Guillaume Waille and Jean Escalon, brewers

Ecrins National Park

It made sense for us to join the Esprit Parc National approach because we source the 4 raw materials we need to brew locally!

The Walpine brewery is located in the Champsaur, in the village of Pont-du-Fossé in the Ecrins National Park. It offers the ^1st Esprit parc national in France, the Brad Pic.

Brasserie Walpine is a brasserie for friends. Guillaume and I shared a flat during our studies, and we called it "coloc'walpine" for "colocation haute alpine". When we were looking for a name for the brewery, we started with this play on words between us, and already with the desire to showcase all the valley's local produce.
It seemed a logical step to join the Esprit parc national because we wanted to make a champsaurine beer, sourcing locally the 4 raw materials needed to brew it. This 100% beer Esprit par national - Ecrinsis Brad Pic! Once again, a play on words in the choice of name. Our beer names resonate with characters from popular culture. In the case of Brad Pic, our initial idea was to create an American-style blonde ale, with a hint of hops, but it was the meeting of the United States, with actor Brad Pitt, and the Ecrins, with the village of Prapic.
On a more serious note, our barley is harvested in the Champsaur thanks to a partnership with local farmers, and we've planted a small hop field in Pont-du-Fossé. Water, of course, our pure mountain water. And we've also managed to develop a local yeast! We worked with the Hautes-Alpes departmental laboratory to isolate, after a year of research after all, a yeast from the Touron valley in Champoléon, to brew our beer.
We're also committed to a whole range of values, from waste management and bottle deposits to 100% local production and, of course, our link with the Ecrins National Park.
When I was a kid growing up in Pont-du-Fossé, I closely followed the reintroduction of the ibex. We often saw the National Park rangers and they taught us about nature, respect for nature and the National Park - says Jean.
Esprit parc national has given us the opportunity to partner with the National Park through our professional activity, and that's really very interesting. We've also been "knighted" by the National Park in our actions. It's a real recognition for us. It makes you want to do even better, even more!
And the added bonus is that the Esprit parc national network also opens up new perspectives. With our immediate neighbors Gayral-Reynierthe raw material for whisky is unhopped beer mash. So there could well be a Champsaurin whisky in the years to come!