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Flanders Today covers Belgian Family Brewers press trip
Flanders Today, an English-language newspaper aimed at covering events in Belgium’s Dutch-speaking northern half for ex-pats and other English speakers, has covered the Belgian Family Brewers Press trip that I was a part of last week. You can read it here
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Chuck Cook interviewed on Belgian TV and Radio
I had a short interview with Belgium’s VTM News (Flanders) last Wednesday, 6 November, while at a beer and cheese tasting at Brouwerij Duvel-Moortgat, during the Belgian Family Brewers press trip. Several other members of the press trip were interviewed as well. VTM news has a viewership of one million people. You can see the…
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Café De Welkom, Schepdaal
The Payottenland-Belgium’s lambic country, to the southwest of Brussels-is full of atmospheric cafes, serving up great brews. Some stock a hundred beers, and others, just a handful. Perhaps variety is the area’s greatest asset. One of these places is Café De Welkom, located at a crossroads between Schepdaal and Dilbeek. There are only 17 beers…
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Brasserie des Carrières
Hainaut Province has a long heritage of brewing, and is one of the heartlands of Belgian beer. With breweries such as Blaugies, Dupont, and Dubuisson in the area, it’s no surprise that young Wallonian beer lovers, aware of the significance of their region to the beer world, continue to open new brasseries in the area,…
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La Nouvelle Hostellerie d’Orval
Not every beer bar has to have loads of great beer on its menu to make it a worthwhile stop. Sometimes, just a few will do. One, even. That’s the case with La Nouvelle Hostellerie d’Orval, which is the “other” café/restaurant near the famous Trappist abbey. While many tourists who visit the Orval abbey only…
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Brouwerij Timmermans: Artisanal lambic project
Anyone that knows me well knows that I love tart, sour brews, especially the balanced, refined lambic beers of Belgium’s Payottenland and Zenne valley, the area to the south and west of Brussels. Visiting lambic producers, whether it is a brewery or blendery, is always a special privilege. And an exciting one, at that! The…
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“B’ More Belgian” beer event at Hudson Street Stackhouse
For the third year in a row, I am involved with a local event featuring Belgian beer. We will have 36 Belgian brews pouring from yesterday, October 21, through Thursday, October 24th, at Hudson Street Stackhouse here in Baltimore. The location is 2626 Hudson Street In Canton, near the Safeway. I helped select most of…
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A talk with Vanberg & DeWulf founders Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield
Thirty-two years ago, Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield began importing Belgian beer to the USA. The husband and wife team still do. “In 1982, Belgian beer was virtually unknown here,” Feinberg commented, during our recent interview. I asked: “You first started importing Belgian beer in 1982. What was it like then?” Feinberg responded: “It was…
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Brouwerij De Kroon and Biercentrum Delvaux
There are a lot of very interesting projects going on in the Belgian beer world right now, and I’ve had the privilege of visiting many of them in the last couple of years. One that really stood out during my December 2012 and April 2013 trips will be a major destination spot for beer lovers…
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The Brasserie Dupont Story
The history of Saison brews and Hainaut province Hainaut, the most western province in French-speaking Wallonia, Belgium’s southern half, has long been recognized as Belgium’s saison beer heartland. The area, about an hour’s drive southwest of Brussels, boasts an impressive 25 or so breweries. About a third of these produce a saison or two. Hainaut…