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‘t Brugs Beertje enjoys 31st birthday
One of Belgium’s great beer cafes just celebrated 31 years of business. ‘t Brugs Beertje (“Brugge’s Little Bear”) first opened on Friday, May 13th, 1983. Co-founder Daisy Claeys is still owner, and remains one of Belgium’s top publicans. I spent an evening at The Little Bear on Monday, April 21st, and it was thoroughly enjoyable,…
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1975 Cantillon Kriek
On a nice spring day in Belgium, Sunday, April 20th, I had the chance to taste a very special vintage beer. It’s not too often that you get to drink a nearly 40-year old brew, and I was excited at the news that friends Andre Van Gansen, Danny Van Tricht, and I would be opening…
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Brouwerij St. Bernardus: “new” Extra 4
One of Belgium’s great breweries is not resting on the laurels of its already superb lineup of beers. St. Bernardus, of Watou, West Flanders, perhaps best-known for its dark, rich, malty, Abt 12, has just added a fine warm weather session beer to its portfolio. I had the pleasure of visiting the brewery (for the…
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Cantillon’s Bomb Shelter Beer Cellar
The much-beloved Brasserie Cantillon has a new long-term storage project where tens of thousands of bottles of lambic, Oude Gueuze, and other beers will be stored for up to thirty years. I had the great pleasure of visiting the “Bomb Shelter Beer Cellar” with Cantillon brewmaster Jean Van Roy on Thursday, April 24. Jean told me,…
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Leuven Beer Tasting and Talks, April 25th….
Next weekend, April 26-27, Belgium’s premier beer festival will be in full swing in Leuven’s Brabanthal. The Zythos Bier Festival (ZBF) will feature over 100 Belgian breweries and 500 different beers. The city of Leuven has fully embraced the festival and its local beer culture since the festival moved to Leuven in 2012. In fact,…
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The Great Belgian Beer Dinner 2014 is next week in Ghent
What is likely to be one of the most remarkable beer dinners in Belgium in 2014 is next week. The “Great Belgian Beer Dinner 2014” initially sold out so quickly for the Wednesday, April 23 date-in just 20 minutes or so-that an extra day, Tuesday the 22nd, was added. For next Wednesday, extra tables will…
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Brasserie Trappistes Rochefort: the brewhouse
Last April, I paid a visit-my fourth since 2003-to l’ Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy, and its storied Brasserie Rochefort. The stunning brewhouse, said by many to one of the most beautiful in the world, continues to impress on every visit. The copper kettles and stained-glass windows create quite and effect, especially on sunny days.…
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Bier! Magazine available in English, for iPad
Bier! Magazine, the leading Dutch magazine on the subject of artisanal beer in Belgium, the Netherlands, and further afield, is now available in English, for the iPad tablet platform. The magazine has been around since 2008, and the English version is brand-new as of issue 21. Editor-in-Chief Fedor Vogel was one of my judging colleagues…
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Ommegang Game of Thrones Fire and Blood Red Ale
For you Game of Thrones fans out there, and those who just like a good beer, Ommegang has a special brew that will debut in stores on March 31st. A bottle happened to find its way to me recently. I love it when that happens. When beer knocks on your door, you don’t turn it…
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Brouwerij Timmermans Oude Lambiek and Kriekenlambiek
Brouwerij Timmermans of Itterbeek has just launched two lambics for sale that beer lovers should be very interested in. The venerable brewery, which I covered in great detail here, just released Oude Lambiek 2011 and Kriekenlambiek 2012 in bag-in-box form. Brewmaster Willem Van Herreweghen and owner Anthony Martin had told me of their plans to…