Sad news: Beers of the World magazine to cease production

I received sad news from Beers of the World Magazine Editor
Sally Toms one week ago: the magazine will cease production after
issue 26. It will live on as a website: http://tastingbeers.com.
Beers of the World, based in the U.K. but also available in the U.S.,
was one of my favorite beer mags. It offered great coverage of the
world beer scene!
I had five articles over the years in the magazine. I covered Antwerp's
Bierhuis Kulminator in issue 11; beery Brussels in issue 14; Belgium's
female brewmasters in issue 15; Belgian breweries in issue 16; and
great Belgian cafes in issue 22.

Links are here, except for issue 22, was was never put on the
Internet.
Only the first few hundred words of the articles are on-line:

http://www.beers-of-the-world.com/magazine/author/charles_d_cook.html

Cheers to four years of great articles in Beers of the World, and all
the best to the staff in future endeavors.
Hopefully the new Beer Connoisseur magazine will fill the void that
BOTW leaves.

Cheers,

Charles aka Chuck Cook

"Belgium Comes to Cooperstown" is this weekend!

Photo: Captain Lawrence brewer/owner Scott Vaccaro, with his lady at last year's beer fest.
I'm hoping Scott will be bringing some of the newest batch of Cuvee de Castleton this weekend.
Fingers crossed...



Brewery Ommegang's superb beer fest, "Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (N.Y.) is this weekend.
I'll be there. Yes, a "Beer Research" weekend is ahead!

Here's an article about last year's fest.


“The Big Lebrewski”: Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, 2008

“We have over 250 beers at the fest this year!” Larry Bennett, Marketing manager for Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY, told me as I entered one of the best Belgian beer fests in all the U.S.A. on Saturday, August 2nd. “There are about 50 Belgian beers and 200 Belgian-style brews” Larry continued. What a lineup it was!
The weekend began with a multiple-course VIP beer dinner on the Friday night, featuring a variety of fine foods, such as mussels, duck, frites, cheeses, and a plethora of brews from the Duvel/Moortgat/Ommegang “family.” These included Duvel, several Maredsous and Achouffe beers, as well as the entire Ommegang lineup. A new brew that impressed me was the Ommegang Rouge, brewed in conjunction with Brouwerij Bockor in Bellegem, West Flanders. I toured Bockor and sampled several very tart and refreshing brews from their wooden foeders in 2007, and the new Rouge is a fine Red Flanders ale, in the style of Rodenbach.
The weather was nearly perfect for the weekend, despite some morning rain showers, with temps in the upper 70’s and low humidity. The beer fest on the Saturday was another top-notch event, with about 50 breweries in attendance. Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City pleased beer lovers with their Saison Brett 07; Brewer’s Art, of my hometown of Baltimore, had Seven Beauties, a country rye style ale, and other brews; Bullfrog Brewing of PA offered several tasty Saisons; Russian River drew a large crowd for its superb Beatification and Supplication; Iron Hill with its Heywood sour brett ale and Saison Extra, and many others; Ithaca Brewing had their excellent Brute, a golden sour ale aged in French oak, with Brettanomyces added, and finished with a champagne yeast; Southampton offered the fine Cuvee de Fleurs, brewed with lavender, dried flowers and spices; Cambridge Brewing wowed with its always-tasty Cerise Cassee and Weekapaug Gruit; Captain Lawrence Brewer Scott Vaccaro really impressed with his excellent Cuvee de Castleton, which is brewed with wild yeasts, muscat grapes, and is aged in French oak wine barrels. Yum!
The theme of the 2008 fest was “The Big Lebrewski” and tickets-200 for the Friday night beer dinner, and about 1,000 for the Saturday beer fest-sold out the same day! See ommegang.com for more info.

