Brasserie Orval article in Taps: The Beer Magazine

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

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

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

(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

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

(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

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!