Belgian beer and travel

Major Belgian beer dinner set for April 25th, during Zythos Beer Fest week

2012-01-18T21:00:00.005-05:00

I have it on good authority that three of the world's

top beer cuisine chefs will be putting on a six course

beer dinner on Wednesday, April 25th at a soon to

be disclosed location in Flanders.

I hear it will be a Haute Cuisine affair, at a very

impressive venue.

The "Lekker Vlaanderen Dinner" will feature Belgians

Stefanie de Vos of De Bistronoom in Ostende, and

Tom De Four of De Heeren Van Liedekercke in Denderleeuw.

American Chris Lively of Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell, Maine

will round out the trio.

(Photo, above: Sefanie de Vos and Christophe Pelfrène

of De Bistronoom.)

More info here once the full details are announced...

Sounds like it's going to be a mighty fine dinner,

for sure.

You can see photos of Tom and Chris here

The Zythos Beer Fest (ZBF) will be in Leuven that

next weekend, April 29-29.

Microbrouwerij Urthel and De Hoppeschuur

2012-01-09T18:05:00.033-05:00

(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.

Brasserie Orval article in Taps: The Beer Magazine

2011-12-27T18:58:00.017-05:00

Two weeks without a post. Yeah, the holidays will do that

to you. I'll try and be more active now and in the New Year.

But I do have some good news for lovers of brett beers.

And Trappist beers.

I might as well tell you that I have had yet another article

published on Brasserie Orval, at l' Abbaye Notre Dame d' Orval

in Luxembourg Province, Wallonia.

(Photo, above: the stained-glass windows behind the

new brewhouse at Orval.)

The 1250+ word piece is on the cover of Taps: The Beer Magazine,

Canada's only beer mag. As far as I know, anyway.

(Photo, above: a row of secondary fermenters at Orval,

where the dry-hopping is done and brettanomyces yeasts

are added over a three week period of cold-conditioning.

These date to 1956!)

I cover the new brewhouse at Orval, updates from the brewery,

and the brewing process there. As well, I give the low-down

on Orval's excellent new cafe/restaurant/taproom, A' la Ange Gardien.

Yes, the Guardian Angel cafe.

(Photo, above: the new Petit Orval (4.5% abv) being served

on draft at A l' Ange Gardien at Orval. It's realllly good!)

(Photo, above: fine meals at the cafe.)

(Photo, above: spent grains in the secondary fermentation

room at Orval.)

(Photo, above: François de Harenne with a bag of

Hallertauer Hersbrucker whole leaf hops.)

For more photos, including inside the brewhouse, see this

earlier post: Orval

Taps is available at many Barnes and Noble stores throughout the

U.S.

You can also buy a pdf version or order issues at:

Taps

Enjoy!

www.belgianbeer.com goes to Belgian Family Brewers Association

2011-12-12T20:40:00.009-05:00

www.belgianbeer.com goes to Belgian Family Brewers Association

One of the Internet’s most important Belgian beer domain names has been donated to the Belgian Family Brewers Association, and I’m happy to say that yours truly had a hand in it.

Volker Stewart (pictured above) co-owner of The Brewer’s Art, a brewpub/restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, registered the domain name in 1996, the same year Brewer’s Art opened.

The Brewer’s Art crafts Belgian-inspired brews and offers fine foods in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, at 1106 N. Charles Street.

“I got the domain because we wanted to brew beers that were influenced by the free-spirited nature of Belgian brewers,” Stewart told me. “Also, I’d like to add that as an establishment, we have always promoted the rich and diverse nature of Belgian beers. In fact, we have poured beers from every member of the BFB at some point in time over the years! I registered belgianbeer.com not only to promote my own business, but also to raise awareness of these beers at a time when they were not as well known as they are now,” he added.

He added: I realized within a few years that it was more prudent for me to use a domain name that was more business-specific, and I registered thebrewersart.com. The question remained: What to do with belgianbeer.com?”

“So, I started to think about donating the domain to a worthy Belgian trade/beer promotion organization,” Stewart told me. “that’s when I asked you who you thought would be the best choice, due to your familiarity with the beer scene in Belgium,” he continued.

After giving it some thought, I consulted Wendy Littlefield of Vanberg & DeWulf Importers for a discussion about the candidates I was thinking of recommending to Stewart.

I already had a list, but wanted to ask a few questions of someone that had been importing beer from Belgium to the U.S. for 30 years.

After out talk, I was convinced that The Belgian Family Brewers Association was the right choice, and happily, Stewart agreed.

Then, the long process of transferring the domain began, but that’s a story better told by Stewart and the head of the BFB, Charles Leclef of Brouwerij Het Anker in Mechelen.

Leclef (pictured above) told me: “As Chairman of the BFB Association, I was both proud and thankful that our group was given the domain name by Volker Stewart. He thought enough of us, and of promoting Belgian beer, to donate the important domain, rather than selling it. It was a very honest attitude on his part part.”

With the new domain comes a newly redesigned website for the BFB, including a video showing parts of the brewing process at each member.

The sixteen members of the BFB produce a lot of great beers. Truth be told, some of my favorite breweries in Belgium are in the group. They craft some great Belgian brews, such as Saison Dupont and Avec les Bons Voeux from Dupont; St. Bernardus 8 and 12; Dubuisson Bush (Scaldis) Noel; Het Anker Hopsinjoor and Classic Brown; Lefebvre Blanche de Bruxelles; Verhaeghe’s Vichtenaar, Bavik’s Petrus Aged Pale Ale; and many others.

I have visited all 16 of the member breweries, some several times.

This is from the BFB website:

“The association’s objective is to promote historic, independent family breweries which bring genuine added value to the identity and authenticity of Belgian brewing methods.”

A very worthy goal, and one to support.

(Photo, above: Hugues Dubuisson, Founder, Belgian Family Brewers Association.)

Mid-Atlantic Holiday Beer Fest is this Saturday

2011-12-08T07:04:00.006-05:00

One of Baltimore's best holiday beer events is just two days away.

The Mid-Atlantic Holiday Beer Fest, formerly held at

The Brewer's Art, is now a joint venture between that

establishment and Pratt Street Alehouse.

The event will be held at Pratt Street, as it is a much larger

venue than The Brewer's Art and can accommodate more

beer lovers.

"We could only sell about a hundred tickets to the event at

our place," Brewer's Art co-owner Volker Stewart told me.

"And there was far more demand for tickets than supply. So

the new venue should alleviate that problem."

The event has always featured a buffet with fine eats and this

year should be no different.

The following brews will be poured:

Brewer's Alley - Scotch Ale
Brewers Art St. Festivus
DOG -Very Berry Tart
DuClaw -Devil's Milk Bourbon-Aged Porter
Evolution - Secret Spot Ale
Heavy Seas Winter Storm
Red Brick Station - Murphy's Porter
Troeg's - JavaHead, Troegenator and Mad Elf
Victory -Yakima Glory
Weyerbacher - Winter Ale
Flying Dog - Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout & K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale

Pratt Street will have several firkins on tap as well, including

two new collaboration beers.

The $40 admisison includes unlimited food and all beer

sampling.

Tickets are available at Pratt Street Alehouse and here:

Orval Trappist article in Celebrator Beer News-online now

2011-11-30T18:05:00.010-05:00

(Photo, above: the new brewhouse at Orval, with

stained-glass windows in the background.)

Sorry for my absence lately. It's been a very busy few

weeks.

I'm happy to say that I have a 1,000 word feature article about

Orval, one of the seven Trappist Abbeys that brew beer,

in the December issue of Celebrator Beer News.

I'm even happier to say that you can read the entire issue

on-line now, for free, here. Enjoy!

(Photos, above: The new Guardian Angel Cafe, and the new

Petit Orval on draft there.)

You do have to have Adobe Flash player installed.

Simply click on the page image to zoom in and read.

(Photo, above: a very old enamel plate in the Orval

brewery offices.)

Coast to Coast Toast is in one week

2011-11-08T20:20:00.004-05:00

Vanberg and DeWulf's Coast to Coast Toast is just one

week away.

OK, so just what is this event? Well, it's a celebration of

importing Belgian brews into the USA for 30 years.

Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, the husband

and wife duo that are Vanberg and DeWulf, first started

importing Belgian beers stateside in 1982.

They were the first to import Duvel, Rodenbach, and

many other hallowed beers from "The Beer Country"

to our shores.

Currently, Don and Wendy import several beers from Brasserie

Dubuisson, which are labeled as Scaldis in the USA, and Bush in

much of Europe. It's just about time for Scaldis Noel, and Scaldis

Prestige and Prestige de Nuits always hit the spot. Scaldis,

Scaldis Triple and Scadis Refermetee are also fine brews.

They also import the Witkap beers of Brouwerij Slaghmuylder,

as well as several from the new Brouwerij Dilewyns of Dendermonde.

Several other special brews, such as Lambrucha, Hop Ruiter

and Lambickx are also brought in.

Their best known brewery, though, is certainly Brasserie Dupont

of Tourpes, in Hainaut Province. With a dozen world-class Dupont

brews on their import list, including Saison Dupont, Moinette,

Cervesia, and Avec les Bons Voeux, Don and Wendy have an incredible

portfolio from this world-renowned brewery.

As mentioned in the previous post, here, I have produced a movie

and article about the brewery, which publicans can download

and show attendees next week.

In fact, I will be at The Brewer's Art in Baltimore next Tuesday,

where we will show the Dupont movie. And enjoy a few beers,

I expect. Max's Taphouse and Hudson Street Stackhouse are other

local spots for the Coast to Coast Toast (C2CT) here in Charm

City.

There are already about 350 bars, restaurants, and shops across

the USA signed up to be hosts for the event.

and....a trip to Belgium will be given away to some lucky (pair)

of beer lovers! You heard right. Untappd, Vanberg and DeWulf,

and the Belgian Tourist Office and Delta Airlines have teamed

up on this.

See: Belgian trip

For more details on the C2CT event, see the Eventbrite and

Vanberg & DeWulf websites....and enjoy!!

Brasserie Dupont movie and article

2011-11-03T20:03:00.009-04:00

(Photo, above: Olivier Dedeycker, brewmaster,

Brasserie Dupont.)

Looooong time no post here. Ten days in Belgium at the end of

September, then ten days of Baltimore Beer Week, and then

several article deadlines soon after will do that to a beer writer.

Yeah, I know. Excuses, excuses.

(Photo, above: the brewhouse is in this building)

But there is good news for all you Belgian beer lovers out

there., especially those who like world class saisons, strong

blonde ales and legendary winter brews.

I've been working on a movie of Brasserie Dupont for some

time now. Using the iMovie program on a Mac, I've taken about

70 still photos I snapped at the brewery, along with an audiotaped

interview with Brewmaster/Director Olivier Dedeycker, and made

it into a six minute movie.

(Photo, above: Dupont's 1920 boiling kettles.)

There's also a nearly 5,000 word article based on interviews

with Olivier, with much of the history of the brewery. Much of

it I had never heard before, so I think it makes for a very

interesting read.

Brewmaster/Brewery Director Dedeycker has never been to the

USA, despite working at Dupont for 21 years, and being the head

honcho for the last nine of those.

Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, the husband and wife team

that runs Vanberg & DeWulf, importers of the Dupont brews and

many others brews, tell me this will one of the first times most

people stateside have seen, let alone heard Dedeycker speak.

He's a soft-spoken, modest, reserved guy, but he's also a serious

beer lover. In fact, Olivier told me he is a fanatic for authentic

lambic and gueuze, such as Girardin Black Label Oude Gueuze.

I picked out some of my best shots inside and outside Brasserie

Dupont, as well as at their taproom, Les Caves Dupont, and the

Cafe La Forge just a hundred meters away.

You can read all about this in the pdf article which is paired with

either a Quicktime movie, or MPEG-4 files.

Each zip file download comes with small, medium and large size

files of either the Quicktime movie (best for Mac users) and

MPEG-4, which will open in newer versions of Windows

Media Player, and also in Quicktime.

PC and Mac users can download Quicktime for free at:

http://support.apple.com/downloads/#quicktime

The price for this content filled, fascinating look into and

article about one of the world's great breweries? Just $2.99

U.S.

You can purchase the movie at the top right hand

corner of this blog page where you see the Visa/

Mastercard emblem.

Cheers, and Sante!

"B'More Belgians" event is this weekend

2011-10-14T07:26:00.005-04:00

Hudson Street Stackhouse, here in the Canton neighborhood

of Baltimore, Maryland, will have its first "B'More Belgians"

event this weekend, and I'll be there.

(Photo, above: Dominic DeSantis, seated, with sister/

sour beer lover Dyana, and their Dad.)

Hudson Street owner Dominic DeSantis just bumped the taps

from 24 to 36 less than two weeks ago, and all 36 will be

pumping brews from Flanders and Wallonia, beginning at

2 pm today.

I wrote most of the beer descriptions and consulted on

the beer list, and its been a busy week. Crazy busy.

The draft list includes:

La Chouffe

Houblon Chouffe

Petrus Oud Bruin

Blaugies Saison d' Epeautre

Blaugies La Moneuse

Bockor Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge

Cazeau Tournay Blonde

Contreras Valeir Divers

Deca Westoek X

Dubuisson Scaldis Noel

Dupont Foret Blanche

Dupont Moinette

Dupont Redor Pils

Dupont Saison Dupont

Duvel Singel

Hof ten Dormaal Amber

Hof ten Dormaal Winter 11

Gulden Draak

Liefmans Oud Bruin

Malheur 10

Maredsous 8

Oud Beersel Framboise

Poperings Hommelbier

Rodenbach Grand Cru

Scotch de Silly

Silly La Divine

St. Bernadus Witbier

St. Bernardus Tripel

St. Bernardus Abt 12

St. Canarus Tripel

Strubbe Ichtegems Grand Cru

Toria Blonde

Toria Tripel

Troubadour Magma

Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne

Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

There's a good bottle list too, with plenty of

Oude Gueuze and Oude Kriek on hand, among

many others.

Tough job, but someone has to do it.

Cheers!

Baltimore Beer Week has begun!

2011-10-08T08:44:00.008-04:00

Long time no post.

I was in Belgium for ten days, 20 brewery tours and many beer cafe

visits until this past Tuesday when I returned.

No rest for the weary though, as the opening tap celebration for

Baltimore Beer Week was Thursday night.

The event was held at Ram's Head Live and was well attended.

Today, The Maryland Brewer's Oktoberfest is the highlight among the

many other events going on around Charm City.

Tomorrow: Stillwater Artisanal day at Max's Taphouse, beginning at

10.00.

Phew. I guess I might get to sleep sometime in November....

A pair of special new brews from Brouwerij Rodenbach

2011-09-22T13:37:00.007-04:00

Rudi Ghequire and his staff at the Rodenbach brewery
in Roeselare, West Flanders have been busy.

When I last visited the venerable brouwery in June
2010, Rudi told me he had some projects he was working
on, but that he could not discuss them until they had
come to fruition.

A couple of them have now, I'm happy to say!

Rodenbach Limited Edition Vintage 2009 was just released
in Belgium this month. Vintage 2009 was aged in foeder
number 145 for two years. The taste is described as complex,
full, spicy and refreshing.

