It is unusual for good news to come from the Grand Duchy but I guess even hell has its lighter moments.

Although Beer Babble Belt correspondents are hard at active research as you read, it looks likely that the total number of breweries in Luxembourg went up by 29% in the autumn.

The Salaisons Hotel, on the main road through Bascharage in the south west of the country, has opened a house brewery (or Beiérhaascht in the local Letzebourgisch patois) in October. Two regular beers, a blond and an amber, are to be supplemented by a wheat beer in summer (we think). The hotel also promotes its own brand of cooked meats. It is not far from the Trois Brasseurs, over the Belgian border at Athus. It is in the same town as the Bofferdinge better-than-average lager brewery.

Meanwhile, up north, a new brewery has been created at Heinerscheid to make beers from spelt wheat grown in one of the "Nature Parks". There is still some confusion about its name, location, beer range and whether there is a bar on site or a local café for sampling. The BBB will no doubt post information quicker than anyone.