BELGIUM

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BELGIUM

PAUL DAVIES IS NO STRANGER TO BELGIUM AND THE BEERS, REVERED AROUND THE WORLD, PRODUCED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN THIS ARTICLE HE PAYS HOMAGE TO THE FINE PRODUCERS OF OUD BRUIN BEFORE MAKING THE JOURNEY FOCUSTO DAG VAN DE OUDE GEUZE - TRANSLATED TO DAY(S) OF THE OLD GUEUZE - AND THE STUNNING BREWERIES AND BLENDERIES HE’D VISIT ALONG THE WAY. I first met Marc Coesens of Brouwerij Liefmans about 3 and a half years ago. While enjoying his generous hospitality and in particular the refreshingly quaffable Oud Bruin, Marc lamented the decline in popularity of this wonderful beer. Oud Bruin is a blend of old and young beer which provide a harmonious balance of mature malt aromas, sweet youthful flavours and a subtle refreshing sour backbone which is both thirst-quenching and addictive. He reflected that it was viewed as an old-fashioned beer and that younger beer enthusiasts overlooked it for more exciting modern beers. A few weeks ago I took some industry colleagues on a tour of mixed fermentation breweries in Flanders – rood bruins – and lambic breweries and blenderies in Pajottenland. I asked Marc if he still wanted to 30 | SUMMER 2022 update the Oud Bruin brand by renaming it Odnar which is a heritage brand from the brewery’s past. Marc pointed out that Odnar was named after previous owners of the brewery and was an abbreviation of the brewery name around the turn of the nineteenth century.

Marc lamented that the younger beer market wouldn’t get excited by a beer called ‘old brown’ and was hopeful of a re-brand in the future. I can see what he means about the name. But the beer remains a delight and there is no better place to enjoy it than the tasting bar at Liefmans while Marc is in full storytelling flow.

BROUWERIJ VERHAEGHE

My colleagues and I were in Belgium for the Dag van de Oude Geuze festival which was back after a Covid-enforced hiatus (more about this on a later post). On our way to our base in Halle we popped in to Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Vichte where we met retired teacher and local historian Pol Ostyn for a history lesson held in the old horse stables which is now a tasting cafe and tour of this amazing brewery.

Founded in 1885 by Paul Verhaeghe the brewery became a popular supplier of beer to Brussels due to its location next to the Vichte train station. The First World War ended the brewery’s association with Brussels and they focussed more regionally, producing their first bottom fermenting beer. Karl and Peter Verhaeghe now run the brewery, Karl on the management side and Peter in the brewhouse.

Today, Verhaeghe is better know globally for its rood bruin Duchesse de Bourgogne, a blend of 8 month and 18th month old beers matured in oak barrels and name after Duchesse Mary of Burgundy who was born in Brussels. Locally, Vichtenaar another rood bruin is the beer of choice. Of course the Foeder Hall was the highlight of the brewery tour before we settled back in the old stables where Pol gave us a very generous tasting of Verhaeghe beers. Well generous to the others, I was driving! BROUWERIJ RODENBACH

Our next stop just had to be Brouwerij Rodenbach in Roeselare and not just because this year they celebrate their 200th anniversary! In fact the anniversary relates to when the Rodenbach brothers bought an existing brewery on Spanjestraat (one of two located there at the time). The site has been brewing since the 17th century and back in the day they brewed lambic.

One can never get tired of visiting Rodenbach, especially the majestic Foeder Halls but this visit was to be extra special as Rudi Ghequire was to give us a private tour, including the original brewhouse which was closed in 2002. It was quite an honour to walk in Rudi’s steps and experience the old brewhouse – the mash tuns, kettles, lauter vessels, and possibly the largest koelship I’ve ever seen. And he’s been treading these steps for almost 40 years. The whole experience was a privilege.

Of course, no visit to Rodenbach is complete without a walk through the breathtaking Foeder Halls. 294 of these magnificent wooden structures exist, some of which are 150 years old. It is from these foeders that beers are matured to create Rodenbach Classic, Grand Cru, Vintage, Charactere Rouge, Alexander and Rosso.