Foeders are, of course, the huge oak barrels Rodenbach ages
its beer in. There are 294 of these massive tuns, some as
many as 150 years old.

Rodenbach spokesman Peter Buelens said: "There are notes of
caramel and green apples mixed with an oak character in the
background. The soft, sour, fruity aftertaste is long and
well balanced."

Some 37,000 bottles in 75 cl size were filled of this brew,
and about 9,000 of them are headed stateside. It has 7% abv.

I'm really looking forward to tasting this, as Rodenbach
is one of my favorite breweries! The site is really a Belgian
national shrine.

The second beer is even more special, and will be vastly more
hard to find: Rodenbach Caractère Rouge.

Palm breweries and Rodenbach's Ghequire collaborated with chef
Viki Geunes of Antwerp's ’t Zilte restaurant to create this
brew. Caractère Rouge is the first test project between Geunes
and Palm breweries.

't Zilte has two Michelin stars.

Rodenbach Caractère Rouge is aged in oak barrels for two years.
The resulting brew was then steeped in cherries, cranberries and
raspberries for six months. It was then bottled with yeast so a
bottle fermentation would occur. (Yum, seriously. Sounds like
it will be a great beer!!)

Only 900 bottles of this beer were filled, so it will surely be
a hot commodity. It also weighs in at 7% abv.

Geunes commented: "The Rodenbach Caractère Rouge has a subtle
fruity nose of raspberry and cherry, with wood and caramel notes.
There is also an aroma of violets, and hints of leather and
light tobacco. In short, it is a beer with a vinuous aroma.
On the first tantalizing taste, there is crisp acidity. The
taste is then soon countered by a pleasant residual sweetness
and delicate dryness produced by the cranberries. They give the
beer a long, clean and very pleasant aftertaste.
The three fruits used together provide an effect that is clearly
not to be missed. When I taste this Rodenbach, I just think a fresh
burgundy wine."

I hope I am able to taste Caractère Rouge on a future trip to Belgium!

Moeder Lambic Fontainas article in Celebrator Beer News

2011-09-06T03:54:00.006-04:00

I have a 700+ word article in the August/September issue

of Celebrator Beer News on Brussels' great "new" bar,

Moeder Lambic Fontainas.

(Photo, above: most of the crew of Moeder Lambic

Fontainas. From left: Cynthia Paladini, Nassim Dessicy,

Julie Posschelle, Jean Hummler, and Andy Mengal.)

With 40 beers on draft and six beer engines, you can

spend a lot of time at Place Fontainas #8. And it would

be time well spent. Assuming you are a beer lover.

But you wouldn't be there if you weren't a beer lover,

would you?

(Photo, above: the beer blackboard. Mouth-watering, no?)

(Photo, above: pictured with the article is Julie Posschelle.)

You can find Celebrator Beer News at better bars, brewpubs,

breweries and other beery spots. Locations in my area include

Max's Taphouse in Baltimore; RFD in Washington, D.C.;

Monk's Cafe in Philly; and Sly Fox in southeast Pennsylvania,

among other locales. See: Celebrator

Alvinne/De Struise article in Taps: The Beer Magazine

2011-08-15T07:04:00.007-04:00

I'm happy to say that I have a 1,000 word article on two

great Belgian breweries in the summer issue of Taps:

The Beer Magazine.

(Photo, above: Davy Spiessens and Glenn Castelein

of Picobrouwerij Alvinne.)

The article, given the title of "Naked Ladies and the Gypsy"

by Taps Art Director, Cary Hyodo, features Picobrouwerij

Alvinne and De Struise Brouwers. Both West Flanders

breweries have been very innovative since their inceptions,

and continue to please the palates of discerning beer lovers

all over the world.

(Photo, above: Urbain Cotteau and Carlo Grootaert

of De Struise Brouwers.)

Alvinne has installed a new brewery in Moen,

West Flanders since I wrote the article.

De Struise Brouwers continues to add to their

Old Schoolhouse brewery in Oostvleteren and

to brew there and at Deca in Woesten.

Taps is available at Barnes and Noble and Borders

stores throughout the U.S. as well as other locations.

The Canadian-based magazine is of course readily

available in that country as well.

Taps is also available for on-line download at

Taps

I hope everyone enjoys the article!

Cheers,

Chuck

Brouwerij Dilewyns beers and Dupont's Cervesia and Biere De Beloeil arrive in U.S.

2011-08-11T06:33:00.011-04:00

(Photo, above: Anne-Catherine Dilewyns and Vincent Dilewyns.)

Several fine Belgian brews just arrived stateside, and for the

first time.

Wendy Littlefield of Vanberg & Dewulf Importers informed

me yesterday that the first kegs of Vicaris Generaal and

Vicardin Tripel Gueuze have arrived in the U.S.

These beers were brewed at the new Dilewyns brewery in

Dendermonde, East Flanders. I plan to visit during my next trip

to Belgium.

The Tripel Gueuze is a blend of Vicardin Tripel and

Girardin White label gueuze. It is a very pleasant mildly

sour beer of 7 % abv. Yum!

(Photo, above: Dupont brewmaster Olivier Dedeycker with

Cervesia, aka Posca Rustica stateside.)

Also in the house: Dupont's superb gruut beer, Cervesia.

It is renamed as Posca Rustica for the U.S. market.

Dupont's Bière de Belœil also makes it first appearance

on this side of the pond.

Anyone else getting thirsty for a Belgian beer now???

I know I am!

Modeste Beer Festival: Antwerp's new beer fest

2011-08-03T03:57:00.029-04:00

The city of Antwerp has long been known as the home of the “bolleke” which is local slang for a glass of Brouwerij De Koninck’s Amber ale, served on tap in a distinctive glass similar to a chalice in style. This 5% abv, amberish pale ale has been the session beer of the city for decades.

(Photos, above: a Bolleke of De Koninck and Brouwerij De Koninck.)

For years Antwerp was also the home of the 24 Hours of Belgian Special Beer, a great festival that was the country’s premier beer event. I attended five times. The 24 Hours fest was last held in 2002, when the OBP, the group that organized the fest, folded up.

(Photo, above: Hans Bombeke, 't Antwerps Bier College.)

A few years ago, ‘t Antwerps Bier College (ABC) a Zythos-affiliated, beer appreciation and promotion group, was formed. ABC, with the support of Brouwerij De Koninck, has decided to organize a new beer fest, to be held on the grounds and buildings of the brewery on October 1 and 2. I know they are capable of such a task, as Hans Bombeke, formerly of the ‘t Waagstuk café in Antwerp, is their chairman.

(Photo, above: the brewhouse at Brouwerij De Koninck.)

Hans has long been involved in the Belgian beer world. He told me: “The purpose of the fest is mainly to promote small breweries with less than 2,000 hl of production each year. Hof ten Dormal, Inter-Pol, Drie Fonteinen, De Cam, Les 3 Fourquets and Verhuisbrouwerij are just a few that are already signed up for the event. There should be 30 or so small breweries participating, with different ones Saturday and Sunday,” he continued. See antwerpsbiercollege.be.

The 15 members of the Belgian Family Brewers (belgianfamilybrewers.be) are also invited. Additionally, Achouffe, Duvel, Liefmans and of course De Koninck, will be represented.

The event will run from 11 am to 7 pm both days. Serving size is 15 cl, and will cost only one euro. There will be beer and cheese pairings, with other gastronomic meals available. Several special guests, such as Michel Moortgat, Chris Bauweraerts and the hop researcher, Professor Denis De Keukeleire of the University of Ghent, will speak on various topics.

Brewery visits will be offered throughout the festival weekend. See: dekoninck.be.

Duvel-Moorgat Beer Ambassador Nicolas Soenen stated:

It will definitely be one of the first times in Belgium that a brewery invites other breweries to show what they’re capable of inside the walls of the brewery and we believe this is a positive signal towards our colleagues in times where the competition can be harsh.

This letter arrived from ABC last week:

Antwerp, July 2011

Dear Friends of Beer,

The “Antwerps BierCollege” has the pleasure to invite you for the very first

Modeste Bier Festival

On the 1^st and the 2^nd of October 2011 in the buildings of Brewery De Koninck: Mechelsesteenweg 219, Antwerp, Belgium.

With this beer festival we’d like to honor Modeste Van Den Bogaert, a brewing monument in Belgium, who deceased exactly one year ago on the 1^st of October.

We’d also like to offer a forum to the “Modest(e)” craft breweries in Belgium.

More than 20 of them already confirmed their presence and between them also the smallest official brewery in the beer country of Belgium, namely Brewery Inter-Pol (80l.). (Hof Ten Dormaal, ‘t Hofbrouwerijke, 3 Fonteinen, De Cam, Boelens, Kempisch Vuur, De Dochter Van De Korenaar,...)

These small breweries can only rarely be found on beer festivals but without them

Belgium wouldn’t be such a beer country!

For this beer festival we also get the support and presence of the Belgian Family Brewers as well as Brewery Duvel Moortgat.

Taking in consideration the unique location of our beer festival, we can also propose brewery visits throughout the festival.

And we even asked the brewing masters of Brewery De Koninck to guide some technical brewery visits for the specialists.

In the margin of the festival there will also be held some interesting lectures such as:

- The presentation of the new book: “Antwerp Beercity: the history of brewing in Antwerp”.

- Prof. Dr. De Keukeleire: “Hops and health”

- Chris Bauweraerts (Brewery Achouffe): “Rise of the strongly hopped Beers”

- Wilfried Patroons (beerautor and –activist): “Van Schijn tot Scheld”

- Sven Gatz (President of the Belgian Brewers Association): “The future of our

beer”

Furthermore there will be some interesting beer and cheese pairing sessions led by two of the best cheese refiners in Belgium!

Some hotels give a special arrangement that weekend: www.antwerpsbiercollege.be

We hope to see you there !!

Hans Bombeke

President Antwerp BeerCollege

(Note to readers: I don't know why the text and

formatting is so off on this post, but I know I

won't be using Safari again to make a post. Back to

Firefox or Camino in the future.)

"Belgium Comes to Cooperstown" is this weekend!

2011-07-27T17:32:00.011-04:00

One of America's premier Belgian beer festivals is just a few days away.

Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY has been organizing beer

fests on the site of their farmstead brewery for many years.

This year's event is called "Bringing it to 11 in ‘11” and will feature

beers from 75 different breweries from Belgium and the USA.

Ommegang Marketing Director Larry Bennett informed me today that
the brewery will debut "11" a strong dark porter/oatmeal stout just
for the fest. 11 weighs in at....11% abv. Take care with that one!

Other special brews on tap will include 2011 Belgian Independence

Day Saison, Aphrodite, and Gnomegang.

Liefmans Goudenband and Duvel Tripel Hop we be available in

bottles.

No doubt the rest of the Ommegang lineup as well as those from

the Duvel-Moorgat family of beers (Achouffe, De Koninck,

Duvel-Moortgat, Liefmans and Maredsous) will be well

represented this weekend.

There will be a multi-course VIP beer dinner on Friday night.

The beer fest will run from 3 to 7 pm on Saturday July 30.

Most of the photos shown here are from the 2010 weekend.

See: Ommegang for more info!

Orval's brewery cafe/restaurant reopens

2011-07-12T18:10:00.013-04:00

(Photo, above: the new A l' Ange Gardien at Orval.)

After eighteen months, The Guardian Angel is back.

Orval's brewery taproom/cafe/restaurant, l'Ange Gardien,
renamed "A l'Ange Gardien" reopened on July 1st.

(Photo, above: l' Ange Gardien in 2003.)

Only the façade of the original café remains.

The new café has a very futuristic look and features

bars, terraces (patios) and rooms for visitors. There

is a main dining room on the ground floor, and there

are also two rooms that can accommodate 140 people

on upper floors.

(Photo, above: a fine meal enjoyed during a 2006

visit to l'Ange Gardien.)

The Guardian Angel has reopened with a full restaurant

menu, with small plates like bread, sausage and cheese,

up to full meals including pastas, steaks, lamb, pork and

duck.

(Photo, above: John Allison of Boulder, CO pouring

an Orval Vert in the cafe in 2003.)

The Orval Vert/Green table beer is available on tap (for the

first time!) and in bottles, and fresh Orval and one year old

vintages are offered in bottled form.

(Photo, above: Brasserie Orval from the outside.)

The cafe will be open from 11am to 9pm. Closing day

will be Wednesdays, except in summer.

See: alangegardien.be for more info.

Stillwater Artisanal Ales on tap in Brussels

2011-07-11T21:10:00.005-04:00

Brian "Stillwater" Strumke has been brewing beer in Belgium
for over a year now, at various breweries.

Now, two of his beers are available on tap in Brussels, at
Delirium Cafe's Hoppy Loft.

Ironically, both are brewed stateside, here in the Baltimore area.

Stateside Saison, Brian's first commercial beer, as well as Cellar Door
(my favorite Stillwater beer....so far, anyway!) made their first
appearances in Brussels last week.

Assumedly, other bars on the cutting edge will have these brews
available as well. Moeder Lambic Fontainas comes to mind.

Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, of Mikkeler beer fame, is importing the
beers into Belgium.

And there is other good news from Delirium: as of July 1st,
all their bars are non-smoking. In fact, I believe all
Belgian bars are non-smoking. What a pleasure it will be to
visit next time!

(Photo, above: Brian "Stillwater" Strumke" on the left
and Mikkel Borg Bjergsø on the right.)

Abbaye du Mont des Cats launches “bière trappiste”

2011-06-12T19:53:00.019-04:00

My good friend, Trappist beer lover and journalist Danny

Van Tricht, sent me the following article which he posted

on his website about a new beer just launched by the

Trappist Abbey Mont du Cats in Northern France.

I have translated it from the Dutch into English (hopefully

with some precision and with much help from Google) to

get the word out about this new beer.

Danny attended the news conference held by the monks

last week.

All the photos shown are his: Danny Van Tricht photography.

The article:

What everyone has eagerly awaited has now become fact:

the debut of the Mont des Cats Bière Trappiste/Trappist beer.

Under a blue sky, we were on the “Mont des Cats” a small hill where the Abbey has been located since its founding in 1650. Brother Bernard Marie welcomed us. His slightly trembling hands betray that today something special is going on in the otherwise peaceful Abbaye du Ste-Marie Mont des Cats, in Northern France. Known as French Flanders, this area has a rich brewing history, and has much in common with Belgium. The Belgian border is just a few kilometers away. With justifiable pride Br. Bernard, with the new beer, sat and answered all the questions that have arisen in recent weeks!

1. Is Abbaye Mont de Cats the 8th Trappist brewery?

The answer is an unconditional no. The beer does not bear the "Authentic Trappist Product" logo, though it is still named 'bière trappiste" on labels and product statements. Note that La Trappe (Abdij Koningshoeven in the Netherlands) during the time that they had lost their Authentic Trappist Product logo, still had the name "Trappist" on their labels, under the approving eye of the ITA (International Trappist Association.) There are also a lot of monastic products made in Trappist monasteries that the name "Trappist" may be used (i.e. cookies, liqueurs, wines, etc.). It is clear that the current 7 authentic Trappist breweries will continue to be only ones.

