L'Ile du Diable, le Whisky de Guyane

Before we dive into our bold project, let's take a trip down memory lane. Thirteen years ago, « La Brasserie Guyanaise » was born. Initially, we were just three enthusiasts, but things have evolved greatly, much to our delight! What started as a small shed at the back of a garden quickly gained popularity. Today, we are a team of about ten passionate keeping the brewery alive, producing 2,500 hectoliters (HL) of beer annually.

Running our business is a true team effort, with three amazing teams, each playing a crucial role.

The Production Pros : Led by Frédéric, our brewmaster, and his team members Olivier, Brice, and Sophiloscheth. Their mission ? To craft incredible beers (and soon whiskies) and package them with love.

The Globe-Trotters : Victor, Styvens, Flavien, Valentin, and Olivier, our dynamic delivery and sales team. They ensure our beers travel across French Guiana and even beyond.

The Admin Wizards : Marie, Marie (also known as Guerline), and Rozenn, our new intern. They handle all administrative tasks, projects, and our shop with brilliance and cheer.

And last but not least, Ana-Lise, who ensures we work in the best possible conditions!

Each of these teams is essential to keep our business running smoothly, and together, we form a powerhouse team dedicated to bringing you the best !

For the past few years, we've had a bold new idea in mind: what if we made whisky ? The first Guyanese whisky, distilled in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

You're probably wondering, "Who came up with this crazy idea?" Well, it was Frédéric, our brewmaster since 2011 and a whisky enthusiast. He is the brewer and founder of Brasserie Guyanaise and the Jeune Gueule brand. Trained at the French Brewery Museum in Lorraine in 2011 and with 13 years of experience as a brewmaster, he has been training* as a distiller for a few years to realize his dream: producing whisky in French Guiana.

*Training: "From Beer to Whisky" (Lorraine), internship (Lyon), distillery visits (Ireland, Cognac, Martinique).

The idea of making whisky came quite naturally to him : whisky is essentially distilled beer. With 80% of the necessary equipment already in place, producing the first Guyanese whisky seemed like an obvious step !

Moreover, as French people, making whisky is a logical choice, given that we are the world's top consumers. To continue this trend and maintain our title, we thought that producing a unique and local whisky would be ideal !

Yes, you read that right : "La Brasserie Guyanaise" wants to produce the very first Guyanese whisky, which will be aged in rum barrels (and not just those...), and we think it's an incredible idea ! We have planned everything : its name, design, story… Everything is ready (well, almost) for you to discover it.

Initially, we will only produce single malt whiskies, meaning whiskies made exclusively from malted barley. Later, to create special editions, we will experiment by using Guyanese cassava as a substitute for part of the malted barley to create brand new whiskies. This won't be a first for the brewery, as we already brew a cassava beer.

And so that everyone can taste this novelty, our campaign is open throughout Europe. The Amazonian whisky is ready to travel and land directly in your glass in four years. So, patience will be required, as the first bottles will only be available in 2028. Of course, the first 1000 numbered bottles will be exclusively reserved for the contributors of this project !

We are aware that the wait will be long, but like any good whisky, ours must age for at least three years. However, rest assured : the equatorial climate brings many benefits during aging !

Indeed ! The Guyanese temperature is an advantage for the accelerated aging of whiskies. It will, however, be aged for a minimum of 3 years, first in new French oak barrels followed by maturation in old rum barrels to give the whisky its equatorial specificity. Experiments for special editions will also be conducted using "exotic" barrels (wine, bourbon...). Selected editions will be kept to create increasingly aged whiskies.

The Legend

There are legends that are lost in the depths of French Guiana... Are they pure fantasies of thirsty sailors or stories that truly existed? In the 17th century, pirates would have seized several islands off the coast of French Guiana... For decades, hidden from view, they engaged in the most profitable trades ever known on the routes to El Dorado. Taking advantage of the disbelief of the French, Dutch, and English..., the most ingenious among them would have secretly started the production of contraband alcohol. 400 years later, the whisky from the Devil's Islands still haunts the minds of sailors.

What will the fund-raising go towards?

We are launching this campaign today, because we need your help!

To give you an idea, we already have 80% of the equipment needed to make our whisky. The brewery already has a 3-vessel 40HL brewing room (mashing/boiling, filtration, whirlpool), as well as 20HL and 40HL fermenters. The 20HL ones will be converted for exclusive whisky production.

However, we are missing the star of this domain... we name it... the still!! Yes, without it, there is no whisky! And like any star, it comes with a price: €200,000! That's right, €200,000. We have chosen a semi-automatic, traditional copper model of "Charentais" type for our still, with a capacity of 20HL, to perform double distillation and thus capture the finest aromas while precisely controlling the composition of the final product.

To reach our goal of €120,000, our crowdfunding campaign is organized into four tiers.

To achieve these goals together, we have put together a variety of rewards that we hope will please you! You can also choose to support us with a free donation of your choice. And of course, if you're excited about the project, feel free to talk about it and share the campaign.

As you have understood, these funds will help finance a large part of our still. But even if we're not math whizzes, we can see that we still need more money to reach €200,000. Don't worry, the funds raised (whatever the tier reached) will be supplemented by other sources of funding (self-financing, loans, grants, etc.). We are doing everything we can to ensure that this project, which means so much to us, becomes a reality!

Why crowdfunding?

The interest of crowdfunding for us is to forge closer ties with you, to whom we also owe our success and the joy of being able to turn our passion into our profession. And for you, it's an opportunity to participate in the development of a local and unique whisky!

Thank you all for this help, which you will see, will be put to good use!

Regarding the delivery of rewards, the flasks will be sent out at the end of the campaign. The beer eau-de-vie bottles will be sent out each year-end (according to the packs). Finally, the whisky bottles will be shipped out by the end of 2028.

Delivery is available in France and throughout Europe.

For those who do not wish to pay by credit card online, you can send us a check to our address with your contact information and email/phone number, or come directly to the Brewery. We will transfer the contribution to MiiMOSA, and you will, of course, have access to the rewards.

BRASSERIE GUYANAISE SAS

1749 CHEMIN DE L’EGYPTIENNE

97351 MATOURY

www.jeunegueule.com