Elixir d'Anvers

	Our tour began in the original office of the Beukelaer family.
The Elixir has received dozens of gold medals and awards all over the world. There are even clients in Arab countries who give the Elixir to their horses as a medicinal cure. We moved to the distillery room where we saw the vats, still in use today, and the bottling process. There used to be 80 workers bottling the Elixir, sticking labels on bottles and corking them by hand. There is a machine to do this now and the workforce is reduced to eight, many of these part-time.




	After watching a DVD showing the manufacturing process, we tried three different samples – Elixir de Spa, Elixir d’Anvers and an advocaat. Elixir de Spa is also made in the distillery, using a recipe from the Middle Ages. It’s not quite as sweet as the Elixir d’Anvers. It was interesting to learn that Elixir d’Anvers was banned in bars in 1921, when only beer was allowed.
Our guide suggested many uses for the Elixir in cookery and cocktail drinks, which can be checked out on the website: www.fx-debeukelaer.be.

Antwerp British and International Women