2. Is there a brewery in the Mont des Cats?

No, there is no longer a brewery there (it closed early in the last century because the monk brewer died.) There are no plans to install a brewery, and the brothers of Mont des Cats have just their abbey and no means (money) to do so.

3. Where is the beer brewed and what is the Mont des Cats?

The amber beer is brewed in the Abbey Notre Dame de Scourmont, at its Chimay brewery. That is clearly listed on the bottle label. It is a newly developed beer of 7.6% abv. The aroma reveals the background: the smell of Chimay yeast is prominent. The first sip gives hints of caramel and ends in a very dry finish. It is well-hopped, with refermentation in the bottle, that's for sure. Philippe Henroz of Bières de Chimay stresses that the completely new beer is developed in consultation with the brothers of Mont des Cats.1500 hectoliters were brewed initially. The French monks and Chimay want to see how the market will react to this new beer. It is not intended to produce any other beers under the name Mont des Cats to sell.

4. Will Abbaye du Mont des Cats ever get the logo "Authentic Trappist Product"?

For cheese, there is no problem, though the logo has not been requested. For the beer, it is another matter ... because it must be brewed inside the walls of their own monastery to be considered for the ATP logo, and there are no plans to do so.

5. Where can I taste and / or purchase?

Initially, the beer will be on the French market. Starting next week, on Thursday, June 16, it will also be available at the monastery shop and café, Auberge Mont des Cats, located opposite the abbey. We already paired the beer with pork and game meat dishes there and the result was….delicious!

Who wants to build a website for me?

2011-06-09T06:26:00.006-04:00

Hello Belgian beer lovers!

Here's an offer that should be an attractive one for

a web developer that also happens to love Oude Geuze.

I've been writing this blog for over three years-since

February 8, 2008-to be exact. Judging by the demographics

of the people reading it, it has been enjoyed by beer lovers all

over Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australia and

beyond. I know that because I have Statcounter.

I'd like to take the on-line appreciation and promotion

of Belgian beer to a new level. Having visited 80% of Belgium's

breweries and over 300 of its beer cafes, I think I have the

content to do that. With 15,000 photographs and 200 hours

of audiotaped interviews from The Beer Country, I'm sure of it.

What I need is a multi-functional website where I can offer

several levels of content and also ads.

What can I offer a web developer?

How about one of the world's rarest Oude Geuzes?

(Photo, above: Yves Panneels, of the lambic cafe

In de Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst. He's

holding a bottle of the Oude Geuze he bottled

in December, 2008.)

Only twenty-four 75 cl bottles and 15 Magnums were bottled,

in December 2008. I have it on good authority that a certain

bar owner in New England was offered $600 for a bottle...and

turned it down. Mine is a 75 cl, bottle number 11.

I wrote about it, with many photos and which lambics were

used in the blend, here .

I would prefer to work with someone in the D.C.-Baltimore-

Philly-NYC I-95 beer corridor, but will consider all ideas/offers

of help. If I do not receive an offer that I like, then I won't trade

this beer for services. I'd love to drink it, of course.

It's been in a 55 degree fridge since June of last year, when

Yves gave me the bottle. It was in his cellar before that.

Post a message or send me an email or Facebook message to

contact me.

If I don't respond immediately its because summer is a busy time

and I've for lots going on.

Cheers,

Chuck

Gueuzerie Tilquin

2011-05-25T19:06:00.025-04:00

(Photo, above: Pierre Tilquin pouring a sample of
lambic in the blendery.)

This Saturday and Sunday, May 28-29, Belgium's first new

lambic blendery in nearly 15 years will open its doors to the public

for the first time, from 10 am-6 pm. Yes, sour beer lovers,

Gueuzerie Tilquin has arrived, and is ready to show off its

brews.

The mastermind and driving force behind the project is

Pierre Tilqiun, 37, who was educated as a bioengineer.

Tilquin holds a Ph.D. in statistics and genetics.

The following Friday, June 3, will be the official debut of Oude

Gueuze Tilquin a l'Ancienne, in 37.5 and 75 cl bottles and on draft.

The event will happen at both locations of Moeder Lambic in
Brussels, as well as Delirium Taphouse, starting at 4 pm (16.00)
local time. Delirium Cafe, the bar with 2,000 beers located below
the Taphouse, will have bottles on offer beginning at 10 am for
those who are too thirsty to wait till late afternoon, and Pierre
will be at on hand at the Taphouse at 10 PM (22.00) to present his
Oude Gueuze and answer questions.

I really wish I was in Belgium next weekend . And this one too.

Tom Peters of Monk's cafe in Belgium plans to join the fun,

albeit a continent away. Peters says he will offer a sneak

preview with a very limited number of bottles of the Oude

Gueuze at Monk's. He will crack the first bottle at

12:01 PM that same day, which is also opening day of

Philly Beer Week 2011.

(Photo, above: Tom Peters likes his lambic in large

quantities, as shown in this photo at Moeder Lambic

Fontainas in March.)

I imagine Monk's might get a bit busy that day.

If I was in Belgium, I know where I would be!

Also, this weekend is the Weekend of Spontaneous
Fermentation in Buggenhout, arguably Belgium's top
lambic beer fest. I attended in 2008 and 2010, and look
forward to getting back in the future.

(Photo, above: inside the hall at the Weekend of

Spontaneous Fermentation Beer festival.)

This is the 20th Anniversary of the event. The beer

appreciation club that organizes the fest,
De Opstalse Bierpallieters, asked Brouwerij Girardin
to produce a special Oude Gueuze for them, and indeed
they did.

I'm fortunate to have tasted one a couple of weeks

ago, and it was very good. Only 1400 bottles were filled.
It will debut and be available at the event.
See: Weekend

I visited Gueuzerie Tilquin on May 29, 2010.

Here's an article that first appeared in Celebrator Beer News

last August:

Belgium has a new gueuze blendery, and it’s in Wallonia.

Lambic and gueuze beers, those produced in the Payottenland, an area to the south and west of Brussels, have been gaining in popularity and respect for a number of years now. Making traditional lambic brews, created by spontaneous fermentation and aged in oak barrels, is a tough business, requiring lots of initial investment and patience, as the production process can take years. Lambics of various ages are blended to make gueuze.

(Photo, above: Pierre Tilquin in his blendery.)

Fortunately for the sour beer lovers of the world, there are young Belgian beer lovers dedicated to the survival and promotion of such brews. Pierre Tilquin is one of them. He and a small group of investors have started the first new gueuze blendery in “The Beer Country” since Geuzestekerij De Cam opened in 1997.

Gueuzerie Tilquin is also the only lambic blendery in Wallonia. However, Flanders is barely a couple of football fields away.

“We opened in March 2009,” Pierre told me during my visit to the blendery on May 29th. “We have 222 barrels, all in the 400 liter size, and all are full now,” he added. “So that’s 888 hectos of lambic on barrel.”

Opening a new blendery is a very big deal, as the initial investment in time and money is huge, with little financial return until the first bottle of Oude Gueuze is sold, years later. To take on such a venture requires someone with a lot of vision, patience and determination.

“I worked at with Armand (Debelder) at 3 Fonteinen for six months, and at Cantillon for six months as well,” Pierre told me. “I learned a lot from these two great blenders, and got different perspectives from each. It was very valuable experience. My idea is to take the best of both worlds,” he added.

He continued: “As I live in Brussels, I did want to open a blendery there. But rents are very high, and it was impossible to find a suitable space at a reasonable price. Here in Bierghes-Rebecq, we are only about 15 minutes driving from Lembeek, where Brouwerij Boon is, and Flanders is about 200 meters away.”

Pierre also mentioned the government helps businesses such as his in Wallonia, whereas such subsidies are rarely seen in Flanders. Adding to that, he said “We have a great deal of time and money already invested here. All the barrels are from French wineries; 150 of them, with the silver bands, come from the St. Emilion and Medoc regions, and cost us 70 Euros each. The other 72, with the black bands, come from the Hermitage region, and we paid 60 Euros each for them.” Pierre added that he cleaned the barrels with hot water until no color remained in them.

“I have backing and help from Gregory Verhelst of Brasserie La Rulles, and other investors. We have a complete business plan. I will work at the blendery full time, and we may have another person working part time as well in the future,” Pierre commented.

“Of course you know all lambic producers have their own symbol, which you can see painted on their barrels. I’m still working on mine, as well as a website,” Pierre remarked.

When will the sour beer lovers of the world be able to taste that first Gueuzerie Tilquin beer, you ask? “We will release our first gueuze, which will likely be called Oude Gueuze Tilquin à l'Ancienne, in May or June, 2011. It will be a blend of one and two year-old lambics,” Pierre told me. “I’d like to wait till 2012 and do a 1, 2, and 3 year old Oude Gueuze, but we need some return on our investment, and cannot wait until then. In 2012, we will have a three year old lambic in the blend,” he added.

“My plan is to sell 500 hl of blended lambics and Oude Gueuze per year. For that you need about 900 hl of barrel capacity, which we have. We buy wort from Boon, Cantillon, Girardin, and Lindemans, and put them in our barrels here. But I won’t sell any straight, unblended lambic; there’s no reason to when you could buy that right from the breweries. I’ll sell only some blended lambics on draft at special places like Moeder Lambic and Delirium Cafe in Brussels, and of course 37.5 cl and 75 cl corked bottles of Oude Gueuze. I even have some ideas for fruit beers for the future, but it won’t be Kriek or Framboise, as these are already common. I want to do something different.”

Pierre continued: “As to Cantillon lambic, I will only use it in my blends as a three year-old. In fact, I’m the first and only gueuze blender that Cantillon will sell their wort to. I’ll probably use Boon as a one year-old, and Girardin and Lindemans as one, two, or three year old lambics.”

Ah, and the taste, you ask. We first sampled an interesting “March” beer from Boon which was just a few months old. It was an interesting brew; a lightly sour beer of 8 degrees plato and about 3% abv that Pierre told me he would used to lower the alcohol in his Oude Gueuze. “My goal is a gueuze of about 5 to 6% abv. I don’t want it to be higher than that. This March beer is what the farm workers would have drunk in the fields years ago. Refreshing, but not too alcoholic,” Pierre said.

Moving up the ladder a bit, we then tasted a 14 month old lambic from Lindemans that was very nice. It was getting its funk on, and was already a very pleasing, tart beer. We then tasted a Boon of the same age, which was equally as good. Having tasted lambics right from the barrels at all the lambic breweries and blenderies in the Payottenland (except the Inbev plant) I was very impressed.

Pierre told me that the temperature inside the blendery is controlled so that it won’t go higher than 19 C (66 F) in summer. He added, “What you see here is only the beginning. I still have to build a warm room for conditioning the beers, and also a room for the bottling machine.”

I can’t wait till next summer arrives and the first Gueuzerie Tilquin Oude Gueuze is ready to drink! I think a lot of beer lovers are likely to feel the same. Sante, Pierre, and see you next year. (end of last year's article.)

Note that the bottling line has been installed, obviously.

(Photo, above: Pierre Tilquin and Brian Ewing,
at Moeder Lambic Fontainas in March.

Brian Ewing and 12 Percent Imports will import Oude

Gueuze Tilquin a l'Ancienne to the U.S.A.

"Ladies in the House" Belgium's female brewers in Taps Magazine

2011-05-15T13:30:00.008-04:00

Here's some love for the ladies.

I have a 1,200 word article about several of Belgium's female
brewers in the Spring issue of Taps: The Beer Magazine.

Covered are Anne De Ryck, brewmaster of Brouwerij de Ryck in
Herzele, East Flanders, and her daughter, Mieke van Melkebeke.
Mieke shares brewing duties as well as handling sales and marketing.
De Ryck's Arend Tripel is avaiable stateside.

(Photo, above: Mieke van Melkebeke and Anne de Ryck,
Brouwerij de Ryck.)

Annick ("Nicki") Desplenter of Gent's Stadsbrouwerij Gruut is also
featured, as is Natalie Eloir of Brasserie de la Abbaye de Rocs in
Hainaut Province, Wallonia.

(Photo, above: Nicki Desplenter, Gent's Stadsbrouwerij Gruut.)

Belgium's newest female brewer, Anne-Cathérine Dilewyns,
also has a brand new brewery to showcase her beers.
Brouwerij Dilewyns first brewed in March, and their first open
house will be Saturday, May 21st.

(Photo, above: Anne-Cathérine Dilewyns,
Brouwerij Dilewyns.)

The Dilewyns brews are labeled Vicaris and will be imported into
the U.S. by Vanberg and Dewulf. See here for more info.

Copies of Taps can be purchased at Barnes and Noble
and Borders stores as well as on the website

(Photo, above: Natalie Eloir, Brasserie de la
Abbaye de Rocs.)

Cask Ale fest at Pratt Street Alehouse this Saturday

2011-05-10T20:27:00.005-04:00

(Photo, above: Steve Jones, Brewmaster, Pratt Street Alehouse.
Yeah, I know his t-shirt says Stillwater Artisanal..
it was a collaboration day....for beer and t-shirts.)

Pratt Street Alehouse (Oliver's beers) will hold it's
Chesapeake Real Ale fest this Saturday.

Well, it's not Belgian beer, but there are some Belgian-inspired
beauties on the list, nonetheless.

Not to mention that fact that Pratt Street Alehouse brewmaster
Steve Jones will have some goodies to show off on his home turf.

(Photo, above: Steve Jones pulling a cask pint behind
the bar at Pratt Street Alehouse.)

Here are the details:

May 14th 1-6, Noon for VIP

$40 Unlimited Sampling

$60 VIP, Noon entry, food tickets, Free T-Shirt

Great Food Options
Rain or Shine
Live Music All Day – Black Falls (Blues), Caffeine (Acoustic Mix)

See: Real Ale for ticket info.

Pratt Street Ale House
206 W. Pratt St., Baltimore, Md. 21201

Cask line Up:

Stone Ruination IPA

Evolution lot 6 double IPA + pin bacon porter (!)

Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale dry hopped cascade

Mamas Little Yella Pils w/ rosehips

Old Chub w/ coconut

Weyerbacher Blanche

Flying Fish Exit 4 w/ centennial & citra (hopefully one more also)

Brewer's Art Resurrection

Stillwater/Brewer's Art Debutante

Stillwater beaujolais cask Existent (for VIP hour)

Troegs Javahead Stout

Great Divide Yeti

Heavy Seas Loose cannon Red, White & Birch (red oak/white oak/birch)

Stoudts Heifer-in-wheat w/ kumquat

Yards Saison

The Raven Lager

Flying Dog Gonzo on oak

Single hop Imperial IPA

Breckenridge x 2

White Marsh 1 or 2

Brewer's Alley

DuClaw 2010 Devil's Milk aged in Jack Daniels Whiskey Barrel

Dog Java stout with French oak

Oliver’s Hot Monkey Love batch #2 drawn directly from oak barrel (aged 10 months)

Stillwater Channel Crossing #4 dry hopped w/ tettnanger beaujolais cask

"Draft Punk" w/ Juniper & honey (for VIP hour)

Pagan Porter with vanilla

BrewDog paradox Isle of Arran

OK, I'm back. Here's how I see it...