Rudi shared another special treat – his new beer which has been produced especially for the 200 year anniversary Rodenbach Red Tripel is an 8.2% abv tripel blended with a two year old beer. Its an extremely clean beer and drinks way below 8.2%. Refreshing, malty, fruity and lots of complex malt and wood character. A little know fact is that Eugene Rodenbach carried out some brewing training in England prior to taking over the brewery as manager in 1878. It is here where he learned the art of maturing beer in wooden casks and blending young and old beers. You can learn all about it from the anniversary book ‘Rodenbach 200 years: History Poured in a Bottle, History Written in a Bottle’

So Marc at Liefmans was lamenting the decline of his beloved Oud Bruin and reflecting that younger consumers struggle to get excited by a beer called ‘old brown’. This could be true but seems to have been lost on the team at Brouwerij ‘t Verzet in Anzegem. These dudes first appeared on the scene as gypsy brewers 10 years ago – they were known as Brouwers Verzet back then as they didn’t have a brewhouse of their own. That all changed in March 2016 when their brewery produced its first beer.

Known foremost for their devotion to oud bruin, Koen and Alex also produce a range of blonds, porters, IPAs and anything they find interesting. Their thirst for experimentation has also taken the oud bruin style to another level. Each year sees the release of their celebrated range of oud bruin infusions, using additions of different fruits and even oak leaves.

And it doesn’t end there. Kameradski Balsamico is a Russian Imperial Stout/ Oud Bruin hybrid at 13.5%, while Super Boil extends the time in the kettle from 1.5 hours to 16 hours, producing a much richer and caramel-forward beer. A method that is rumoured to have taken place in the distant past. For their 10 years anniversary the team will also be hosting their first Oud Bruin Festival in Kortrijk held over 2 days Friday and Saturday 10th/11th December. The event will feature 33 breweries and includes a number of masterclasses presented by the visiting breweries. Not to be missed!

BROUWERIJ LIEFMANS

Brouwerij Liefmans was the last mixed fermentation brewery of our trip. Experiencing Marc Coesens’ hospitality, driven by his infectious personality is a real delight. Marc clearly loves to entertain guests with stories regarding the brewery and his life in beer. After over 21 years at Duvel in Moortgat where he ran the brewery lab he moved close to home to take over Brouwerij Liefmans in July 2008 when Duvel bought the then bankrupt brewery and brought it back to life. The history of the brewery began in 1679 in the centre of Oudenaarde.

In 1750 Jacobus Liefmans relocated the brewery to its current site on the banks of the river Scheldt and it took until the 20th Century before Liefmans began adding cherries to their tanks and launched their kriek beers. Things took off under the eye of Rosa Merckx who joined the brewery in 1946. It was Rosa who recognised that to increase their popularity, the mixed fermentation beers needed to be less tart and she reworked many of the breweries recipes. She became the first recognised female brewmaster in Belgium and took over the management of the brewery in 1972. Madame Rosa still lives next door to the brewery and regularly pops in to pick up a bottle or 2. A true beer legend.

WHO LOVES SOME LAMBIC? A TRIP TO THE DAG VAN DE OUDE GEUZE

When you walk into De Cam Geuzestekerij in Gooik, the first thing that you see is a well-worn print of The Peasant Wedding, a 16th Century painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted just before his death. The painting depicts a party with revellers eating and drinking along tables and bowls of food being distributed. On the bottom left of the painting, a man is pouring beer into jugs. Karel Godeau is certain that this would have been lambic beer, common around the Brussels area where Bruegel moved to five years previously. Karel is fiercely proud of his lambic and the style in general. And he is committed to retaining its provenance and isn’t too impressed with some producers’ more modern takes on the beer style.

DE CAM GEUZESTEKERIJ

A group of us had travelled across to Pajottenland to attend the 15th edition of the Dag van de Oude Geuze and take in a number of lambic breweries and geuze blenderies along the way. We also managed to fit in visits to a number of mixed fermentation breweries which you can read about here. The festival is organised by De Lambikstoempers and takes place at the Streekproductencentrum in Halle across both days of the weekend.

