"The World Atlas of Beer" published, and Cantillon's Quintessence

"The World Atlas of Beer" was recently published, and it is
a must read book. The authors are Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont,
both well known in Belgian and other beer circles.

Before I proceed, I will let you know, in the interest of disclosure,
that I did have two of my photographs published in the book,
which I'm very pleased about.

The first is of brewer Jean Van Roy of Brasserie Cantillon
in Brussels, on page 29a (top.) This half-page photo was taken in
November 2008, during the Quintessence, Cantillon's twice yearly
beer and food pairing event. In fact, the event has become so
popular that the next Quintessence will be held over two days.

(Photo, above: Jean-Pierre Van Roy pouring at Cantillon's
Quintessence in 2008. Jean-Pierre's son, Jean, is pictured
on page 29/top photo in "The World Atlas of Beer.")

It's next weekend. Yep, if you are in Belgium next weekend,
get there! Friday, 5 October will be reserved for members of
the "Brussels' Museum of Gueuze"and professionals in the beer
world, while Saturday will be for the general public.
The menu and details are here

The second photo is that of brewmaster Dirk Naudts of De
Proefbrouwerij in Lochristi, East Flanders, on page 77. This
photo also occupies a half page in the book.

To have a look at these photos, you'll just have to get a copy
of the book. :)

While I have not read "The World Atlas of Beer" from cover to
cover, I have read most of the section on Belgium-no surprise
there! It is certainly a fine introduction and overview of Belgium's
brewing heritage, styles, breweries and cafes. While written with a
general audience in mind, it will still be of much interest to
well-informed beer lovers. A good balance has been achieved
between appealing to Belgian beerophiles and keeping things
simple enough for novices to enjoy and understand.

In short, well done on the Belgian section. In fact, all the sections
of the book that I have read seem well-researched and well illustrated.

I saw several copies at a Barnes and Noble here in Baltimore,
Maryland, this week, and they can be purchased on-line at Amazon here

Antwerp's Modeste Bier Fest returns in 2 weeks

In just 15 days, a great new Belgian Beer festival will return for
a second edition. The Modeste Bier Fest, first held last October 1-2,
will again be staged on the grounds of Brouwerij De Koninck in
Antwerp. This year's dates are 6 and 7 October.

I attended last year, and was very impressed by the breweries
and beers represented, and how smoothly the first time event
was run.

There were about 35 Belgian breweries on hand. The
Duvel-Moortgat family of breweries, such as Achouffe,
De Koninck, Duvel, and Liefmans, were, of course,
represented. Duvel-Moortgat owns the De Koninck brewery,
and has been making improvements to it since its purchase a
few years ago.

Most of the twenty members of the Belgian Family Brewers
Association were on hand as well. These included greats like
Dupont, Dubuisson, Het Anker, St. Bernardus, and Verhaeghe,
among others.

Photo, above: Karel Goddeau, Geuzestekerij De Cam,

and Brouwerij Slaghmuylder.

See: here for the list of all the Belgian Family Brewers.

Small breweries were well-represented as well. "We like to help and
promote small breweries," said Hans Bombeke of 't Antwerps Bier
College (ABC) a craft beer education and promotion group. ABC
helped organize and staff the event, in cooperation with Br. De Koninck.

Photo, above: Gregory Verhelst, Brasserie La Rulles,

with his wife.

Such breweries included Blaugies; Boloens; lambic blender De Cam;
De Dochter van de Korenaar; Den Hopperd; Drie Fontienen; Hof ten
Dormaal; Inter-Pol; La Rulles; Les 3 Fourquets; Pirlot; 't Smisje; and
more.

Photo, above: Johan Brandt, Brouwerij 't Smisje.

The weather could not have been better: about 80 degrees
and sunny the entire weekend.

Photo, above: Pierre-Alex Carlier (left) and Marie-Noelle 

Pourtois, Brasserie de Blaugies.

Tours of the De Koninck brewery were given on a regular basis
throughout the weekend, in several languages.

Photo, above: Tine (left) and Pol of Brasserie Inter-Pol.

Belgian beer luminaries such as Sven Gatz of the Belgian Brewer's
Association, Duvel-Moortgat CEO Michel Moortgat, Chris Bauweraerts
of Achouffe, Professor Denis de Keukeleire, and others were on hand
to bring in the new fest as well.

Food was available as well, in the form of a number of vendors.

A look at the 2012 fest shows about 40 breweries plan to be on hand.
The event runs from 11 am to 7 pm both the Saturday and Sunday.
See: here for more info, and here for even more photos!

BÜZE Magazine to debut soon

I'm happy to say that I will be writing for the new BÜZE 

Magazine (pronounced "booze") a digital mag targeted at

the iPad and other mobile platforms.

This will be an app-based magazine, available from the

iTunes store. 

It's the first all-drinks publication for the fast growing digital 

magazine medium. 

BÜZE will be an interactive magazine, with links to numerous 

photos, videos, and audio. All images will be shown in 

high-resolution format.

There will be worldwide distribution, as well as regular Büze 

email blasts to over 1000 industry insiders.

Other writers already on board include Stephen Beaumont, 

Melissa Cole, Des de Moor, and others. 

I will be writing about breweries in Antwerp Province in the 

first issue, due out late this month or in early October.

Namely: De Koninck, Den Hopperd, Dijkwaert, Duvel-Moortgat, 

Het Anker, 't Hofbrouwerijke, and Westmalle Trappist.

The website is here

For a sneak preview, see here

For anyone interested in advertising, the media kit is here

If you do decide to work with BÜZE, please let Cary Hyodo 

know you heard about the magazine here.