Three Stillwater casks and a whole lot or other goodies.
I'm thinking this is going to be a fun day.
Come on out and join us and have a great time.

Vanberg and Dewulf tasting in D.C.

2011-05-04T19:33:00.011-04:00

(Photo, above: from left, Wendy Littlefield, Don Feinberg
and Greg Engert.)

On this past Monday night, I attended a tasting at Birch
and Barley in Washington, D.C.

Belgian beer importers Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield of
Vanberg and Dewulf spoke about how they got into the importing
biz and about many of the great beers they bring into the U.S.

Birch and Barley/Church Key Beer Director Greg Engert spoke
about the various food pairings crafted by he and Executive
Chef Kyle Bailey.

(Photo, above: Executive Chef Kyle Bailey and
Wendy Littlefield.)

Highlights included a 2 year old keg of Lambrucha (yum,
seriously...it is incredible how well this 3.5% abv brew
had aged) as well as Dupont's 2011 Avril and several other
brews, including Scaldis (Bush) de Nuits from Brasserie
Dubuisson, a 13% abv treat.

Don and Wendy plan on doing many more tasting events across
the U.S.A. in 2011 and 2012, as they began importing Belgian
beer in 1982. Cheers!

Vanberg and Dewulf tasting at Birch and Barley In D.C. May 2nd

2011-04-26T21:32:00.025-04:00

Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, the pair who founded
Vanberg and DeWulf importers in 1982, will be at Washington,
D.C.'s Birch and Barley and Church Key for a tasting on Monday,
May 2nd.

This from Church Key/B&B Beer Director Greg Engert:

"Don and Wendy will speak about their lives in beer and the
brewers and beers we feature! The Birch & Barley chef
will send out small Belgian-inspired bites w/ which to pair
a number of beers with."

The tasting will be held from 7 to 10 pm at Birch and Barley,
and the lineup is as follows:

LAMBRUCHA (Brouwerij de Troch) on tap, 30 liter keg

HOP RUITER (De Scheldebrouwerij) on tap, 30 liter keg

SCALDIS PRESTIGE DES NUITS (Brasserie Dubuisson)
in 750 ml bottle size

CASTELAIN BIERE DE GARDE 750 ml bottle size

DUPONT AVRIL 750 ml bottle size

DUPONT SAISON 750 ml bottle size

DUPONT BIERE DE MIEL 750 ml bottle size

Cost is $45 not including tax and gratuity.

See: http://www.birchandbarley.com

Lambrucha was my favorite new Belgian beer of 2010.

I wrote this about Lambrucha last year:

“Lambrucha,” a blend of Belgian lambic beer and Kombucha tea,
first debuted in Chicago in early spring. Kombucha is a tart, effervescent
tea created by adding a culture, sometimes called a mushroom, to a base
tea. This “mushroom” is full of microorganisms, and looks somewhat like
a large pancake. The “mushroom” contains a number of different yeast
strains, including variants of Brettanomyces and Pediococcus. Kombucha
is thought to have beneficial health benefits by many cultures, especially
in its homeland of the Central Asian steppes.

(Photo, above: an active barrel at Brouwerij De Troch.)

“This remarkably enlivening thirst-quencher is a proprietary blend
of two living drinks” Don Feinberg of Vanberg and Dewulf told me
in April. He continued “Lambrucha is, to our knowledge, the first
time two different types of live yeast drinks have been blended
together to create a completely new live yeast beverage.”

(Photo, above: pulling lambic from a barrel at
Brouwerij de Troch.)

“Dr. Roger Mussche, the Gent-based brewing scientist who
is the world’s leading authority on Brettanomyces yeast, helped
me with this project” Don told me. “It was bottled at Brouwerij
De Troch in Wambeek, one of the lambic breweries in Belgium’s
Payottenland. Lambrucha combines hand-selected lambics that are
at minimum one year old, and batches of specially-brewed organic
Belgian Kombucha,” he added.

In a tasting with several friends, we found Lambrucha to be as
advertised: tart, refreshing, herbal and floral, with perhaps hints
of rosemary and hibiscus. At only 3.5% abv, you could practically
drink it all day. In fact I would if I could.

I've never had this beer on tap before, so this should be a treat!

In addition to the beers in this tasting, many of Church Key's
taps will be dedicated to beers imported by Don and Wendy
on Monday...so it should be a great night to go to do some beer
tasting!

Don and Wendy have spent the last six or so weeks in Belgium
and other European spots looking for more breweries and beers
to add to their portfolio.

These include Dupont's Redor Pils, Biere de Beloeil, Cervesia
(renamed Posta Rustica for the U.S.) Foret Blanche, and Monk's
Stout.

There are also a number of other brews in the works that
I will write about in the near future.

See: Vanberg & Dewulf for more info.

Pierre Celis: A Conversation in Hoegaarden

2011-04-20T20:03:00.025-04:00

(Photo, above: Pierre pouring a Hoegaarden Grand Cru
in a cafe in Hoegaarden, 2003.)

Pierre Celis: a Conversation in Hoegaarden

Most of you will have heard by now of the passing of beer legend Pierre Celis on Saturday, April 9 at his home in Hoegaarden, Belgium.

I met Pierre at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado during GABF week in late September 2003. He extended me an invitation to come interview him in Hoegaarden, and I did so less than three weeks later.

Pierre came to meet me in Leuven on October 17th of that year, and we took a train to Tienen, the closest station to Hoegaarden. He then drove us to his hometown, showing me many the old buildings in the village that used to be breweries. Many were marked with dates in stone blocks, some dating to the 18th century.

(Photo, above: your truly (left) and Pierre at
Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy.)

We had lunch at a local café, enjoyed with a Hoegaarden Grand Cru, as Pierre regaled me with stories from the past. We then toured his original brewery, and I interviewed him in his home office.

(Photos, above: Pierre's home in Hoegaarden.)

Eleven days later, Pierre joined me again as I toured Brasserie
Rochefort at Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy. The photo of Pierre and
I, above, was taken by a friend using my camera, in the abbey.

Below is an article I wrote that was originally published in 2005. I hope you enjoy it.

Belgian witbier, or white beer, is a very refreshing and thirst-quenching style of brew, especially during the heat of the summer. It is also a great session beer. Amazingly, white beer was a dead style back in the early 1960’s.

Fortunately for the beer lovers of the world, Pierre Celis resurrected witbier in 1966, when he opened Brouwerij Celis in the Belgian town of Hoegaarden, the ancestral home of witbier.

(Photo, above: the copper vessel Pierre used to brew his
first homebrewed test batches in 1965.)

Being a fan of the style, I wanted to learn the history behind it, and Pierre Celis’ involvement with it. In 2003, he granted me an interview, and a visit to his original brewery, which is located in an old stable behind his family’s home on Stoopkensstraat. The open mash tun and copper brew kettles are still there.

(Photo, above: Pierre at the open mash tun in his original
brewery in the stables behind his home, and the inside of
this mash tun.)

As a child and teenager, Pierre worked at the Tomsin brewery, which was the last producer of witbier in Belgium. The brewery, which closed in 1957, was located just across the street from his home. “I grew up on the same street. I worked at Tomsin from an early age. At the beginning of World War II, there were still three witbier breweries left in Hoegaarden. But the beer from Tomsin was the best,” Pierre commented.

The Tomsin brewery was torn down years ago.

“When you came to the brewery, there was always a keg, and you could drink. The early white beers were probably only 3 or 4% alcohol, but we don’t know for sure,” he added.
Interestingly, Pierre says that, to the best of his knowledge, none of his ancestors were brewers. His family has always been in the beef and dairy business, as far as he could recall. Pierre’s father owned a dairy, and Pierre delivered milk.

(Photos, above: these copper brewkettles were on the second floor of
the stables. You had to use a ladder to get to this space...even in 2003!)

Many witbiers have a spicy character due to the use of spices such as coriander and curacao (bitter orange peel.) The history of white beer can be documented as far back as the 14th century. Historical records show that there were a dozen breweries in Hoegaarden in 1709, with the number jumping to 30 by 1745. This, for a village of only 2,000 people!

Fifty years later, there were 3,000 inhabitants in the town, with 35 breweries-and one pub for every ten inhabitants! By 1880, there were still 13 breweries in the town, almost all producing white beer. In 1914, just six remained.

Hoegaarden at present has a population of over 6,000, with just two breweries. There is the internationally known Hoegaarden, owned by InBev, as well as newcomer Hoegaarden Nieuwhuys. Hoegaarden’s “New House” is a brewpub producing a number of fine beers, which opened in 2006.

(Photo, above: the old Brasserie Loriers in Hoegaarden.)

There are many large, empty buildings in the town that were once breweries. Many still have their names and dates carved into stone, and several are from the 1700’s. Would those past brewers believe that Witbier and Hoegaarden are now known throughout the beer-drinking world? “You see what beer can do,” Pierre commented.

(Photo, above: this brewery was dated 1753. I can't recall which
one Pierre said it was.)

What made Hoegaarden the perfect location for the brewing of this style of beer? “Hard water (calcium-rich water) is good for brewing a wheat beer. Also, there were abundant supplies of water in the area. I have a well at my home,” Pierre said. “There were also hops and grain in the area. There were wild hops growing in the area, and there still are. You can see some in the ditches on the sides of the road, below street level.”

(Photo, above: an old Tomsin brewery advertising plaque.)

Pierre used the original recipe for the Tomsin beer, as he remembered it, when he started his brewery, at the age of 40. What led him to do so? Pierre said, “I was having a few beers with friends in the early 1960’s. I was a milkman by profession. My friends and I lamented that there was no more witbier in the world. They told me, jokingly, that I should make another frothy white beverage: beer! I started thinking: why not?”

As to the recipe, he told me: “I never used Belgian hops, though Tomsin used them sometimes. I needed aromatic hops, not bittering hops. The aromatic hops were not grown much in Belgium by then. They produce less per hectare than bittering hops. I often used Kent Goldings, from the U.K. or Czech Republic. Also, while Tomsin used oats to add to the cloudiness of the beer, I found that mixing oats and spelt was better. Of course, most of the cloudiness from the early beers brewed in Hoegaarden was due to infection, or mistakes. Often, the beers were only drinkable for about three weeks, depending on the time of year. After that, they became more and more sour,” Pierre explained. “The drinking vessels were porcelain in the old days, so you could not see the beer as much anyway.”

The eponymous Hoegaarden glass of today was purely a creation of Pierre: it was patterned after an old glass he saw in the living history museum at nearby Bokrijk, where the old Tomsin brewery equipment now resides. In fact, it may have been a glass used for drinking milk! Pierre added that witbier was served at about 12 degrees celsius (54 F) in the old days.

Of course, coriander and curacao/bitter orange peel were an important part of the Tomsin beers, and Pierre experimented with different types to find the ones he liked best in his new Hoegaarden beer: “I liked to experiment with fermentation, ingredients, or whatever I thought might improve my beer,” Pierre said. “I think the most important thing is always quality. If you have no quality, it is always the same thing: you are short term. Fancy labels and marketing must come after the quality of the beer is there.”

Of course, Pierre has always been a shrewd marketer. He made over one million “Identiteitskaart Van Bierdrinker” (Identity Card of the Beer Drinker) cards, which looked similar to the Belgian driver’s licenses of the time. The card was issued by “The Beer Kingdom of Hoegaarden”, and the beerdrinker on the one I have is De Verboden Vrucht, born at Brouwerij De Kluis on November 4, 1982. He is said to be dark red, with a strength of 8% alcohol!

Pierre first brewed his new witbier in 1965, allowing his friends and neighbors to try the beer and comment on it. At a certain point everyone agreed that he had nailed the taste as they remembered it. He opened Brouwerij Celis officially on March 16, 1966, and produced 350 hl that year. By 1978, production of Hoegaarden beer was 1,975 hl. In 1968, he started bottling the beer (which at first was only put in kegs) using simple labels from a local printer, with the letters “HW” in black and red.

In 1969, the first Hoegaarden Grand Cru was brewed. Pierre told me: “Sales of white beer were lower in the winter. People wanted a strong beer during the cold weather, so I started with the Grand Cru, at 7.5% abv. It was an immediate success.”

(Photo, above: the entrance to the Hoegaarden brewery. This was
Brouwerij Hoegaarden De Kluis when Pierre owned it.)

By 1978, he needed to expand, and purchased the De Kluis water and soft drinks factory in town, and converted it to a brewery, installing a new 100 hl brewkettle. It opened July 19, 1979. Pierre explained: “Once my beer became a success, every brewery in Belgium started brewing a white beer. I had to grow to be able to compete, and I still brewed at home even after opening the De Kluis brewery.” The De Kluis brewery was rebuilt after a 1985 fire, and is what we all know now as the Hoegaarden brewery.

(Photo, above: old wooden crates and a barrel in the Hoegaarden
brewery.)

Noting the problem with lactobacillus infections in witbiers, Pierre said that 1979 was a very important year: “I started using flash-pasteurization then. This solved the problem. The beers had far better long term drinkability after this.”

Pierre started exporting his beer to the U.S. from an early date: “I was invited to a Belgian trade show and market in Atlanta in 1974. It was my first trip to America. I did not speak any English. But I thought I could sell my beer in America, as everyone was drinking the same kinds of boring lagers. It was my dream to open a brewery in America,” which was later realized, of course, with the Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas.

“I contacted Mannekin-Brussel Imports in 1974 or ‘75. They started importing Hoegaarden, mainly for Texas, in 1975, and continued doing so until 1985. That is the year the De Kluis brewery burned down” Pierre said.

Unfortunately, Pierre’s brewery was under-insured, with only 40 million Belgian francs of coverage, when 280 million were needed to rebuild: “I did not have the money to rebuild, and Stella Artois (now InBev) offered to invest, in return for 45% of the shares. I entered an agreement with them, and continued to run the brewery for a few years. In 1988, a merger between Stella Artois and Piedboeuf created Interbrew,” Pierre sighed. “That’s when things went downhill. The bankers wanted to take over and cheapen the ingredients used in my beers. I resisted for a while, but finally, in 1990, I sold the rest of my shares to Interbrew. I was 65, and didn’t want to fight with the bankers anymore.”

Pierre had dreamed of opening a brewery in America for years. While Belgian colleagues told him white beer would never sell in this country, he was convinced otherwise: “I went to bars in America and talked to beer drinkers. I asked them how they liked their beer. Many said it was watery and tasteless. I thought there was a market for witbier there.”

Pierre continued: “Beer drinkers are curious about other beers. If you drink a cloudy beer, and another drinker has never seen a beer like this before, they ask what you are drinking. Word of mouth is a big seller.”

(Photo, above: mementos in Pierre's office, behind his home.)

Of course, he was right. Pierre searched for an area to open a new brewery in the U.S. He liked Texas for a variety of reasons. Austin has hard water, very similar to that of Hoegaarden. Also, he told me that Texans spoke very slowly, and Pierre could understand them better than other Americans. People in Austin were very receptive to a new brewery, and he settled on that city for the new venture. In 1990, he gave his specifications to an architect for the new Celis brewery, which opened in 1992. Pierre did not have to advertise at first, as he received extensive coverage in the local newspapers and television. Later, he did some radio ads.

