Belgium Beer

Here's what you IndianaBeer.com readers have been waiting for. 5 days in Belgium tasting beer. Actually it was one day in Brussels, one day touring the countryside and 3 days in Antwerp. One of those days was spent entirely at the Kulminator (thanks, Terry, for letting me ignore you for the day) - the best beer bar in the world. Sorry Stan, Roger, Mike. The Kulminator makes even legendary US spots pale. More about the Kulminator near the end of this page.

We could talk about beer stores but there are so many of them like this, why bother?

On the Grand Place in Brussels, a brand-new brewery has opened called, unimaginatively, The Brewery On The Grand Place. OK, it's really Les Brasseurs de la Grand Place but that's the same thing. And it opened in 2001 so it's not brand new, but they're still installing the lighting, and getting to be known even in the area. They probably aren't helping the later by claiming to be "the only brewery in Brussels".

Bruin - I'd swear it's a southern English brown.
Cherry - Very very dark red with a pink head. Very very tart of black cherries. Jaw-achingly tart. One of Terry's top 10.

The statues above the door really have headaches - probably drank too much last night.

Antwerp - t' Pakhuis. Means warehouse. A brewpub in a residential neighborhood a couple of miles from the tourist area. Built in 1996. It has a brick and steel cubic interior where a regular at American brewpubs can feel at home. Nibbles are available along with some dinners from a chalkboard menu.

They serve their beers from plastic bags inside the serving tanks. This keeps the CO₂ from interacting with the beer. They claim this eliminates all hangovers.

Brussels' most famous brewery is the Brasserie Cantillon who's lambics are readily available in the USA. They have a self-guided tour they call a museum so it's in the guidebooks. Good luck finding the place - that's all I can say since we drove around some streets in the area until we happened on Rue Gheude Straat. That made us arrive pretty late in the day but a very gracious Claude Van Roy let us wander around way after the 5pm "closing" time and stuck around to give us a couple of beers (included in the tour).

The first surprise is that the brewery is right in the city.
One thinks of wild lambic yeast and pristine country woods.
They say city pollution is much better than it was when most houses burned coal.

Steam-heated Boiler.
10,000 liters per batch go into two kettles like this.
22kg of German hops are added at this time -
aged hops that have mellowed and lost some bitterness.

Cool Ship - a cooling pan used instead of a water chiller.
This pan holds all 7,500 liters of wort - 2,500 evaporated during boiling.
Wort stays here overnight. In the summer it doesn't cool enough -
one reason they can only brew from October through April.
They used to brew into May but it's too warm now for that.
Jean-Pierre blames global warming.

The Cool Ship is up in the attic and there is plenty of ventilation.
This ventilation is necessary because yeast gets into the wort during this cooling.
That's called spontaneous fermentation. Lambic can be made only in a small area
around Brussels because that's where the particular strain of yeast
used to make the sour brown ale of the basic beer lives.
There are 86 strains of wild yeast that combine to ferment the beer.

Casks are filled from the Cool Ship.
Bungs are not inserted for 3 or 4 days while the wort foams with the first violent fermentation.

The base beer will stay in the barrels for a full year.
20% of the liquid evaporates and the yeast forms a crust which protects the fresh beer.

The macerating tank.
Basic brown lambic is rarely sold. It is usually mixed with fruits to make
Kriek (cherries), Framboise (raspberries), Peche (peaches),
Fou'foune (apricots), Faro (candy sugar), Marmalade (plums).
Some 1, 2 and 3-year old brown lambics are mixed to produce Gueuze.

After bottling, the fermentation starts again in the bottle and lasts for 5 or 6 months
before labeling and distribution.
Their cellar holds about 11,000 bottles.

Claude Van Roy (nee Cantillon).
Her husband runs the place and their three children work there also.
Her grandfather started the brewery in 1900.

Down the street, quite a walk, from the secondary train station in Antwerp is a local pub with a reputation for 100+ beers. Except for that, inside, this bar could be in Chicago or Detroit. We can heartily recommend it for the traveling American.

Terry had Hoegaarden Kriek, a blend of Hoegaarden and Lindemans Kriek (both on tap) with a dash of raspberry syrup. Both the sour and the wheat come through. It's like a pale kriek and immediately made Terry's Top 10 list.

In Brussels the Delirium Cafe opened in 2004. They guarantee 2004 beers available at any time and have had up to 2500. Of these, 900 are usually Belgian beers. About 10 taps.

There is some upstairs seating but the place is essentially a basement hole that gets way crowded in the evenings and, we're told, absolutely packed when there's a band. Visit on a dreary afternoon and you'll find a dozen other beer geeks pouring over their phonebook-sized and incredibly detailed menu. Blues and jazz background music is just right.

