It's not just the Seine that flows at the foot of Ile Saint-Louis: there's also beer! This is where Hélène O'Sullivan founded, two years ago, a microbrewery where Parisian, artisanal, unpasteurized, unfiltered and fresh beers are produced.
Riding the wave of microbreweries (only 250 in 2006 but more than 1600 today in France), this Parisian without any fuss first made her cervoises in the kitchen of her apartment, located on the island in the 4th arrondissement .
And this to the great pleasure of her Irish husband and his friends. Faced with the success of her in-house productions, she then marketed them under a funny name: “The Headless Woman”.
But who is this brainless girl? A legendary character, she sits at the corner of rue Le Regrattier and quai de Bourbon, on Île Saint-Louis, above the inscription: “The headless woman”.
This statue itself is in reality a statue of Saint-Nicolas decapitated during the Revolution but the adjacent inscription has changed its gender. On the wall we can read in engraved capital letters: “The woman without a head”. Old French which refers to an old tavern of the same name which was on the island.
Developed by Hélène, the recipe for “The Headless Woman” (we are talking about beer here) is inspired by an old cooking book dating from 1834. The result is an amber ale with the subtle aromas of organic hops. East Kent Goldings and Target. The brewer also offers another beverage: an IPA beer with citrus aromas, predominantly grapefruit.
Her name ? “The man without a heart”. He and “The Headless Woman” form a surprising couple. But so refreshing!
Text: Katia Barillot
16.04.21