Beers from 18 producers were featured and being run by a not-for-profit organisation, prices are decent to say the least. A must-have is the tasting flight of five Oude Geuze, a snip at 6.5 euros. Producers in attendance were Angerik, Boerenerf Eylenbosch, Boon, Cantillon, De Cam, Den Herberg, De Troch, Eylenbosch, Drie Fonteinen, Girardin, Hanssens, Lambiek Fabriek, Lindemans, Mort Subite, Oude Beersel, Sako, Tilquin, Timmermans and the Horal Megablends from 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2021. Plus further treats were to be found in the Streekproductcentrum. I’d wholeheartedly recommend this lovely little festival. You will bump into old friends and undoubtedly make new ones. Halle is also a great base with a number of high end B&Bs in the town such as Kaai 16 where I have stayed before and the impressive Flemish Home five bedroom house. We stayed at the always classy Les Eleveurs with its comfortable rooms, hearty breakfast and fantastic restaurant where we enjoyed an historic beer tasting menu hosted by Andy De Brouwer on the Saturday evening.

We also had a full day visiting Brouwerij Boon, Den Herberg for lunch and Lambrikdroom at Drie Fonteinen. Boon had organised a schedule of brewery and foeder tours to launch their new shop at the brewery. While I always love to visit a brewery, the treat here is the barrel room where drinking fresh lambic from a foeder is a delight.

Our guide joined us in a toast of lambic from Vat 83 and I was delighted to locate Vat 31, winner of World’s Best Geuze at World Beer Awards that year when I was on the judging panel for that category. I had a peak at the new tasting room that was due to be launched in a couple of weeks, a date that I couldn’t make, due to judging commitments.

It was also great to catch up with Frank Boon and take a look around his workshop where he is busy as a cooper these days repairing foeders. Frank even gave us some staves from a 115 year old barrel, made from wood that was 200 years old at the time. Some glasses of Oude Geuze in the garden was the perfect way to end a morning at the brewery.

So it was off to Den Herberg for lunch and after a few beers and a tasty meat and cheese platter it was onwards to Lambiko-Droom. We were a very lucky group to visit the tasting room when a batch of Jerez y Frontera was launched, both the Oloroso and PX versions. And they didn’t disappoint. Midway through tasting these delights we were also offered a tour of the barrel store. One of the highlights was the foeder featuring a hand-carved relief of Armand and Gaston on the wood. It is difficult to comprehend that Armand de Belder would tragicaly pass away less than five months later. The world of beer is diminished by his absence.

kerij. Founded in 1997 by Willem van Herreweghen, Karel took over in 2000 combining his day job at Brouwerij Slaghmuylder in Ninove. He devoted himself full time to De Cam in 2019. I’d won a tour of De Cam at the virtual Toer de Geuze earlier in the year. After a detour to the excellent Cafe Den Haas, Karel welcomed us into his blendery. Immediately we were tasting a fresh jug of his lambic straight from the foeder. for a friend to collect us and take us to Eizeringen and In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst.

Karel was so generous and took us around the blendery, answered our questions and gave his honest opinions on the lambic world in Pajottenland. More lambic followed, some Framboise, a new unnamed and young fruit blend and his delicious Oude Geuze. Supplemented with local cheeses and warm weather this made for a wonderful afternoon in the company of Karel and his friends. I also picked up some five year lambic that was bottled in 2019. One of the beers of the year for me. Karel even arranged Regularly voted the best beer cafe in Belgium and worldwide In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst dates from the mid nineteenth century. For more than 51 years it was run by Marguerite who at 85 years old poured her last bottle of lambic at Christmas 1999. The Paneels brothers took over the pub and after a 5 year restoration the bar re-opened. metres away. With our newly befriended driver we enjoyed some delicious lambic from De Troch and a couple of bottles of Bokkereyder. A perfect end to one of the perfect of days. Ever.

It is an essential visit. Not only is it a perfect representation of a traditional Pajottenland cafe, it also boasts one of the best lambic cellars in the world. Apart from certain events and church holidays, the pub is open only on Sundays between 10am and 8pm. If you in the area this place is unmissable. If you are not, make the effort to visit. Bus 128 between Brussels and Ninove will drop you/pick you up 200