His distributor did very well getting new accounts for his beers, the first of them being Maggie Mae’s in Austin, which is still going strong. After a year, he was already sending Celis White to six states, and many more would come in the future. One of these was North Carolina, where I purchased my first six of pack Celis White from a grocery store around ‘94 or 95. I was hooked immediately.

Celis brewery production was growing very quickly, from 3,000 barrels of beer the first year, to almost 23,000 in 1997. This would eventually, and unfortunately, lead to its downfall. The brewers and workers of the Celis brewery, with the huge demand for their beers in the U.S., wanted to expand, with bigger and better equipment. They were given the money to do so, for a time.

Eventually, Pierre’s partners in the Celis brewery venture, with 45% of the stock, got cold feet and wanted out. They were concerned about getting their investment out the brewery, without waiting many years to do so. They first offered their shares to Pierre, but his money was tied up in his controlling stake. So the other investors sold their stock to Miller Brewing: “At that point, I was married to Miller. But not by my choice. Then I made a mistake. I let them take over management of the brewery,” Pierre lamented.

Obviously, things did not work out. Miller offered to sell the brewery back to Pierre in 2000. However, at 75 years of age at the time, he did not want to risk such an investment.

Michigan Brewing co. now owns the Celis brand name in the U.S., as well as the original brewing equipment. Pierre owns the Celis brand in Europe, and has Celis White brewed at Van Steenberge for the Belgian market.

One of the last beers Pierre Celis helped perfect was St. Bernardus Witbier, from the great brewery in Watou. He cooperated with Hans Depypere, brewmaster of St. Bernardus, on the recipe. He also helped develop Grottenbier, a dark brown cave-aged beer brewed by St. Bernardus. It was the brainchild of Pierre’s many trips to the Champagne region of France.
I visited St. Bernardus on February 28th of this year.

Also, Les Trois Fourquets, a brewpub in Courtil-Gouvy, Luxembourg Province, welcomed Pierre in April 2005. He helped oversee the brewing of a batch of “Celisette” by brewer Pierre Gobron. It was made to the original recipe of Hoegaarden Grand Cru, and was released at a beer fest in Antwerp that June, with Pierre and Michael Jackson present.

Pierre’s efforts have led to witbier becoming a common sight at watering holes across Belgium, the U.S. and other countries. Dozens of Belgian breweries, as well as brewpubs and microbreweries around the world, now produce their own versions of this excellent brew. The world of good beer is far better for it. Grand Cru will always be remembered for its originator, and is a much copied, and much loved, style as well.

What will happen to the brewery and stables where witbier was resurrected in 1965? Only time will tell, but in my opinion, it should be preserved as a Belgian national historic site. Rest in Peace, Pierre, and dank u wel for bringing witbier back to the world.

Alvinne Craft Beer Fest/Zythos Beer Fest in Celebrator Beer News

2011-04-07T06:56:00.008-04:00

I have an article in the April/May issue of Celebrator Beer News
on the excellent beer festivals which were held the weekend of
March 4-6 in Belgium.

Namely, the Alvinne Craft Beer Fest and the Zythos Bier
Festival.

(Photo, above: Menno Olivier, Brouwerij De Molen)

The Alvinne fest, known as ACBF, featured over 120 beers from
18 breweries and eight countries.

(Photo, above: Jerome Rebetez, BFM/Switzerland)

The Zythos fest featured over 250 different beers from about
60 Belgian breweries.

(Photo, above: Kris and Els at ZBF 2011)

For 2011, the Alvinne fest will continue on the same weekend,
March 3-4, 2012.

(Photo, above: Brian "Stillwater" Strumke and
Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, Mikkeller)

The Zythos fest moves to Leuven next year, the final weekend
in April. See this earlier blog post for full details.

You can find Celebrator Beer News at better beer bars and
breweries. Locally, Max's Taphouse in Baltimore has copies,
while Monk's Cafe in Philly also carries the mag, as do the
Sly Fox brewpubs. In D.C. look for copies at R.F.D.

See: Celebrator

Zythos Bier Fest (ZBF) moves to Leuven in 2012

2011-03-27T09:04:00.025-04:00

(Photo, above: Els de Mûelenaere, wife of Kris Herteleer
of De Dolle Brouwers, with a "Verse Vis" at the 2011 ZBF.)

The end of an era is at hand, and the beginning of
another is just over a year away.

The Zythos Bier Festival (ZBF) which is the closest thing
that Belgium has to a "national" beer fest, has seen its last
show in St. Niklaas, an East Flanders city located between
Antwerp and Ghent.

(Photo, above: Yvan de Baets of Brasserie de la Senne
at ZBF 2011, with a glass of Taras Boulba.)

(Photo, above: Ann-Catherine Dilewyns and her father,
Vincent of Brouwerij Dilewyns. They are opening a new
brewery in May, and their beers will be headed to the
USA later this year.)

My good friend Carl Kins (who is a well-respected member
of the H.O.P. club in Kortrijk, a Zythos affiliated club that
organizes the Karakterbier fest in Vichte every year) told me
the following this morning:

(Photo, above: Carl Kins pouring his SloCK beer,
brewed at De Graal in Brakel, East Flanders.)

"The Stadfeestzaal of St-Niklaas, or City Festival Hall, is being
torn down in the next few weeks. So, another venue had to be
found for the ZBF."

(Photo, above: the Oud Beersel booth at the
2007 ZBF.)

The new location will be the Brabanthal ("Brabant Hall")
located 4 km from the center of the historic city of
Leuven in Flemish Brabant. Carl added:

"The Brabanthal is more than double the size of the St Niklaas-hall,
allowing expansion, i.e. every brewer willing to participate will be
able to. And, contrary to this year, no people will need to be queuing
(waiting) on the outside any longer."

The fest will be held on the last full weekend of April every year for
the next five years, at least. So it is April 28-29 for 2012. See
Brabanthal

This new location and new date leads to a number of possibilities.
The Toer de Geuze, an open house at nine of Belgium's lambic
producers, is organized every other (odd-numbered) year,
on the same weekend. So, in 2013, once could do the ZBF on
Saturday April 27, and the Tour de Geuze on Sunday April 28th.
That, friends, would be a great weekend!

Additionally, Leuven has far more beery delights than St-Niklaas.
In fact, it's not even close. St-Niklaas has little in the way of
Belgian specialty cafes and no breweries, and Leuven has many.

If it's one I know for sure, it is that my good friends in the
De Leuvense Biertherapeuten (LBT) which is one of the
very active and highly thought of Zythos-affiliated beer appreciation
clubs in the country, will put on a show.

(Photo, above: three of the board of the LBT, who will
likely play a major part in ZBF Leuven: from top left,
Steven Vermoere; Ann Frankie, lower left; Luc Smekens,
top right; and yours truly, bottom right.
Photo taken at Cafe Universum in 2003.)

Luc Smekens and Steven Vermoere are on the board of the LBT
and have been working each ZBF since the first in 2004. I first met
them when they were working at the old 24 Hours of Belgian Special
Beer in 1997 in Antwerp. At that point, I wasn't even a beer writer
yet.

I had brought with me a number of special American brews to share,
and hence made some new friends. Got that? If you want to make
some friends in Belgium, bring some great local beers to share!

(Photo, above: Leuven's 15th century town hall.)

Luc and Steven took me on a couple of epic pub crawls of Leuven
in the past, so I know that cafes like Blauwe Kater, Vliegend
Varken and Taverne Still Waters will see crowds of thirsty beer
lovers next April.

(Photo, above: brewer Marc Knops (far right) and
several other staff of Huisbrouwerij Domus in
Leuven celebrate the release of a new beer in 2009.)

No doubt the Domus brewpub/cafe will as well, as Marc Knops
(who also brews at Achel, the Trappist Abbey and brewery in
Limburg) has been cranking out some very nice beers there the
last few years. I visited in April, 2009. Domus also has good,
reasonably priced food as well as a number of other Belgian
beers. Get there.

(Photo, above: Huisbrouwerij Domus in Leuven.)

Leuven is also very easy to get to from Brussels or Mechelen. While I
might opt to stay in this beautiful medieval city of 35,000+ students,
you could as easily stay the night in the E.U. capital or the home of
Brouwerij Het Anker, Mechelen. Both are about 20 minutes by direct
trains.

(Photo, above: me at the 2007 ZBF with a couple of
beer lovers from California. Yes, I realize the tasting
glass I am holding says 2004, however old glasses are
always still in use at ZBF alongside glasses from the
present year.)

(Photo, above: Beer writer Tim Webb talking to brewer
Benoît Johnen of Brasserie Grain d' Orge at the 2007 ZBF.
I visited the Liege province brewery for a second time,
at their new location, earlier this month.)

I attended the ZBF in 2004, 2007, and in 2011. I'm happy I was able to
visit this excellent fest for its last engagement in St. Niklaas, with it's
selection of over 250 different beers from 60 breweries.

I look forward as much to visiting Belgium and Leuven in the Spring,
with its warmer weather, historic sites and beery culture.

I also attended the forerunner of the ZBF, The Objectieve
Bierproevers (OBP) "De 24 Uur van Het Belgisch Speciaal Bier"
fest some five times. The first three times I went were at
Antwerp's Stadfeestzal, which burned down in December, 2000.
The final two 24 Hours beer fests were put on at Antwerp's
Oude Beurs, the former commodities exchange.

When the OBP closed up as a legal organization after the 2002 event,
the ZBF was formed, and took up its role as Belgium's premier beer
promotion and protection organization. It has done superbly well,
and should continue to do so, under the direction of current
president Jan Rumes and the Zythos staff.
See ZBF

(Photo, above: Glenn Castelein and Davy Spiessens at the
2007 ZBF.)

How this will affect the Alvinne Craft Beer Festival (ACBF) is unclear
at the moment. Whether Davy, Glenn and Marc will follow suit and
change their fest to the same weekend as ZBF or stay in March is
something they will have to ponder over, and they are incredibly
busy building a new brewery.

(UPDATE: as you can read in the comment below, Glenn
confirms ACBF will remain in March, on Saturday
March 3 and Sunday March 4. So one could do the
Nacht van de Grote Dorst (Night of the Great Thirst)
at In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst on Friday
March 2, then ACBF the Saturday and Sunday.
Soooo many tough choices for the beer lover.)

Better start looking for a spare beer-processing
organ now...just in case.

Belgium, trip 22: a day in the Payottenland

2011-03-12T06:14:00.035-05:00

(Photos, above: Cafe 't Dravershof in Pepingen.The
Cafe is an Orval Ambassador, and opens at 9.30 am on
Saturdays and 8.30 am on Sundays.)

Here's a brief look at some of the highlights of day 1 on
my 22nd trip to Belgium.

I landed in Brussels airport at 8.00 on Sunday, 27 February, and
was having a 2005 Oude Geuze Boon Mariage Parfait at 't Dravershof
(an Orval Ambassor cafe) in Pepingen by 9.00. Perhaps record timing?
This was thanks to Belgian beer lover/brewer Gunther Bensch of
Brouwerij Montaigu, who drove me around the Payottenland all day.

(Photos, above: Volkscafe De Cam in Gooik. A sampler of Lambic,
Kriekenlambic and Geuze.)

(Photo, above: entrance to Geuzestekerij de Cam.)

(Photos, above: De Groene Port (The Green Door) in
Gooik. A fine meal of Flemish beer stew with
croquettes and Girardin Oude Lambik from bag-in-box.
Yum!)

(Photos, above: Den Haas, a country cafe 4 km outside of Gooik.)

(Photos, above: Cafe Meyts-Polle in Elingen.)

(Photos, above: you can still get roadside service
at Cafe Meyts-Polle in Elingen. You just have to
have to be driving a horse-drawn conveyance of some
sort. Being a local probably helps too.)

(Photos, above: Brouwerij den Herberg in Buizingen.
They brew less than 200 hectoliters of beer per year.)

Gunther and I also visited Cafe Sportwerld in Itterbeek,
where they have several Girardin beers by the bottle.

I stayed the night at a brand-new B&B on the grounds of the
old St. Pieters brewery in Neerijse, 11 km south of Leuven.
Not Payottenland, but still in Vlaams Brabant.

(Photos, above: the main brewery building.)

(Photo, above: the 1816 Brouwershuis, or home
of the brewer.)

Well, new to it's life as a B&B, but formerly a brewery dating
to 1816. The brewery, also known as Staff's brewery, is still
owned by the Bruffaerts family.

A couple, Liliane and Piet, from Leuven (11 km to the north)
bought two of buildings in the brewery complex a couple
of years ago, and renovated them. Their daughter is an art
student, and has an art gallery in the main house.

Liliane and Piet have two B&B rooms in their main house,
and a newly opened guesthouse behind the main house
that used the be the brewery's garage. There is a courtyard
for warm-weather enjoyment between the two.

Liliane and Piet are beer lovers and welcome beer drinkers
into their B&B.

(Photo, above: a garage door inside one of the
bedrooms. It still functions.)

I was the first guest to stay the night in the guesthouse, which
has two large bedrooms and a large living room. The bedrooms
have private ensuite bath and toilet.

The bathroom facilities are completely new and modern.

The couple are very eco-friendly and vegetarians. I enjoyed a
fine breakfast with hard-boiled eggs, breads, Chimay cheese, and
feaux-salami.

Price was 50 euros, plus 7.50 for breakfast.

See: Biesbemd

3 Fonteinen likely to brew again (!!)

2011-03-03T00:26:00.003-05:00

During my visit with Armand Debelder yesterday, he

told me some excellent news: he is likely to brew again

in the future. The brewery will probably be located

somewhere other than the current location, as there is

not enough space in the blendery.

Armand has already hired an assistant to help brew and

blend lambic beers.

Details are not yet worked out, as they are in the planning

stages.

What great news from Beersel!

A Lambic beer visitor's center...great news from Belgium

2011-03-02T06:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I visited Drie Fonteinen, where I spoke with
Armand Debelder for some time.

Armand told me the good news that there will be a Lambic beer
visitor's center opening in mid-May about 3 km
from Beersel.

The Flemish goverment and HORAL are the main forces behind
the project, which will feature a 125 seat theater where movies of
lambic production will be shown in four or five languages.

It should be a modern center for the promotion
of lambic beers.....sort of a living museum.

It will be accesible by public transport.

All I can say is, Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They have a website in the works.

Max's Belgian Beer Fest and a Belgian Beer Slideshow...

2011-02-16T19:38:00.007-05:00

(Photo, above: Casey Hard, Max's Belgian Fest Director (left) and
Brian "Stillwater" Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales)

I haven't posted in several weeks, mainly because I was working on
a big project for Max's Belgian Beer Fest which will be this weekend
here in Baltimore.

I will have a Powerpoint slideshow which will run on Max's
brand-new big-screen TV downstairs on a continuous loop, all
weekend long.

I will only be showing images from Belgian breweries which will have
beers available at the event.

