England to beer bars in Japan, and from restaurants in Copenhagen to the United States.
If you look closely at the label, you will see something else next to his name: Den Helder, Netherlands.
That is no coincidence.
Yeast from the backyard
The internationally acclaimed brewer did not, in fact, start out in a large brewery, but in his parents' barn on the Middenweg. There, as a nineteen-year-old, he experimented with special beers he had discovered during a trip to Belgium.
“ ”The first sip was different from anything I had tasted before,“ says Tommie. ”I was immediately fascinated by the taste and especially by the process behind it.”
Back in Den Helder, he started experimenting himself. First with small quantities, later increasingly seriously. What began as a hobby grew into a company whose beers are now sold worldwide.
The basis of the yeast culture he works with traces back to microorganisms he collected years ago in Den Helder. Through years of selection and further development, the culture emerged that ferments his beers today. Tommie also makes conscious choices regarding his ingredients. His beers are made with 100 percent organic ingredients.
Nowadays, hundreds of wooden barrels are aging in his warehouse. He produces approximately 20,000 liters of beer annually. For Tommie, it is primarily about time, patience, and flavor development.
From Noma to Japan
From specialty beer bars to Michelin-starred restaurants: Tommie Sjef's beers are served in special places. The most famous example is Noma in Copenhagen, considered the best restaurant in the world for many years. Other top restaurants also serve his beers as part of their menu.
Yet Tommie always stayed at Den Helder. While his beer traveled the world, the barrels simply remained here. First in small warehouses on industrial estates, nowadays in his current premises where visitors can see how his beers mature among the wooden barrels.
His name is on every bottle. But almost as large, it also says: Den Helder, Netherlands. That name travels along from Japan to the United States. Perhaps people glance at it fleetingly. Perhaps they look up where it is located. But wherever a bottle of Tommie Sjef is opened, Den Helder also briefly appears on the table.
Why do beers taste the way they do? There are all sorts of theories about that. During a visit from a Belgian fellow brewer, Tommie once received a special compliment. He even claimed to taste something of the salty sea air in some of the beers.
Whether that is really the case remains the question. But it is a nice thought that a little bit of Den Helder might end up in the glass all over the world.
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