Valéry De Breucker pays a visit to Brasserie Fantôme in Soy, Belgium on a short trip home from Brazil, where he has been living for the past 5 years.
“In September last year I came to this brewery with a group of beer lovers from Brazil,” he says. “We tasted the beers, enjoyed the countryside and got to know Dany Prignon, the brewer. When I left Belgium after that trip and went back to Brazil, I was homesick for the very first time. I thought to myself, it’s time to come back.”
Valéry is now back living in Belgium and working part-time at Brasserie Fantôme with Dany, assisting with brewing tasks and learning the trade. “When I initially left home, I hated Belgium,” says Valéry. “But I’ve fallen in love with it again. I actually rediscovered Belgian beer when I lived in Australia for 7 years and in Brazil I started homebrewing for the first time. When I met Dany on that trip I was living in São Paulo. To come back and work with him is special. This is what I want to do.”