There will be either 62 or 63 breweries in the show, with over 900
slides total. Each brewery will have a title slide, so there will be over
800 images from these Belgian breweries shown.

At 5 seconds per slide, it will take over an hour for a complete run
of the show.

There are actually close to 70 different Belgian breweries
represented this weekend, but I'm afraid I've run out of time to get
them all in.

Max's will have over 150 different Belgian beers on draft over
the weekend, as well as over 175 in bottles.

There will be a special guest in the slideshow....care
to guess who?

Max's will debut its 25th Anniversary Ale, brewed by
Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales, which will
celebrate its First anniversary at the event.
The beer is called 25 to One.

Moeder Lambic Fontainas: Brussels great beer cafe

2011-01-23T11:20:00.015-05:00

(Photo, above: Nassim Dessicy (left) and Andy Mengal
(right) behind the bar at Moeder Lambic Fontainas.)

(Photo, above: Jean Hummler in the cellar of
Moeder Lambic, Ixelles.)

When Nassim Dessicy and Jean Hummler purchased the
original location of Chez Moeder Lambic in 2006, they
wanted to transform it into a top class beer cafe, where
the staff were always knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.

(Photo, above: Chez Moeder Lambic, Ixelles.)

They also decided to offer over 400 well-chosen Belgian brews
by the bottle, and five on draft. Chez Moeder Lambic, in the
Ixelles neighborhood of Brussels, was regarded as one of the city's
top beer cafes within just a couple of years. For more on the
history of this Brussels icon, see: Moeder Lambic Ixelles

Wanting to follow their great success in Ixelles, the pair, along with
partner Andy Mengal, opened Moeder Lambic Fontainas
on October 30, 2009.

The new location, at Place Fontainas #8, is a ten minute walk
from Brussels' famous Grand Place. It is in a much larger space than
the original, hence many more beer lovers can be accommodated.

(Photo, above: the beer board.)

Nassim, Jean and Andy also wanted something else to distinguish
themselves from the EU capital's other specialist beer bars. So,
rather than following the usual Belgian model of huge bottled beer
lists, the trio decided on having a large draft list (for Belgium) of
40 taps and six cask beer engines, of very special brews.
There is no crap on tap here.

The new formula has met with fabulous success, as Moeder Lambic
is known as the place to taste many rare and not-often-seen-on-tap
beers in "The Beer Country."

(Photo, above: Dupont's Cervesia is one of the bottled brews
available at Moeder Lambic Fontainas.)

"We do have about 50 Belgian beers in 75 cl bottles, as these are
great for people to share," Andy told me during a visit in December
2009.

(Photo, above: beers in the cellar at Moeder Lambic.)

The only beer available in a small bottle: Orval.

(Photo, above: Tim Webb, author of "The Good Beer Guide
to Belgium" trying his hand at pulling a lambic from a cask.)

Here's a really special draw of Moeder Lambic, especially for
fans of sour beer (such as....me.): the six cask beer engines
almost always have lambic or kriekenlambics on. Want a
Cantillon straight lambic or faro? You can get it at the brewery
or either location of Moeder Lambic, and nowhere else.
3 Fonteinen is another favorite, as is De Cam, when
available.

"About our draft lines," Andy told me, as we toured the keg
cooler. "They are only about 4 meters (about 13 feet) long,
whereas the lines at many bars are 20 to 30 meters long.
The short length makes them very easy to clean. Also, we
change them quite regularly. Cleanliness is of utmost
importance, so the beers we offer will taste as fresh as possible."

(Photo, above: Andy Mengal in the keg cooler.)

He added: "The temperature in the cooler is about 5 degrees

C (41 F.) We like to serve our draft beers around 7 to 9 C (45 to 48 F.)"

The vintage beers as well as the handpumped brews are served
at 12-14 degrees Celsius (54-57 Fahrenheit.)

Due to their years in the beer business and contacts throughout the
Belgian beer world, Moeder Lambic's 40 taps always have many
interesting choices. You can find beers from respected breweries like
Brussels own De la Senne, as well as Jandrain-Jandrenouille,
De Ranke, La Rulles, Blaugies, Cazeau, Contreras, De Ryck, Dupont,
and many more.

Moeder Lambic also offers brews from other countries, such as Italy,
Spain, Germany and Denmark from time to time, and seasonal beers
are popular as well. 11 Christmas and winter brews were on draft
during my visit in December 2009.

(Photo, above: these beer lovers are all smiles at
Moeder Lambic.)

While not a restaurant, Moeder Lambic is not lacking for sustenance.
The plate of delicious local cheeses, meats and bread really hits the spot.

I think I'll have one when I visit again in March. Along with a few bieres.

A votre sante.

Brasserie de la Senne brews first batch in Brussels

2011-01-10T19:59:00.004-05:00

(Photo, above: Yvan de Baets at the brewkettle,
Brasserie de la Senne.

I just got the following word from Yvan de Baets of Brasserie
de la Senne yesterday:

"We made the first test batch in the new brewery on December
22! A success so far... A new recipe to calculate the yield of the
brewhouse, but very close to Taras boulba (a bit stronger, and
with Hallertaü Hersbrucker hops for the aroma). We will bottle
it at the end of January. From March or April, we'll have all our
range available all the time..."

This is great news from one of Belgium's great brewing teams,
Yvan and partner Bernard Leboucq.

They had been brewing at Brouwerij de Ranke in Dottignies
for several years, while looking for a suitable place for a brewery
in Brussels, which they found in late 2009.

The space: a former warehouse in the Molenbeek section of
Brussels, not so far from Brasserie Cantillon.

The huge space (for a small brewery) will allow them to grow
for many years....30 to be exact! That's the length of their lease.

They have a barrel-aging room nearly ready, the bottling line
is in place, as are plans for a tasting room right inside the
brewery, where visitors will be able to watch the pair work
their magic...and taste a few beers!

Me? I'm really looking forward to more Saisons brewed with
Cantillon lambic. And so many other beers. Yum. Seriously.

Chimay Red/Premiere on draft: an experiment from Bieres de Chimay

2011-01-05T21:14:00.018-05:00

(Photo, above: This is part of the daily quality
control tasting at Chimay. This was in September
2006.)

My good (Belgian) friend Danny Van Tricht broke the news
on his blog two days ago that Bieres de Chimay has begun
offering Chimay Red/Premiere on draft.

(Photo, above: entrance to Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont.)

(Photo, above: the church at Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont.)

(Photo, above: inside the church at Chimay.)

Chimay's beers, of course, are brewed at l' Abbaye Notre Dame
de Scourmont in Forges, Hainaut Province. They are one of the
six Trappist Abbeys in Belgium that brew beer.

(Photo, above: a brewkettle at Chimay.)

(Photo, above: brewing vessels at Chimay.)

His blog is in Dutch, so I will translate: The experiment is being
conducted at a few cafes near the brewery, namely: L'Auberge de
Poteaupre in Bourlers; La Ferme des 4 Saisons in Bourlers;
Brasserie du Casino in Chimay; Cafe des Touristes in Virelles;
and Le Grand Café in Chimay.

Chimay has been offering the White/Tripel (9% abv) on
draft for several years, and it does make sense that the
7% abv Premiere would be a good draft choice, IMHO.

(Photo, above: the Auberge de Poteaupre cafe/restaurant.)

(Photo, above: a meal with Chimay Doree/Gold,
the monk's table beer at Auberge de Poteaupre.)

(Photo, above: Philippe Henroz, Marketing & Communication
Manager at Bières de Chimay.

If the experiment is a success, chances are high that Premiere on
draft will be commercialized in the near future.

I visited the brewery and abbey in 2004 and 2006, and quite enjoyed
visits at L'Auberge de Poteaupre. I look forward to tasting the
Premiere on draft.

(Photo, above: me in the tasting room inside the
brewery at Chimay.)

(Photo, above: Philippe Henroz with spent grain
in the brewhouse at Chimay.)

Rochefort Trappist brewery, church, library survive fire

2011-01-03T18:05:00.012-05:00

(Photo, above: Brother Pierre, monk in charge of overseeing

the brewery, at brewkettle one.)

L’ Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy, best known for their dark, strong, world-classic Rochefort 6, 8 and 10 beers, suffered a very serious fire on the evening of December 30, 2010. Several of the oldest buildings in the Abbey complex were gutted by fire, which started in a building housing several generators.

(Photo, above: one of the old brewery buildings hit by the fure.)

(Photo, above: an old entrance to the Abbey complex.)

These generators were being used to power the Abbey and brewery as cold, snowy whether led to electrical delivery problems in the area. Fortunately, the fire was contained. Rochefort Brewmaster Gumer Santos told me at press time: “There are no critical damages to the brewery, community, library or church. Also, the monk’s sleeping quarters were spared as well.”

(Photo, above: the brewery as seen from the outside. It is in the

building behind the trees in the center of the image.)

(Photo, above: brewkettle one in action.)

(Photo, above: the emblem/symbol of the brewery, dating

to 1664.)

Additionally, despite preliminary reports stating that over 27,000 liters of beer was destroyed in the fire, no beer was lost. Saving the library, which is full of priceless old books, as well as the brewery and church, were priorities of the several fire brigades that fought the blaze.

(Photo, above: one of the Abbey buildings.)

I have visited the brewery and abbey three times, in 2003, 2005 and 2008. It’s certainly a blessing that, while it was a terrible fire, it could have been much worse.

(Photo, above: the church at Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy.)

(Photo, above: an old book in the library.)

OBER Kerstbier (Christmas) Beer Fest

2010-12-15T20:32:00.017-05:00

(Photo, above: an OBER member pouring a Christmas
beer in 2007. Note the tie. These guys are serious
about their beer fest!)

O.B.E.R. (roughly translated as "The Objective Beer Tasters
of the Essen Region") has been organizing what is
arguably the world's greatest festival of Christmas
and winter beers for many years now. Surely it is
easily the best for Belgian beers in those categories.

I attended in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2009.

(Photo, above: Slaghmuylder's yummy
Kerstbier on draft.)

Sadly, I'm stateside this year, but for any of you
in Belgium this weekend (or wishing you were too!)
here's a little preview-and look back.

(Photo, above: Brewer Hans Depypere of Brouwerij
St. Bernardus in 2009, with his lady friend.
St. Bernardus Christmas was named the top Christmas
beer of the 2009 fest.)

For 2010, word from my friend and OBER webmaster
Gunter Mertens is that there will be around 155 beers
on the list, with about 25 new ones not available in 2009.
This includes 20 beers on tap, the rest in bottles.

Ones beer lovers are excited about include Zwet, a
Drie Fonteinen-De Proefbrouwerij collaboration beer,
and Hof ten Dormaal Winter 11, among many others.

(Photo, above: OBER member Hans pouring De Glazen Toren's
special Christmas Saison in 2007.)

The article below, about the 2009 event, appeared in the
February/March 2010 issue of Celebrator Beer News.

(Photo, above: shot of the hall in 2009.)

Fifteen Years of Christmas Beers

The world’s greatest Christmas beer festival just keeps getting better and better. Organized by O.B.E.R. (The Objective Beer Tasters of the Essen Region) the 15th edition of the “Kerstbier” fest, held at the Heuvelhall in Essen, Belgium, offered 157 beers, with 22 on draft.

(Photo, above: the beer list is seen above the
taps here, and bottles begin on the right.)

“We even have five mulled cherry beers, called gluhkrieks, that we are offering hot today, at 65 degrees Celsius (nearly 150 degrees F)” Gunter Mertens, Secretary of O.B.E.R., told me during my visit to the fest on Saturday, December 12. “The rarest is perhaps the De Cam Hiete, from lambic blender Karel Goddeau. It is a genuine artisanal kriek with 40 kg (88 pounds) of cherries per 100 liters. We sweeten it a little with honey; it is then spiced at a rate of one small stick of cinnamon, twelve cloves, and one bay leaf per liter” Gunter mentioned.

(Photo,above: the five mulled/heated beers
at the 2009 event.)

It didn’t take very long for me to traverse the fifteen or so feet separating me from the Hiete. It was delicious! I also tried the Timmermans Warme Kriek Chaude, Van Honsebrouck Premium Gluhkriek, and perhaps the original, Liefmans Gluhkriek. All were very good. Of course, it was a cold, windy day in Essen, and these warming elixers hit the spot at the beginning of the fest.

(Photo, above: shot in the hall just a few minutes
after the fest opened. Note the line to buy glasses
and tokens.)

Other interesting brews on draft were Kessel X-mas, from Brouwerij De Vlier; Tournay de Noel from Br. Cazeau; Loterbol Winterbol; and De Ryck Christmas. There were too many bottled brews to mention all my favorites, however several new ones are worth a mention, such as La Grelotte from Br. Grain ‘d Orge; Kerstbier from De Scheldebrouwerij; Pere Canard from Sint-Canarus; and Nondedju de Montaigu, a strong blond ale with a smoothness that belies its nearly 11 percent alcohol.

(Photos, above: here is where you buy tokens
and glasses.)

Most beers cost one token (1.5 euros, about $2.25) for a 15 cl/5 ounce glass, while a few special and rare brews cost 2 or 3 tokens. Such brews included Bush (Scaldis) de Nuits and Prestige (both 13% abv, and 3 tokens each) as well as four special Mikkeler beers that cost 2 tokens each, and were brewed at De Proefbrouwerij in Belgium, sent to Denmark, and reimported to Belgium for the fest. That’s dedication.

(Photo, above: a table of beer lovers enjoying the fest
in 2009.)

As usual, the OBER crew had snacks like Vlaams Carbonnade (Flemish beef tips in a gravy sauce) on offer, as well as a new feature: cheeses from three Trappist breweries: Chimay, Orval and Westmalle, served with bread.
Kudos to Gunter Mertens and the whole OBER crew for 15 Years of Christmas Beers!
See: kerstbierfestival.be.

(Photo, above: if you see the gentleman in the
Stone shirt at the fest, be sure and buy him a beer.
Especially if he's wearing a Santa outfit. No, it's
not me.)

Monk's Stout, a new beer from Brasserie Dupont

2010-12-04T07:43:00.008-05:00

(Photo, top: Monk's Stout debuts at the HORECA Expo
in Ghent last month. Photo by Stu Stuart.)

My friend Stu Stuart (who I hear runs some great beer
tours to Belgium) was over in "Belgie" last month,
and visited the superb HORECA Expo in Ghent, held
November 21-25.

HORECA stands for "Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes"
and the Expo is a trade fair for anything you'd need
for such an establishment in Belgium.

Including beer.

In fact, when I attended in 2008, there were at least
25 breweries set up with miniature pubs serving great
Belgian beer. Yes, it was heaven inside, as it snowed
outside. You could check out the latest, greatest new
restaurant equipment, have a beer, then return to
whatever you might be shopping for.

I stuck with beer.

The EXPO is often used as a place to debut new brews,
as with Brasserie Lefevbre's Hopus and Brouwerij's Bockor's
Omer in 2008.

(Photo, above: an old Monk's Stout sign
hanging on the wall of Cafe Les Caves Dupont in
Tourpes, right across from the brewery.)

