Belgian Beer Specialist

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,…

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.…

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…

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…

Another great from Brussels’ own, the great Brasserie Cantillon. This one uses lambic aged for 2 years in Cognac barrels. It is a collaboration between Cantillon and Cognac maker Grosperrin. It’s a superb beer, with a noticeable but not overdone character added by the cognac, and 7% abv. I picked this bottle up at Cantillon…

One of the many favorites of the famed Brasserie Cantillon is Fou’ Fonne, which is a beer using French apricots steeped in 2 year old lambic. Foufonne is the nickname of a French apricot grower, François Daronnat, who sang the praises of his apricots during a visit by Jean Van Roy to the Rhône region…