Gunther Bensch...anyone stateside looking for a Belgian brewer? Plus Girardin and Bienvenue a Montaigu

Gunther Bensch, 32, knows a thing or two about lambic beers. He represents the lambic brewery, Girardin, at several Belgian beer festivals throughout the year. The Girardin Oude Gueuze 1882 is one of the great lambic beers of Belgium. “My mother used to give me a table beer from Brouwerij Haacht, instead of cola, when I was very young” Gunther told me, as we talked after our tour of Girardin in April 2009. “She said beer was healthier than a sweet cola” he continued. Table beer is typically about 1 to 2 percent alcohol by volume; a good training wheels beer.
“Later, I drank Horse ale when I was about 14, and then someone shared a bottle of the Girardin with me when I was 16. By then, I knew I really liked beer. I worked at an Interbrew plant for three summers, beginning when I was 16. I became a disc jockey when I was around 20, and spent a few years doing that. When I was 26, I enrolled in brewing courses at CLT in Ghent. I also joined beer appreciation clubs and started homebrewing. Then in 2004, I first visited Girardin. I really like lambic beers” Gunther said, smiling. “In 2006, I created the world’s first Tripel Gueuze. It was a blend of Girardin White Label Gueuze, and Dilewyn’s Vicaris Tripel, which is brewed at De Proefbrouwerij. Nowadays, my beer is Bienvenue a Montaigu, which I have brewed to my recipe at ‘t Hofbrouwerijke in Beerzel. It has 7.5% abv, and uses some wheat in its recipe. So, it has more body than a normal Tripel, yet is a little lighter in alcohol. You can have two of these in an evening.”
Gunther’s future plans? “I really like the USA. I would like to get a job as a brewer somewhere there, and stay and build a life.” Anybody need a Belgian brewer? Shoot me an e-mail. Seriously.

Beer Connoisseur goes live...with the Belgian Beer blogger

Well, good news for Belgian beer lovers.

The Beer Connoisseur website is now live at:

http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/

This is a new website, where I will be blogging weekly about Belgian beer.

Beer Connoisseur plans to go live as a magazine late this year.
It will be quarterly.

Look for lots of articles about Belgian breweries, cafes, beers, and
beer-related things!!

My introductory article is at

http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/Discover_Belgium

I hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

Chuck

Photos in the "Good Beer Guide to Belgium"

Brother Antoine at brewkettle one, Brasserie Trappistes Rochefort.
This image is on page 96 of the new Good Beer Guide to Belgium.
Without the watermarks, of course!





The newest edition of Tim Webb's "Good Beer Guide to Belgium" was just published about 10 days ago, and copies are available at http://www.babblebelt.com/articles/webbnew.html.

This completely revamped sixth edition is probably the best yet. It is very professionally produced, with slick, glossy pages and loads of new content.

It is also very well illustrated, with many superb photos. 25 of the images in the Guide are mine, including several from the Trappist breweries. There are also photos I took at various cafes, beer fests, and other breweries.

I can't recommend this highly enough: if you like Belgian beer, get a copy!

Cheers,

Chuck Cook



Brother Benedict, the brewer at Westvleteren/De Sint-Sixtusabdij
van Westvleteren, at brewkettle one.
This photo is on page 164 of the new Guide.

"Breweries and Cafes of Kortrijk" article in June/July 2009 Celebrator Beer News

The brewmaster of Bockor in Bellegem, pulling a sample of lambic right from one of their foeders (huge oak barrels.)


I have an article about the breweries and cafes in the vicinity of Kortrijk, West Flanders, in the June/July issue of Celebrator Beer News.
The article, which runs about 1,350 words, covers cafes like Staminee Den Boulevard, Eirekedeirie, and others in the city, as well as the great Rusteel in Gullegem. I also wrote about the breweries in the region, such as 't Brouwkot, Bockor, Gaverhopke and more.
Kortrijk is an under-appreciated city and corner of West Flanders, that deserves more attention for its beery riches.

Toer de Geuze article in June/July Celebrator Beer News

The new Celebrator arrived on Friday, and I have two Belgian beer articles in this issue.

One is about the Toer de Geuze, held April 26 in the Payottenland. What a great Sunday it was, visiting the lambic breweries!

Well, back to work. I have many more deadlines to meet this month.....

Cheers,

Chuck