Belgium: Trip 21

Me with brewmaster/Director Olivier Dedeycker, in the brewhouse
at the superb Brasserie Dupont in Tourpes: one of the world's

greatest breweries.

Photo: me and Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

I just got back Monday afternoon from my 21st trip to Belgium and 25th to Europe overall.

Maybe that will explain the over three week lapse in postings here. Yeah, excuses, excuses.

I visited two lambic blenderies, nine breweries and two special lambic events while there.

Photo: Armand Debelder of 3 Fonteinen with a copy of the Canadian
Beer magazine, Taps. There are 2 photos of Armand in my article on
lambic beer in this Spring issue.

It was another superb trip, I'm happy to say.

Highlights were visiting all the barrel rooms at Girardin, within an hour and a half of the jetliner touching down in Brussels, and tasting Frambooslambik and two other straight lambics right from the fermenters and barrels; visiting the new lambic blendery in Wallonia, Gueuzerie Tilquin; my first meal at De Bistronoom in Ostende; return visits at 3 Fonteinen, Dupont, Liefmans, Rodenbach and De Ryck; the Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation Beer Fest; the Day of the Kriek at In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst; visiting several new small breweries; and soaking up the atmosphere sitting outside at numerous cafes in perfectly sunny 75 to 85 degree weather for more than half the trip.

Look for a full report later. Philly Beer Week calls tonight.

"Channel Crossing Series" release party, Thursday May 20

Photo: Brian Stillwater and Steve Jones, in the brewhouse at Pratt Street
Alehouse.


On April 27, I was on hand as Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales teamed up with Steve Jones of Pratt Street Alehouse (Oliver's Ales) to craft "Channel Crossing Belgian Bitter."

Steve described this beer as "an Anglo-Belgian hybrid of sorts. 14 barrels of what we’d loosely term a Biere de Garde, brewed using a mixture of English Halcyon Pale Ale, crystal, chocolate and malted wheat, German melanoidin malt and Franco-Belges pilsen malt, hopped with Czech Saaz, English Bramling Cross, First Gold and Kent Goldings and fermented with Brian’s Saison yeast."



Wort flowing into the fermenter.

OK, my interest is piqued, I'll admit. Even more so when I read Steve's blog http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/news/ this morning, which mentions several different dry-hopped firkins of this brew:

"We hope that you will be able to join Brian of Stillwater Artisinal Ales and myself on Thursday evening from 6pm to celebrate the launch of our Channel Crossing Belgian Bitter. $5 will get you your first fill and a souvenir glass and refills are $3 thereafter. The beer will be on draft and in cask in a firkin with French Oak and three pins dry hopped with Czech Saaz, Kent Goldings and Bramling Cross respectively. Celebrate American Craft Beer Week in style with us."



Brian, checking the brew.

Spent hops.




Steve and Brian having a beer break.



The brewhouse at Pratt Street Alehouse.



Thumbs up from Steve!

See you all Thursday night!

Lambic article in Taps: Canada's Beer Magazine

I'm happy to say that I have a 1,500 word article about Lambic

beer and Belgium's Lambic breweries in the Spring issue of

Taps: Canada's Beer Magazine.

The article is richly illustrated, with a dozen photos I took at

these hallowed places.

Thanks to Taps editor Karla Dudley for helping me promote

this great style of beer and these fine breweries and blenderies.

The magazine is available both on-line and in print. See:

http://www.tapsmedia.ca/

Enjoy!

Trappist Beer Dinner at Victoria Gastro Pub-Tuesday May 11

I will be speaking, along with Merchant du Vin rep John Brown, at a Trappist beer dinner at Victoria Gastropub in Columbia, Maryland tomorrow, Tuesday May 11.

This dinner will feature the Merchant du Vin-imported beers, from Orval, Rochefort, and Westmalle.

I plan to show photos from inside these breweries and parts of the Abbeys during the dinner.

Here is the menu: http://www.victoriagastropub.com/File/Trappiste%20Menu.pdf

Cheers!

Special casks of Stillwater Ales Stateside Saison at Max's Tuesday night

Photo: Brian Strumke, aka Brian Stillwater, of Stillwater Artisanal Ales.

This Tuesday night, May 4th, Max's Taphouse in Fell's Point will have two special pins of Stateside Saison in Max's Mobtown Lounge starting at 6 pm..

These are some of the first casks of batch 2 of Stateside Saison.

The first is brewed with Calendula Flowers, French Oak and Schisandra Berries.

The other is Stateside with Chamomile Flowers.

Brewer Brian Stillwater tells me even he hasn't yet tasted these creations, which are sure to be superb...and to go quickly!

See you there!

Brouwerij Girardin article in DRAFT magazine

It's been a crazy few weeks full of beery events.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Mea culpa.

I am happy to say that I just had my first article published

in Draft magazine, in the March/April issue.

It's one of the cover features, as you can see from the image.

The article is in the "Beer Me" section of the issue. It's

an 800 word piece on Brouwerij Girardin, one of Belgium's

great lambic breweries.

I had a great visit at Girardin on April 25, 2009, which I

think will be quite apparent when reading the story.

Hopefully it will give some insight to beer lovers about the

brewery, and the people behind it.

I hope you enjoy the article.

Many thanks to DRAFT editors Jessica Daynor and

Erika Rietz for publishing it.

This blog is mentioned in the article, I'm happy to say.

Cheers!

Belgian Beer Cafes: article on the Hageland and the Kempen regions in April Celebrator Beer News

I'm happy to say that I have a roughly 800 word article on a couple of

fine Flemish beer areas in the April/May 2010 issue of Celebrator

Beer News.

The article, "Belgian Beer Cafes: Exploring the Hageland and

Kempen Regions" is about beery cafes and breweries in the

northeast corner of the Province of Flemish Brabant, as well

as part of the Kempen, an area to the east and southeast of

the city of Antwerp, in the province of the same name.

You'll see names like Brouwerij Loterbol, Hof ten Dormaal,

and Brouwerij Montaigu, as well as many superb cafes.

Many thanks to my Belgian friends who live in the area,

Danny Van Tricht and Gunther Bensch, for taking me to

these superb beer locales.

Enjoy!