Adventure Series: Exploring Émile Storms

Our Adventure Series of beers is all about exploration.  We put great thought into the recipes we create, planning and plotting new additions to our taproom.  It’s an expedition of sorts – a way for our guests to sample new styles of craft beer on a rotating basis.  That’s why we decided to name our Adventure Series beers after famous world explorers, notable in history and name and tied tightly to the region of origin where each beer was born.  It seemed only fitting to name our Belgian Witbier after, Émile Storms. Here’s a little bit about this Belgian explorer we named our Belgian Witbier after…

Lt. Émile Pierre Joseph Storms

 Émile Pierre Joseph Storms was a soldier, explorer, and official for the Congo Free State. He was admitted to Belgium’s Military Academy in 1878. He volunteered for the International African Association, and in 1882 was assigned to the Cartographic Institute. He was given the task of leading an expedition to explore the east coast of Africa.  Storms was an assertive young man who sought to leave his mark on European conquest of the Congo. There, he led the fourth caravan from Zanzibar to Lake Tanganyika. 

 Storms constructed strongholds in Karema and Mpala, where he defeated a powerful slaver and gained authority during the two and a half years he spent there. He was given the name "Bwana Boma" ("Mister Fort"), and was known to the Belgian press as "The Emperor of Tanganyika.”

 Storms is best known for his work between 1882 and 1885 in establishing a European presence in the regions around Lake Tanganyika, during which time he attempted to suppress the East African Slave Trade and abolish slavery in the Congo.