For Alken-Maes, it is important to continuously look at how they can make their brewing process more sustainable and ecological. 

Looking to the future, Alken-Maes felt it was time to put their Cristal lager in a green jacket.

“We have been brewing Cristal for almost a hundred years and want to add at least as many more years. That is precisely why it is important to continuously look at how we can make our brewing process more sustainable and ecological”

Tom Poncelet, packaging expert at Cristal

By adding two windmills in addition to the existing solar panels, the Limburg brewery can brew its Cristal with one hundred percent green electricity.

Thanks to the addition of two wind turbines next to the existing 6,000 solar panels on the brewery’s roof, the company has been able to brew Cristal with one hundred per cent green electricity since the beginning of this year. It is the result of a collaboration with Luminus and the Municipality of Alken of which they are particularly proud. 

By sourcing local ingredients, Alken-Maes want to reduce its footprint further still: from the end of 2021 / beginning of 2022, Cristal will be made and enjoyed using Belgian barley and 50% Belgian hops. 

Second biggest brewery group 

Alken-Maes is responsible for 11% of beer sales in Belgium. After market leader AB InBev, Alken-Maes is the second-largest brewery group in Belgium and Flanders as a region.