|
I visited Belgium for the 20th time in early December, and it was another memorable trip.
I toured seven breweries new to me, as well as a fourth visit to the Westvleteren Trappist brewery. I found the new Gentse Stadsbrouwerij Gruut to be a fine place. The brewery uses no hops in its three tasty and interesting beers, and has a female brewmaster, Annick De Splenter. Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal, which just opened last May, also was an enjoyable visit. The brewery is located on an old farmstead dating to the 12th century, with open fields surrounding the area. The brewing equipment comes secondhand from the U.S. and the amber and blond are well-made brews.
I also had the pleasure to visit a new beer restaurant on the Belgian coast, De Bistronoom, in Ostende. This sharp, classy new place is owned and run by Stefanie de Vos and her partner, Christophe. While I did not have the chance to savor a meal there, I can say the beer selection — around 200 beers, with most in 75 cl bottles — is excellent. One of these-aptly called De Bistronoom is the house beer, and is brewed at Den Tseut, a new microbrewery in East Flanders. See www.debistronoom.be.
Max’s Taphouse is gearing up for its sixth annual Belgian fest, which will be held President’s Day/Valentines day weekend, Feb. 12-14. “We plan to have 120 authentic Belgian beers on draft, and around 150 in bottles,” Casey Hard, general manager and organizer of the event, told me in mid-January. “We’ll also debut Max’s Belgian Porter, which is 7.5%, and crafted at a small Belgian brewery,” he added. Rumor has it there will also be a press event and preview of Stillwater Artisanal Ales, a new brewing venture led by Baltimore native Brian “Stillwater” Strumke. The first offering will be “Stateside Saison,” an American-hopped, Belgian-inspired ale. This brew is projected to be released around mid-March in 750 ml bottles nationwide, as well as on draft in the Mid-Atlantic area. Later this spring will see the launch of the Belgian-brewed “Import Series.” See www.stillwaterales.com for more info.
I visited the O.B.E.R. Kerstbier (Christmas Beer) fest in Essen, Antwerp Province, for a fourth time on my recent trip. “We have 157 beers here, with 22 on tap,” Gunter Mertens, Secretary of the club, told me Dec. 12. “There are 15 new beers this year,” Gunter commented, as I perused the superb beer list. Four Gluhkrieks-Kriek beers served hot made for a great way to start the day’s imbibing after the cold half-hour walk from the train station. De Cam’s Hiete was perhaps the most interesting of all. Another beer of note included Nondedju de Montaigu, a strong, malty, blond ale of 10.7% with great drinkability. Montaigu is a new brewing venture headed by Gunther Bensch of Scherpenheuvel, Flemish Brabant. There were plenty of other great brews at the fest, and I wish I had the space to list them all! See www.kerstbierfestival.be.
Armand Debelder of Drie Fonteinen told me in January that he will no longer brew. In fact, Armand and his wife, Lydie Hulpiau, plan to open a small distillery on the premises of the blendery in Beersel. Distilling is much less labor intensive than brewing, Armand mentioned. His first foray into the arena, Armand’s Spirit which was created from the overheated Oude Gueuze that was rendered unsaleable due to a broken thermostat in a storage facility, has received excellent reviews. I tasted it several times while in Belgium in December, and it is a very smooth (especially considering its 40% strength!), delicious libation, with just a hint of Gueuze funk. It was made at a distillery in Wallonia.
Don’t panic, sour beer lovers: Drie Fonteinen will continue to blend lambic from Boon, Girardin, and Lindemans, as they have for decades, into Oude Gueuze and other brews. In truth, only a small portion of the lambics that were blended into most of the Drie Fonteinen beers were produced on site, as the brewery was a small one. (A few special brews did use 100 percent lambic brewed at 3 Fonteinen). Don’t expect any changes at the superb restaurant, or the excellent LambikODroom cafe. See www.3fonteinen.be.
|