This year, one of the new brews is one I already knew about,
at least as far as concept. Brasserie Dupont Brewmaster/
Director Olivier Dedeycker told me on my June 2 visit to
the brewery that the next new brew on his agenda would
be Monk's Stout. This is a beer his grandfather brewed
in the 1950's.

(Photo, above: Dupont Brewmaster/Director
Olivier Dedeycker.)

The first had been the dry-hopped Saison Dupont seen
in Belgium in the Spring. Yum. You get the picture.

As Dupont has extra fermentation capacity now,
Olivier has the luxury of crafting some new brews, or
re-creating some old specialties.

(Photo, above, by Stu Stuart.)

There are two versions of Monk's Stout. Both are 5.2% abv.
One is dry and roasty, and another is said to be a little more
rounded. Initial tasting reactions are that they are both
very tasty beers. I'd expect nothing less from this superb
brewery!

Monk's Stout is available in 33cl bottles and 20 liter
kegs in Belgium. Whether we'll see any stateside is yet
to be seen. Cross your fingers.

Or buy a plane ticket.

LambicLand, and Gueuzerie Tilquin

2010-11-27T12:42:00.016-05:00

The long-awaited second edition of LambicLand was recently
published, and I'm happy to say it was well worth the wait.

Tim Webb, Chris "Podge" Pollard and Siobhan McGinn have put
together a thoroughly well-researched work that covers all the
lambic producers in Belgium's Payottenland. They also discuss
other makers of spontaneously fermented beer, such as
Bockor and Van Honsebrouck.

Bars and restaurants stocking lambic brews are also covered
in great detail. If you are planning a visit to Belgium's lambic
country, or want to learn about lambic brewing and blending,
this is the book to have.

(Photo, above: Tim Webb, pulling an authentic Kriek from
3 Fonteinen at the superb Moeder Lambic Fontainas
in Brussels.)

(Photo, above: Pierre Tilquin (left) of Gueuzerie Tilquin
talking with LambicLand co-authors Chris "Podge"
Pollard and Siobhan McGinn inside the blendery.)

The book is richly illustrated with photos from breweries,
blenderies, bars and much more.

(Photo, above: Pierre Tilquin pouring a sample of lambic.)

I am a contributor to the book: I wrote the section on Belgium's
new lambic blendery, Gueuzerie Tilquin. I also wrote an article
about Tilquin in the August/September issue of Celebrator Beer
News.

(Photo, above: barrels at Gueuzerie Tilquin.)

Copies of LambicLand can be purchased here. I'm sure Tim will sign
your copy if you ask.

Brouwerij Rodenbach and Max's Taphouse Rollout Event

2010-11-18T18:55:00.047-05:00

(Photo, top: Rudi Ghequire, Brewmaster, Brouwerij Rodenbach.
He has just pulled a sample of an eight month old brew from foeder
293. Yes, it was really good!)

Did I ever mention I like sour beer? Sure I did.

On Tuesday December 7, you can too. Barring any unexpected
developments, Devin Arloski of Latis Imports and yours truly
will host the Maryland rollout (well, re-rollout, so to speak)
of Rodenbach. The venue: Max's Taphouse in Baltimore. Yep,
the same place that holds that superb Belgian beer fest in
February.

(Photo, above: A row of massive 650 hl foeders. That's
over 545 US barrels of beer per barrel.)

I plan to show some of the 500+ images I have from my 2008 and
2010 visits to the brewery, as well as talking about the history of this
Belgian national treasure. I'll also discuss the brewing process.
There should be Rodenbach, Rodenbach Grand Cru, and Vintage 2008
on hand. Several Steenbrugge Abbey Ales and Palm will also be
available that night.

Rodenbach is one of the world's great Oud Bruin breweries.
Yep, Old Brown Ales. Michael Jackson called them Flemish
Red Ales: he coined that term.

'Vlaamse Oud Bruin' is what the locals call them in Belgie. That's
tradition. Call them what you like, these refreshing, tart, dry brews
are a real delight. Rodenbach is the benchmark. Let's have a look
(and read) below.

This article article was first published in Celebrator Beer News in August 2008.

"Brouwerij Rodenbach: the Masterpiece of Roeselare"

Rodenbach: the very name is synonymous with the tart, refreshing
red ales of West Flanders, Belgium. The burgundy-colored Rodenbach
Classic and Grand Cru are benchmarks of the style.

(Photo, above: you can see Rodenbach written on roof of the
old brewery in this photo.)

The Rodenbach site-a 15 minute walk from the train station in the
town of Roeselare, near Brugge-is a complex of numerous buildings
with various purposes, past and present. Rodenbach is one of the
most impressive breweries I have had ever the pleasure to visit. In
late May, brewmaster Rudi Ghequire greeted me and two
friends-including Daisy Claeys, owner of the famous beer cafe,
't Brugs Beertje in Brugge-and gave us a superb tour.

(Photo, above: Rudi with an 1830's map of Belgium.)

"You can see Roeselare here" Rudi told us, pointing to a spot on
a very rare map of Belgium dating to the 1830's. "Over there are
portraits of the Rodenbach family. The family played an important
role in the creation of the country of Belgium."

(Photo, above: images of some of the Rodenbach family members.)

Much of Rodenbach is a museum-even in the office space, there
are display cases with items related to the history of the family
and brewery.

"Let's have a look at the old brewery first" Rudi said, as we
entered hallowed ground.

(Photo, above: these copper brewkettles date to 1864.
They are among the oldest in Belgium.)

"This brewhouse dates to 1864. The two copper vessels are
among the very few in Belgium that survived the occupation
of the Germans in the First World War. The Rodenbach family
paid the Germans 26,000 gold coins not to take away these
brewkettles to make armaments with." Rudi told us.
"The filtration kettle dates to 1929" he continued.

(Photo, above: the filtration kettle, dating to 1929.)

The old brewery building is several stories tall, and also houses
dozens of copper-lined open fermenters, rooms with stained-glass
windows, beautifully painted Rodenbach advertising plates, colorful
old flags, and other breweriana.

(Photo, above: inside the old brewery.)

(Photo, above: stained-glass window in the old brewery.)

(Photo, above: old signs in the old brewery.)

"The first brewery on this site was called Brouwerij and
Malterie St. George. Alexander Rodenbach purchased it
in 1821, and another relative purchased it from him, in
1836" Rudi mentioned. He continued: "There is a coolship
on the roof. A gueuze called St. George used to be brewed
here."

(Photo, above: the koelschip/coolship on the top
floor of the old brewery. It was used until 1990.)

I had no idea Lambic and Gueuze had ever been produced in
Roeselare, but you learn something new every day!

(Photo, above: you can see the coal-fired malting kiln
at this entrance to the brewery complex.)

(Photo, above: inside the malting kiln.)

Another historic structure is the old coal-fired kiln, which is
recognizable by its cone-shaped black roof. "The building dates to
1864, and is protected by the government due to its historic
significance. The brewery used to do its own malting, until 1974. The
kilning was done on two levels, which helped the malts achieve a
darker color" Rudi said. There is a history of the malting process on
the walls of the kiln, in English, Dutch and French.

(Photo, above: the new brewery building. The brewhouse
is inside the glass at the left end.)

(Photos, above: inside the new brewhouse. The old brewery
is on the left.)

"Well, let's have a look at the new brewery now. Note
that 21 people work here at present" Rudi said. The
Meura brewhouse, located in a cube-shaped building,
is visible through clear glass windows from the outside,
and was installed in 2001. It has a batch size of 250
hectoliters. The brewery produces about 75,000 hl per
year, of which about 5% is the superb Grand Cru, and
most of the rest is the Rodenbach Classic, a mildly tart,
highly drinkable beer with just under 5% abv. The late,
great Michael Jackson called it "The most refreshing
beer in the world."

(Photo, above: Rudi discussing the types of fermentation
in Belgium.)

"For our purposes, the most important thing about the
brewhouse is to produce a very good wort. It's really the
wood aging and mixed yeast culture that gives our beers
most of their distinct character.
For the primary and secondary fermentation in stainless
steel vessels, we use the same mixed fermentation culture
that has been used here for 150 years. It is a blend of
top-fermenting yeasts and lactobacillus. We never re-start
the yeast culture! " Rudi exclaimed. After the first
and second fermentation, the beer is transferred into
wooden barrels, called foeders in Dutch, for maturation.

(Photo, above: the oldest oak barrel at Rodenbach,
dating to prior to 1836.)

Ah, the wood: the heart of Brouwerij Rodenbach. Foeders
are large barrels (also referred to as vats or tuns) made from
oak, which are capable of holding thousands of gallons of beer.
"The majority of our 294 foeders hold 180 hl of beer. They are
80 mm thick, weigh nearly 5 metric tons each, and hold 18
tons of beer when full" Rudi said. "We also have 18 foeders
that have a capacity of 650 hl each. They weigh about ten
metric tons empty, and can hold 65 metric tons of beer!" He
added. Rudi continued: "Let's have a taste from a few of them!"
Rudi's offer-a rare treat-was accepted without hesitation!

(Photo, above: a row of 180 hl foeders.)

The first brew was a very young beer, which had only been
in its vat about a week or two. It was evident that the
maturation process had started, but had a ways to go for the
kind of complexity and tartness Rodenbach is known for.
The next brew Rudi poured from a foeder was very fruity
and very complex, and a favorite of the four of us. A third
was very tart and acidic-and I mean Cantillon territory!
I quite enjoyed it. A fourth sample was in between-tart
and fruity, and also very good. All were different in their
own way.

(Photo, above: Rudi pulling a sample. For research
purposes only, of course.)

"As you have tasted, each foeder has its own flavor. No
beer is exactly alike. We achieve some consistency by
blending from different barrels. The Classic is a mix
of 25% old beer (matured for at least two years in
foeders) and 75% young beer, with less than a few months
of aging. The 6% abv Grand Cru is a blend from several
different foeders, averaging 18 months old. Additionally,
we add about 6 grams of sugar per liter to the Classic,
and 10 grams per liter to the Grand Cru, to balance out
some of the sharpness of these brews" Rudi stated.

Rudi continued "Note also that the maturation in the
wood is not really a third fermentation. We do not
add any yeast when the beer is put in the foeders, as
this tends to produce a bready taste, which can be
unpleasant. There is some acetic acid imparted by
the wood, and, as well, the burgundy color of the
beer is produced by both the dark malts we use, and
through contact with the oak. Tannins in the wood
create this effect, for the most part."

(Photo, above: Cafe De Zalm.)

He continued: "We also offer Rodenbach Foederbier in a few select
cafes in Belgium, such as De Zalm here in Roeselare. This brew is a
blend of beer from three to five different foeders, with an average
age of two years on oak. If you like the tartness and complexity of
the Grand Cru, you should like the Foederbier as well, as it is even
more tart!"

(Photo, above: Rodenbach Foederbier at De Zalm,
Roeselare.)

Like it? Absolutely! I had dinner at the excellent Belga Queen in
Ghent the following evening, and savored several glasses of
Foederbier, served via handpump. 't Vosken in Ghent, Belga Queen in
Brussels, Grand Cafe Horta in Antwerp and Het Vijgeblad in Beringen
also occasionally have this brew available, as well as unblended Boon
Lambic and unfiltered Palm pale ale. Palm owns Rodenbach.
"We have two coopers on staff to repair and rebuild the oak vats.
It's a full time job to keep so many barrels, some of which are 150
years old, in working order" Rudi mentioned.

(Photo, above: rooms where the barrels are made and repaired.)

When asked about how the Rodenbach yeast culture might
evolve over time, Rudi mentioned that the University of
Leuven is currently studying the very same subject.
After the tour, we headed into the visitors center to savor a
few more of the Rodenbach brews. Quality control, of course.
Rudi told us: "You have to have a philosophy to make beer.
Our overall philosophy here is to use modern techniques
where it makes sense to, and to use traditional methods
where it makes sense to. It gives us the best of both worlds."
"My personal philosophy is to make beers with a lot of taste
and flavor, but without too much alcohol. It's not too difficult
to make a complex high-alcohol beer, and these types of beers
are popular in Belgium. But I prefer beers such as our Classic
and Grand Cru, as well as Orval, as they have lots of character,
but without overwhelming alcohol" Rudi said.

(Photo, above: Vintage 2008 is the newest Rodenbach.)

He continued "However, I do like to experiment. We just
released a new beer, Vin de Cereale, last year. It's a
barleywine of 10% alcohol, packaged in corked, 375 ml
bottles. Reports have been very favorable
about this brew. I think it has a slight honey flavor to it."
I found Vin de Cereale a very good, complex and flavorful
brew. Seek it out!
Does Rudi have any more experiments in the planning
stages? "Of course I have ideas and dreams. But I may
not discuss anything until it is a reality." He told us.
I look forward to tasting whatever the next reality may be!

(Photo, above: inside the visitor's center at Rodenbach.)

There is a visitors center in the brewery complex where groups can
visit (the brewery receives about 20,000 visitors per year) and where
parties are often held on weekends. "We have our own kitchen and
well-equipped bar, with of course our Rodenbach brews, as well as
several Boon Lambics and Palm beers. This hall is very popular,
We host 70 to 80 wedding receptions a year, plus other events!"
Rudi told us, smiling.

(Photo, above: I visited on a Saturday morning in June, 2010.
They were getting ready for a wedding reception in the hall.
What a great place to have a reception. Anyone getting married
next summer???)

(Photo, above: foeders in the Visitor's Center.)

Inside the visitors center hall, several of the large foeders have
been cut open to create a museum, where a multimedia presentation
about the history of the brewery and family can be experienced. The
visitors center is quite a fine place to savor the brews crafted just
yards away! See palmbreweries.com for more info.

Brasserie Dupont article in Taps: The Beer Magazine

2010-11-06T18:51:00.028-04:00

Photo, above: Brewmaster/Director Olivier Dedeycker,
Brasserie Dupont.

I have a 500+ word article on Brasserie Dupont, one of the world's
great breweries, in the Autumn issue of Taps: The Beer Magazine
(formerly Taps: Canada's beer magazine.)

This is my third Belgian article for Taps. I previously wrote about
Ghent's beery treasures as well as about lambic in the magazine.

I'm happy to say that with this issue, Taps is now available in the
USA at many Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores...so head out
and pick up a copy!

You can also subscribe here

Here's a photographic look at Brasserie Dupont.

Photo, above: Brasserie Dupont. You can see the boiling kettle
inside the window nearest the car.

Photos, above: the copper boiling kettle at Dupont is
heated by direct fire.

There's some exciting things going on at Dupont, as I discovered
during my 3 1/2 tour of the brewery on June 2nd. My host was
Brewmaster/Director Olivier Dedeycker, who's grandfather was
also brewmaster.

Photos, above: the copper kettles at Brasserie Dupont,
dating to around 1920. The one in the background is the
boiling kettle.

Photo, above: the new Italian brewhouse at Dupont,
built of stainless steel. It was installed in 2008.
Dupont mashes in here, then boils in the copper kettle.

Photo, above: the old mash tun at Dupont. It was used
from 1844 to 2008. The brewery is keeping it as a
museum piece, which I think is a nice touch.

