Microbrouwerij Urthel and De Hoppeschuur

(Photo, above: Hildegard van Ostaden with the

first batch of beer she brewed at her new brewery.)

In late September last year, I visited the new Microbrouwerij

Urthel in Ruiselde, West Flanders. You might have heard of

the Urthel beers, such as Hop-It, a delectable Belgian Double

IPA with about 9.5% abv. (Yum!) Another, Saisonnière, is part

wheat beer, part saison, and part golden ale. It is fine session

brew of 6% abv. Urthel's Samaranth, a dark brown strong ale

weighing in at 11.5% abv, is well suited to the winter

season that we are now in.

(Photo, above: Hildegard in the brewhouse of

Microbrouwerij Urthel.)

These beers were all created by Hildegard van Ostaden,

and are currently brewed at La Trappe (Koningshoeven)

the Dutch Trappist brewery in the Netherlands.

(Microbrouwerij Urthel and Proeflokaal/Tasting cafe.

The locale is very peaceful, right by open fields and woods.)

Hildegard was trained at the brewing school at the

Catholic University of Ghent, and met her husband,

Bas, while working at Koningshoeven.

It was during their years there that they decided to

form Brouwerij de Leyerth. While Hildegard does

the brewing, Bas handles the marketing of the Urthel

beers.

(Bas with some Urthel Hop-It, and other libations.)

"For years, I wanted to have a brewery of my own, one

where I could experiment with beers in small batches

and be as creative as I desired," Hildegard told me in

my visit, on a beautiful, sunny, 80+ degree day.

"We had an open house in July, and I brewed the first

batch of beer on August 29," Hildegard told me as we

sipped Saisonnières and toured the brewery.

The Italian-built Spadoni MBS 150 system has a batch

size of 150 liters. That’s about 39 U.S. gallons. It will be

perfect for experimentation, and is a very efficient and

easy-to-use setup. Meaning: there will probably be lots

of small batch beers brewed on site. Due to this, is hard

to say when and if any might make it stateside.

(Photo, above: fermenters in Microbrouwerij Urthel.)

Hildegard plans to offer the possibility for people or

groups to have a beer brewed on site, for events like

weddings or other happenings. There is an outside

patio for warm-weather enjoyment. Beer lovers, take note:

there are already wooden barrels in the brewery where

beer will be aged! "I will experiment with all kinds of beer

styles," Hildegard commented.

(Photo, above: Hildegard pouring a beer inside the

tasting cafe/Proeflokaal.)

De Hoppeschuur ("The Hop Barn") restaurant will

feature another of Hildegard's talents: she is an

accomplished cook, as well as being a great brewer!

She told me: "We'll generally be open on Saturday

evenings and at lunchtime on Sundays, by reservation

only. I plan to offer just two or three different dishes per

day, paired with beer of course."

(Photo, above, Hildegard outside Microbrouwerij Urthel.)

This place is sure to be a destination spot for beer

lovers from around Belgium and the world! It's just

about ten minutes driving off the E40, the main

highway from Brugge to Brussels, and it's only

about 20 minutes to Brugge. The Hop Barn

(not shown here, as was not completed yet when

I visited) should be open in the near future, and

the brewery/cafe is open Saturdays and Sundays.

The address is Krommekeerstraat 21, Ruiselde,

West Flanders.