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Trappistes Rochefort, Part 2: Abbey, Church, Library
Well, it’s been awhile since I posted Part I of this Rochefort series. Here is part 2, finally: A look behind the scenes in the Abbey, Church, and library at the Trappist ‘l Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy, and its Brasserie Rochefort. This April 2013 tour was given by Frère Pierre, the monk in charge…
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Beer of the Day: Alvinne Niks Meer Nodig
I was fortunate enough to visit the great Nüetnigenough in Brussels twice last month, and enjoy the great food, beers, and hospitality of co-owner Olivier Desmet. Olivier is a huge beer lover, as anyone that visits his superb establishment will discover. He poured me and Stijn Van Houdt of Visit Flanders a very special dessert…
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Beer of the Day: Bockor Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge
A fine, delicious Flemish Red Brown beer from Brouwerij Bockor in Bellegem, West Flanders. The brewery is now renamed as Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste. Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge is based on a beer with 100% spontaneous fermentation. There is a huge coolship on the top floor of the brewery, and the Red Brown (Rood Bruin) is aged…
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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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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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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…
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Aerial photos from Achouffe, with a red-hatted grain silo
Chris Bauweraerts, who co-founded Brasserie D’ Achouffe in 1982, is a big fan of model, remote-controlled airplanes. He’s also loves photography, and has paired the two to capture some pretty impressive aerial images of Houffalize, the small city where Achouffe is located. One of them is a grain silo covered with what looks like one…
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Château d’Ychouffe, Achouffe’s new dessert beer…and more from Duvel
Brasserie D’ Achouffe has a new beer, and it’s a unique, tasty one. The brewery is calling it “The missing link between beer and wine,” and it does have many wine- like qualities, due to the juice, skins, and seeds (also known as “must”) of dessert wine grapes. These grapes come from the Loupiac area…