Photo, above: Olivier Dedeycker pouring hop pellets
into the copper boiling kettle.

Photo, above: Olivier pouring chalices of Moinette on
top of the copper boiling kettle.
(Touring Belgium's great breweries and tasting their
excellent beers is a tough job, but I manage to
struggle through it, one beer at a time.)

Photo, above: the entrance to the fermentation hall
at Dupont.

Photo, above: a fermenter at Dupont. All of are
of the short, squat variety, as the brewery feels this produces
a more complex beer than tall, conical fermenters.

Photo, above: spent grain being pumped out of
the brewhouse.

The bottling line at Dupont.

New fermenters at Brasserie Dupont, dating to 2008.

Photo, above: a variety of Dupont cheeses made for a
fine tasting, paired with several Dupont beers.

Photo, above: Blanche de Hainaut, Dupont's excellent witbier.

Photo, above: Olivier with the superb Cervesia, a beer
brewed with very little hops and mostly herbs and
spices. A modern-day Belgian Gruit ale. Don Feinberg of
Vanberg and Dewulf Importers tells me a small quantity of
this brew will be imported to the USA next year.

Photo, above: Avec les Bons Voeux de la
Brasserie Dupont. I leave you with this world-class
beer as the holidays are nearly upon us!

Cheers, and I hope you enjoyed this short look
at Brasserie Dupont, producer of benchmark ales
like Saison Dupont and Moinette. These beers are
imported into the U.S. by Vanberg and Dewulf.
See their site for more info, as well as the brewery website.

Ostende/De Bistronoom article in Celebrator Beer News

2010-10-30T17:00:00.003-04:00

Photo, above: Stefanie De Vos and Christophe Pelfrène
outside De Bistronoom.

I'm happy to say that I have a 750 word article on the beery delights
of Belgium's port city, Ostende, in the October issue of Celebrator Beer News.
I cover Hotel Marion and 't Bottelje, which are connected to each
other and under the same ownership. "The Little Bottle" stocks 300
beers and has good food.

Photo, above: this excellent selection of 75 cl beers

features front and center at De Bistronoom.

Ostend's new beer star is De Bistronoom, a beer cuisine

restaurant with over 250 beers on offer, including the largest

selection of 75 cl bottles on the Belgian coast.

Photo, above: Christophe Pelfrène with a bottle of

De Bistronoom, the house beer of the restaurant. It

is brewed at Brouwerij den Tseut, and has 10% abv.

This brew has a whole hop flower added to it at bottling,

adding to the hop aroma and bitterness of the beer.

Stefanie de Vos and her partner, Christophe Pelfrène,

craft superb multi-course meals and pair them with Belgium's

excellent beers.
De Bistronoom offers meals cooked in beer as well. On my visit

May 31, my group enjoyed a fine lunch, with seafood being heavily

featured. The tuna steak was delectible, as was the dessert course,

custard paired withOak-Age Alvinne Melchior. Oysters, another

fish plate and veggies also impressed.

Photo, above: Oysters at De Bistronoom.

My recommendation: get to this world-class "cuisine a la biere"

restaurant if you go to Belgium! It's a mere three minute walk from

Ostende's train station, so there's no excuse for not doing so.

Photo, above: Christophe Pelfrène, with a great array

of Belgian brews.

Photo, above: a dessert course of rich custard, paired

with Picobrouwerij Alvinne's fine Oak-Aged Melchior.

Photo, above: Ive Mostrey of 't Koelschip

Also covered: Ostende's excellent new beer shop, 't Koelschip.

The shop carries over 500 different beers already, and plans are

to get that number to 1,000 over time. "The Coolship" is owned

by Ive Mostrey, a friendly, dedicated beer lover. Ive can offer

tutored tastings for groups. See http://www.koelschip.be/.

Photo, above: a shelf full of Belgian brews at 't Koelschip.

Church Key/Birch and Barley First Anniversary beer

2010-10-25T21:06:00.005-04:00

Photo, top: Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal (left); Greg Engert,
Beer Director, Birch and Barley/Church Key; and Executive Chef
Kyle Bailey, right. All three are enjoying a glass of Year 1
Anniversary Ale.

Washington, D.C.'s premier beer cuisine restaurant and bar,
Birch and Barley/Church Key, celebrated its first anniversary
all last week.

On Saturday, Beer Director Greg Engert and crew held a small
invitation-only gathering. The star of the show, so to speak, was
"Year 1: a Birch and Barley/Church Key Anniversary Ale" brewed
by none other than Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales.

Brian Strumke.

In Brian's own words:

"It has been one year since Church Key / Birch & Barley has opened it’s doors, and it that small span of time they set to elevate the level of what a beer bar / restaurant can and should be. For this occasion their beer director Greg Engert approached me to see if I could prepare a special offering. We decided to pull together chef Kyle Bailey, Greg, and myself to devise a recipe to be paired with their tasting menu for the week of their anniversary. The outcome is a delicate hazy blond ale brewed with Perle, Nelson Sauvin, and Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops and lightly spiced with toasted juniper and guinea pepper. The brew was then fermented with a mix of Belgian ale yeast and Brettanomyces Claussenii, providing an aroma of tropical fruit and mild spice with flavors following it’s course melded with soft malts."

Most importantly, you ask, how did it taste? Delicious.
Only two sixtels were produced, so it won't last long.
In fact it may be already all gone.

Photo, above: Greg Engert and Brian Strumke inside Birch and Barley

Baltimore Beer Week 2010: a look back

2010-10-19T20:19:00.012-04:00

Photos, above: Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes rings in
Baltimore Beer Week, and pounds in the tap on a firkin of
Clipper City Loose Cannon, officially beginning the eleven day
celebration of all things beery in Charm City on October 7.

Baltimore Beer Week ended on Sunday, after eleven days of
beery events.

Highlights included the opening tap celebration, three beer
festivals, countless beer tastings, many beer dinners and much
happiness.

Now we can all sleep again. Whew.

Here's a photographic look at some of the events of the week.

Photo, above: Baltimore's Museum of Industry, site of
the opening tap celebration.

Photo, above: Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales
and Steve Jones of Pratt Street Alehouse at the release of
Channel Crossing number 2, on Thursday October 7th.

Photo, above: Melanie (left) and Lindsay were two
of the loveliest ladies at the Maryland Brewer's Oktoberfest
on Saturday, October 9th.

Photo, above: the gang from Ruddy Duck Brewing were
also having a great time at the Oktoberfest.

Two of the members of the Charm City Lingerie
Football Team at the Canton Beer fest on October 17.

A sumptuous plate of glazed beef, which was one of the
courses at the Stillwater Artisanal Ales Beer Dinner at
Jack's Bistro on October 14.

Jack's Bistro Chef Ted Stelzenmuller (left) and Brian
Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales at the beer dinner.

Several local brewers at Max's on October 10: from left,
Volker Stewart, Brewer's Art; Steve Jones, Pratt Street Alehouse;
Brian Strumke, Stillwater Artisanal Ales; and Hugh Sisson,
Clipper City Brewing.

Stillwater Artisanal Day at Max's, October 10: from left,
Brenda Strumke, Brian Strumke, Casey Hard, Danielle,
and Erin Tyler.

Beer lovers waiting to buy beer at during a special release
event at Max's for Stillwater Artisanal Ales. It was 10 am on
a Sunday morning!

Aaron Goldschmidt talking with Brian Strumke during
the event.

How about one last Oktoberfest beer? Winter is just
around the corner.

See you in Baltimore in 2011!

12 Percent Imports Night at Max's Taphouse

2010-10-12T10:56:00.006-04:00

Photo, above: from left: Brian Strumke, Stillwater Artisanal Ales;
Piet from Huisbrouwerij St. Canarus; Brian Ewing (front) of
12 percent; Ronald Mengerik, De Dochter van de Korenaar
(white shirt, back;) Andre Janssens, Hof ten Dormaal (back)
and Maggie of 12 Percent Imports.
Photo taken at Tria during Philly Beer Week in June.

Baltimore Beer Week is in full swing, and I'm happy to
say that things are going well.

Tonight, Brian Ewing of 12 Percent Imports will be
here at a beer social at Max's Taphouse.

Brian imports lots of great Belgian beers.

Here's info from Casey Hard about the event:

12 PERCENT IMPORTS, TUESDAY OCT 11, 6-9pm.
Come by Tuesday to meet Brian Ewing owner of 12
percent Imports. We will have a whole bunch of his beers
on draft and in bottles.
ON DRAFT: Hof Ten Dormaal Blonde, Sint Canarus Triple,
Het Alternatief Bitter Truth, Contreras Valeir Extra,
De Dochter Van De Korenaar Embrasse, De Hoevebrouwers
Toria Triple, Stillwater Cellar Door, Stillwater Stateside Saison,
Stillwater/Olivers Channel Crossing #2, Stillwater Stateside
Saison(Cask.)

IN BOTTLES: Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout,
Emelisse Double IPA, Emelisse Esoresso Stout,
Emelisse Rauchbier, La Botteresse Noire, La Botteresse
Ambree, La Botteresse Blonde, T Gaverhopke Koerseklakse,
T Gaverhopke Extra, T Gaverhopke Singing Blonde,
T Gaverhopke Blonde, Cazeau Tournay, Cazeau Tournay
de Noel, Contreras Valeir Extra, De Dochter Van De Korenaar,
Noblesse, De Dochter Van De Korenaar Courage,
De Dochter Van De Korenaar Bravoure, De Dochter Van De
Korenaar Finesse, De Hoevebrouwers Toria, Het Alternatief
Piet Agoras, Het Alternatief Eerwaarde Pater, Hof Ten Dormaal
Amber, Stillwater Autumnal, Stillwater Of Love & Regret____________________________________________________________

Oliver's/Stillwater Artisanal Ales Channel Crossing #2 release party

2010-10-06T06:39:00.006-04:00

Photo, above: Brian and Steve enjoying a beer
during a collaboration brew day.

Baltimore Beer Week begins tomorrow night, with the
opening tap celebration at the Baltimore Museum of
Industry on Key Highway in Federal Hill. Details here.

The events runs from 6 to 8 pm.

But you aren't going to head home and go to bed
at 8 o'clock...not on opening night.....not on a Thursday...
are you?

No, you're just getting started then. Those first two hours
are a good warm-up to the many other events going on
that night.

Photo, above: Steve (left) and Brian in the firkin cooler
in the bowels of Pratt Street Alehouse.

The best of which just happens to be happening at Pratt
Street Alehouse, beginning around 9. Brian Strumke of
Stillwater Artisanal Ales and Steve Jones of Pratt Street
(Oliver's Ales) will be on hand to debut their second
collaboration brew, Channel Crossing number 2.

The beer is described by Jones as "A Belgian take on
an English Nut Brown Ale. We used Belgian dark candi
syrup in it, among other things."

Sounds very interesting! More on the CC #2 here.

Read about Channel Crossing #1 here.

See you tomorrow night!

Baltimore Beer Week and Stillwater Artisanal Ales

2010-09-30T20:01:00.013-04:00

Top photo: Brian Strumke at "Belgium Comes to Cooperstown" 2010.
That's Jen of NYC's Blind Tiger on the right.

In just one week, the celebration of all things beery in Charm City begins.

The second edition of Baltimore Beer Week kicks off on Thursday,
October 7 at the Baltimore Musuem of Industry on Key Highway in
Federal Hill.

There are already 325 individual events planned over the course
of the ten day event, which ends Sunday October 17.

"Mr. Baltimore Beer" aka Brad Klipner, the official blogger of BBW,
covers the highlights on his website, here

The full schedule of events is listed the BBW website, here

Lots of fun stuff there. But you know what I specialize in.

The title of this blog says it all. Belgian Beer Specialist.

That means Belgian-style beers too.

Not that I don't like IPA's, palate peeling Double IPA's,
session beers or Prima pils. Cause I do. Just ask around.
Drop a six pack of Two-Hearted Ale or Celebration at my doorstep.
It won't be there for long.

But there's plenty of people writing about those brews.

Photo, above: Brian pulling a sample of a special brettanomyces-
infused, barrel-aged beer at his main brewery in Maryland.

So it's Baltimore Beer Week, and the guy turning everybody's heads
via their taste buds with his world-class Saison-inspired brews is
Mr. Brian Strumke, brewer/president of Stillwater Artisanal Ales.

Brian's been off brewing in Denmark and Belgium lately, but he'll
be back soon. Just in time for Baltimore Beer Week.

Brian in the brewhouse at his main brewery, Dog Brewing in
Westminster, Maryland.

Brian's premier event will be Sunday, October 10, from 10 am
to 3 pm. The locale: the friendly confines of Max's Taphouse,
Maryland's number one beer bar.

As Brian's first commerical brews debuted at Max's Belgian fest
in February, it's only fitting. Max's General Manager, Casey Hard,
has been a big supporter of Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Multiple
events have been held at Max's in the past seven months, with
special and rare Stillwater brews often seen on tap there.

You could say Casey knows a good thing when he sees it.

Photo, above: Casey Hard of Max's Taphouse

Photo, above: Brian putting dry hops in a cask of Cellar Door.

This lineup for the Max's event just in from Brian, today:
(he took a little break from a long brew day at Huisbrouwerij
St. Canarus, so I could get the word out)

of Love & Regret

A Saison Darkly

Stateside Saison

Autumnal

Cellar Door

Channel Crossing V2

Stillwater / Voodoo Jungle des Rue

and, drum roll please....a "Rare Beer 101" bottle release!
This one is "Requisite", which is described as an "Imperialistic" Stout.
Only 75 twelve ounce bottles were produced of this new brew.

Brian also mentioned "various casks" will be on hand.
Yum. It's gonna be a long, enjoyable Sunday....

The rest of the Stillwater calendar of events for BBW is here.

Oh yeah, and yours truly will be showing photos inside Belgium's
lambic and sour brown ale breweries at Max's Sour beer event on
Sunday the 17th, from noon-1 pm. Gunther Bensch of Brouwerij
Montaigu will join me in.

Space is limited, so you have to RSVP Casey to reserve space.

Photo, above: Brian and his sister, Brenda Strumke, at
Birch and Barley, Washington, D.C.

Trappist Westvleteren adds new fermentation tanks

2010-09-27T19:54:00.006-04:00

Photo, above: Belgian journalist Danny Van Tricht, speaking with
Brother Benedict in the brewhouse at Westvleteren, as Brother
Joris looks on.

My good friend and colleague, Danny Van Tricht, broke the news
today that Brouwerij Westvleteren has added three new 15 hectoliter
(about 13 US barrels) fermenting tanks:

http://trappistbier.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/westvleteren-vernieuwt

The text is in Dutch, but the short, squat fermenters are shown in the
4th, 5th, and 6th photos in Danny's post.

If you look straight down the middle of the 4th photo, you can see
the entrance to the present lagering/secondary fermentation cellar.
To the right in the photos are several water tanks. It's also obvious
that a new floor has been added as well.

Here's a photo, below, of Brother Joris (left) and Danny in the room
as it appeared previously:

What do these developments mean for beer lovers? Well, only
time will tell. But I suspect we might be hearing more about
Westvleteren in the not-too-distant future.