Brewing clean and tasty beer

Kees Bubberman brews beer in Middelburg, Zeeland. Since 2015. Thanks to its consistent quality and surprising flavours, Kees' beer is a household name in the Netherlands and far beyond. Beer that is brewed according to a traditional process, but above all is clean and tasty.

 "Every phase of the brewing process is important and must be of constant value. This also applies to hygiene. We want to be able to rely on clean boilers all the time, no pollution should be left behind or even build up. That would be a disaster for the quality of our beer." says Kees Bubberman of Brouwerij Kees. A passionate entrepreneur and lover of beer. Brewing started as a hobby next to his work as a chef. He made it his work at Emelisse. Until he wanted to move on and decided to choose his own brewery. At the end of February 2015 the first brew came out of the boilers.  

Passionate building

"I got my hands on the location in Middelburg with a tip from a friend", says Kees. "The financing came about with some shareholders, crowdfunding and a little help from the bank. Stacked-up financing was pretty hip at the time. We started with six tanks, now there are 13 and we work with a team of six people." Kees describes the team as passionate beer lovers. As an example he mentions Sjors Kuijt, who joined the team right from the start. Originally a clinical chemist, working in education and hobby brewer. Now he and Kees regularly spend days from 06:00 to 24:00 to brew the desired number of litres of beer. 

Photo: Kees Bubberman (l) and Maurice van Zielst

Real Eyecatchers

"Our basic range consists of nine types of beer, five seasonal beers and one or two speciality beers in wooden barrels each month," Kees continues. "Our beers are canned because hop decomposes in the sun. Beer is best kept fresh in a light and airtight packaging. The cans are recognisable and have become real eye-catchers thanks to the use of colour, font and logo. In terms of volume, we have tripled since the start, and we export 40% to other countries. Beer brewer Kees is known worldwide."

The process

The brewing process had no secrets for Kees. After all, he had been doing this for years. "Brewing beer is the most beautiful thing there is. You always want to deliver the best quality, a constant quality that the customers count on." Kees indicates that hygiene is an important part of ensuring continuity in quality. The boilers were regularly given a cleaning and disinfection round with cleaning agents that he bought from a central purchasing partner for breweries. "At one point, we saw the build-up of dirt in one of the boilers. The build-up of dirt can affect the taste of the beer, we can't afford that."

Tailor-made hygiene

Kees was looking for advice on how to tackle the pollution. Through a business contact he came into contact with Qlean-tec|Christeyns. Account manager Maurice van Zielst came by and together they took a good look at the situation: "This is a prerequisite for a good hygiene plan. Every brewery is different. There may be stainless steel or copper kettles, different types of beer that leave different contaminants per type. That's why it's so important to come and take a look and offer added value." Based on the situation at Brouwerij Kees, Maurice developed a hygiene and disinfection plan, which includes the use of foam cleaners and enzymatic products to prevent the build-up of biofilm. 

Knowledge exchange

"We have a lot of knowledge about hygiene in breweries." Maurice enthusiastically talks about the training he recently attended with European colleagues: "You notice that England has even more experience in the field of craft brewing than we do. Together you go through the industry, listen to experiences and look for solutions. You share this knowledge with customers." Maurice notices that the expertise of breweries is shared from word of mouth. Kees confirms this: "We all know each other and keep each other informed of developments. Through this network I did indeed hear about the customization and personal contact of Qlean-tec|Christeyns. That's what we need."

Professionals with passion

Sjors returns to the hygiene plan. He talks about the cooperation, the disappearance of the pollution and the prevention of new construction. "We are satisfied with this new, more personal path." Maurice confirms Sjors' laughing statement: "We are a bunch of professional idiots with passion among each other. Each in his or her own area of expertise. It is my challenge to find a match on content, which I found at Brouwerij Kees."

Kees' challenge is to 'just produce good beer' and preferably in larger quantities. With their own knowledge and that of Qlean-tec|Christeyns, this is possible. "In our own way. We do not comply with prototypes, we are not young hipsters with beards. Our hipness is inside. We want to surprise people with crazy flavors of beer. That is why we do it!"

www.brouwerijkees.nl 
www.qleantec.com 

Photos: © Peter Roek