Author: Chuck Cook

  • BrouwPlus Craft Brewery Fair in Antwerp, October 17-19

    BrouwPlus Craft Brewery Fair in Antwerp, October 17-19

    There will be a craft brewing and brewery expo in Antwerp on October 17-19, in an exhibition hall/conference center in a former warehouse on the banks of the river Schelde. The “Waagnatie” is a place where ships used to load and unload their cargo in the past, and it has been remodeled into a large…

  • Brasserie de Waterloo: Brewery, Visitor’s Center, Restaurant, and more….

    Brasserie de Waterloo: Brewery, Visitor’s Center, Restaurant, and more….

    On June 18, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met his final defeat at the battle of Waterloo, a small hamlet of villages located about eleven miles south of Brussels. Now, an old farm that was set up as a field hospital by The Duke of Wellington, who led the English and their allies to victory that day,…

  • “Fruits of Their Labors” in Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine

    “Fruits of Their Labors” in Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine

    I’m happy to report that I have a 2,000 word article on fruited lambic beers in the June/July issue of Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine. This is my first piece for CB&B, and it is part of an all Wild and Sour beer issue. I cover lambic producers such as Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Brouwerij Timmermans,…

  • Belgian Beer & Food Magazine’s “Women and Beer” issue

    Belgian Beer & Food Magazine’s “Women and Beer” issue

    Belgian Beer and Food Magazine, which debuted less than a year and a half ago, continues to impress. The Brussels-based magazine is the creation of Publisher/Editor in Chief Paul Walsh, with Alan Hope as Contributing Editor. Through its first four issues, BB&F has offered loads of content about Belgium’s great breweries, beer fests, beery cafes,…

  • Max’s Belgian Beer fest 2015: some images

    Max’s Belgian Beer fest 2015: some images

    Max’s Taphouse (Baltimore, Maryland USA) 11th Annual Belgian Beer fest started on Friday, and continues through tomorrow’s Wild and Sour day. Here are some photographic images from Friday and Saturday at the event, which features over 140 Belgian beers on draft and 200 in bottles.

  • Max’s Taphouse Belgian Beer Fest is this weekend in Baltimore

    Max’s Taphouse Belgian Beer Fest is this weekend in Baltimore

    Belgian beer lovers in the mid-Atlantic region, take note. One of the USA’s top Belgian beer festivals starts today. The 11th annual edition of Max’s Taphouse Belgian beer fest begins at 11 am, and runs through this Monday, President’s Day. There will be around 140 Belgian beers on tap over the course of the weekend,…

  • Toer de Geuze 2015 is three months away

    Toer de Geuze 2015 is three months away

    The biggest one day celebration of lambic beer in Belgium, Toer de Geuze, is just three months from today. The event, held only every two years, features an open house at most of the lambic breweries and blenderies in Belgium’s lambic country, in the Payottenland and Zenne Valley, areas to the south and west of…

  • “Cooking with Belgian Beers” by Stefaan Couttenye, ‘t Hommelhof

    “Cooking with Belgian Beers” by Stefaan Couttenye, ‘t Hommelhof

    Stefaan Couttenye, one of the first chefs to pair beer with gourmet cuisine in Belgium in the 1980’s, has a new book out. Couttenye is the chef and owner of the famous ‘t Hommelhof in Watou, a must-visit restaurant in the beautiful brewer’s village, near the border with France. Couttenye is the dean of Belgium’s…

  • Museum of Belgian Beers, Lustin, Belgium

    Museum of Belgian Beers, Lustin, Belgium

    I had a great first visit to the “Musée de la Bière Belge” in Lustin, Namur Province, Belgium, on September 3. This shrine to Belgian beer was opened over 30 years ago, and is now curated/run by Christian Lejeune, with help from his girlfriend and a society of friends of the museum, which numbers over…

  • Chesapeake Real Ale Festival is October 18 at Pratt Street Alehouse

    Chesapeake Real Ale Festival is October 18 at Pratt Street Alehouse

    One of the premier beer events of Baltimore Beer Week, and one of the top cask ale festivals in the Mid-Atlantic region, is coming soon. The 7th annual Chesapeake Real Ale Festival will be held Saturday, October 18 at Pratt Street Alehouse, at 206 W. Pratt Street in Baltimore. The VIP Session begins at 11…