St Omer

The modern history is more complicated. In 1985, the Pecqueur family bought the brewery and gave it its current name, expanding it from a regional producer to a national and international one. Eleven years later, they sold it to Heineken, which used it as a contract brewing facility. Then in 2008, Heineken decided to exit the site, and André Pecqueur bought it back, returning the brewery to family ownership and independence.

Today, Brasserie de Saint-Omer is the largest independent brewery in France by volume, producing around two million hectolitres a year. André Pecqueur also owns Brasserie Goudale, making the combined group France's largest independent brewing operation. The brewery employs around 160 people and exports to more than 70 countries, though it also operates as a significant private-label and contract brewer — meaning a number of supermarket own-brand beers are made on the same site.

In the UK, most people who know St Omer know it through the panaché: a pre-mixed lager and lemonade blend sold as Le Panaché at an ABV of around 0.5%. The panaché is a French café staple — it's what you order when you're driving or want something lighter, and it's been drunk that way for generations. The Saint-Omer version is very much in that tradition: refreshing, slightly sweet, uncomplicated. It's available in Morrisons among other UK supermarkets.

It's a volume product rather than a craft one, and the price reflects that. For drinkers who want something light and low-alcohol with a French character and no pretension about it, the panaché does exactly what it's supposed to.