Author: Chuck Cook

  • Cantillon’s Zwanze Day in Brussels 2021

    Cantillon’s Zwanze Day in Brussels 2021

    Brasserie Cantillon’s Zwanze Day and beers have become well known to many beer lovers around the world, and the event has become so popular that many locations sell tickets to their events, and sell out weeks in advance. You could say it’s a very tough ticket to find at some bars. But, just what is…

  • Snallygaster beer fest in D.C. to feature eight premier Belgian breweries

    Snallygaster beer fest in D.C. to feature eight premier Belgian breweries

    The Snallygaster Beer Festival in Washington, D.C. is one of the premier beer festivals in the U.S.A. This years edition, which will be held on Saturday, October 9th, will feature no less than 200 different breweries from around the world, and over 450 different beers. The location is a beautiful one. I attended on a…

  • Ebenezer’s Pub Night of the Great Thirst 2021

    Ebenezer’s Pub Night of the Great Thirst 2021

    Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell, Maine, is a must-visit spot for any lambic beer lover. Ebenezer’s, owned and run by husband and wife team Jen and Chris Lively, opened in 2004, adjacent to a golf course near Kezar Lake, a popular resort area in southwest Maine. Ebenezer’s has been holding a Belgian beer festival ever since…

  • Ebenezer’s Pub Belgian Beer Dinner 2021

    Ebenezer’s Pub Belgian Beer Dinner 2021

    Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell, Maine, is regarded as one of the best beer bars focusing on Belgian brews in the United States, as well as rest of the world. Owner/Executive Chef Chris Lively and his wife, co-owner Jen Lively, started the business in 2004. Lively was trained as a chef in California, and met Jen…

  • Cafe/Restaurant Piétrain: Antwerp’s Steak and Grillhouse…with 100+ beers!

    Cafe/Restaurant Piétrain: Antwerp’s Steak and Grillhouse…with 100+ beers!

    One of the main reasons I visit Belgium is for its great variety of classic beers. Food is the next biggest factor: the Belgians know how to eat well, and pairing great brews with fantastic meals is something they do superbly well. While I have written about a number of great Belgian restaurants with world…

  • Lambiek Fabriek: six new lambic brews, and five years in business

    Lambiek Fabriek: six new lambic brews, and five years in business

    While the last year and a half or so has been a very difficult one for Belgium’s beer cafes and brewery tasting rooms, some breweries have not let up in their quest to expand production, and to add new beers to their existing ranges, due to strong demand from beer drinking fans around the world.…

  • Gebrande Winning’s ‘Circus’ Edition Beer Festival: Lambic (and more) Beer Heaven

    Gebrande Winning’s ‘Circus’ Edition Beer Festival: Lambic (and more) Beer Heaven

    De Gebrande Winning, a beer bar and restaurant in Sint-Truiden, Limburg Province, is rapidly becoming one of Belgium’s premier beer destinations. While located a bit off the beaten path, 64 kilometers (40 miles) east of Brussels, the fantastic beer selection, gourmet food, and warm atmosphere of De Gebrande Winning are a big draw for beer…

  • Brouwerij Sako: Belgium’s newest Lambic brewery

    Brouwerij Sako: Belgium’s newest Lambic brewery

    Belgium, once again, has a new lambic brewery, Brouwerij Sako. Sako follows just a couple of years after the debut of the now combined (and very successful) Lambiek Fabriek/Brouwerij Belgoo lambic blendery and brewery of Ruisbroek and Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, as well as Brouwerij Den Herberg of Buizingen, which is making excellent lambics (and whiskey!) and should…

  • Lambiek Fabriek joins The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers (HORAL)

    Lambiek Fabriek joins The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers (HORAL)

    There is big news in the Belgian beer world today, and especially for the lovers of artisanal lambics brews. Lambiek Fabriek, a new lambic brewery and blendery that officially opened in 2016 in Ruisbroek, in the heart of the Payottenland, has been accepted into HORAL, The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers. Here is the…

  • Savoring Vintage 1983 and 1989 3 Fonteinen lambics: Oude Geuze and Framboos

    Savoring Vintage 1983 and 1989 3 Fonteinen lambics: Oude Geuze and Framboos

    The purpose of this article is to discuss a couple of amazing vintage 3 Fonteinen bottles that I was graciously offered to taste recently, as well as to tell you about the superb Restaurant 3 Fonteinen in Beersel. The 3 Fonteinen cafe was opened in 1962 at Herman Teirlinckplein 3 in Beersel, and is now…