The staff is knowledgeable and even ready with a suggestion. This place will quickly become widely known as one of the best beer bars in the world. Franchises are available.

t' Waagstuk on the north side of downtown Antwerp is a lovely place with a mid-square patio and a small enclosed courtyard as well as a small interior. There's not much food, of course, but you can get omelets and soup.

They sell their own beer, Zeppelin, which commemorates the night of August 24, 1914 when this square (Stadswaag) was bombed by, you guessed it, a Zeppelin. Now they're getting even by getting German tourists bombed on this.

OK, take a breath now. It's time to talk about the Kulminator - the best beer bar on the planet.

Consider a 38-page 1-line entry beer menu. Consider that about half of these are dated vintage beers. Consider that some of these are priced under 2€, most under 4€ (of course some are over 20€). Consider the only US beer on the menu is Hair of the Dog Fred.

No TVs, just classical music. Plenty of compatriots to share war stories and compare selections.

They have a big list of British ales from 1978. They made a trip to London and bought a bunch (understatement alert). It's a privilege to have owners Leen and Dirk share their collection with us. The bottles smell musty like a first edition of a Sherlock Holmes book. Some have held up well, some not so well. Go for the stronger beers of course - I'd hate to think what a 27 year old Sheaperd Neame Light Ale is like.

Some special beers that aren't for sale as they are the last bottle.
Bass No. 1 Barley Wine
Thomas Hardy's 1978
Courage Imperial Russian Stout 1976.
And, interestingly enough, an Old Rasputin.

Here's what I had in the 9 hours I spent there:

Barbar Winter - Deep brown. Non-obtrusive big bruin. Nose is of a delicate alcoholic tripel, then the bruin takes over in the taste. Recommended. Worth importing.
Bass King's Ale 1981. 4€. 8%. Black ruby with glass-clingy bubbles. Served in the proper glass. Still a good barley wine. Fully matured (!). While the bottle smells musty, the beer is wonderfully full and malty.
Bush De Noel - Dull brown. (Bush is a local Antwerp brewery). Strongly alcoholic brown ale. Not as spicy as expected. Actually rather bland, maybe due to the 12% alcohol being hidden completely. Just a nice brown ale. Deceptive.
Carolus Margriet - Strong Belgium blonde. All the tastes of a triple in a 5% size.
Chapeau Mirabelle Lambic - Plums. No really, it's made with plums. From De Troch. Doesn't taste strongly of plum or dark fruit, in fact it's just generally fruity but earthier than apricot. Not as tart as most.
Courage Russian Imperial Stout 1983. - Black. Has thinned. Big barley and molasses notes but has become delicate. I could drink a lot of this.
Greene King Harvest Sweet Brown Ale 1978. - Stayed well in the bottle. Not strong, but a good mature barley wine. Port, wine, and grappa still come through.
Kwelchouffe Special Blonde 2000. Never have I before seen actual turbulence in the effervescence of a beer. This had, for 2 full minutes after pouring, eddys and flocks of bubbles going up, down, and around like geese in the fall, only faster of course. Bright apricot color. Bubbles settled down to a 2" white head which dropped quickly. The beer was brewed as a tribute to, or maybe an attempt to copy, Duvel. Logo on bottle includes a 666 above the pitchfork and the gnome has horns. Peachy, fruity, salivating without being at all salty. A top 10 beer for sure. 8.5%
Pere Abbe Bruin - Black brown with a huge head. Yeasty. Butter smooth and thick. 6.5%.
Roman Christmas Bell 1983. 3€. Pure black. No head. Old, old, strong ale. It could well have been a scotch ale but it's way past that now. Still a viable drink. Some molasses, some musty aroma and taste. 7.3%.
John Smiths Scotch Ale 1987. 6.2%. Actually served in the proper glass. Pure black. No head. Old beer smell like an antique book. Mouthfeel is thin. It's completely ancient and drinkable as such. Not a Scotch ale any more but has transcended beer.
Wadworth Old Timer 1978. 3.80€. 6%. Obviously not nearly the same beer that was bottled 27 years ago. It's past marrying and improving. Not vinegary but very old.
I saved this bottle for my bar at home but the hotel maid took it away the next morning while I was at breakfast. Waaaaaah.
Witkap-Pater Stimulo - Bottle conditioned blond double. Sugar (honey?) added to the wort. Sweet, sour, and bitter in balance. Goes down quickly.

The Confederation of Belgian Brewers in Brussels has had a guild house on the Grand Place since 1695. There's a small museum in the basement that displays a few tools, old and new, and has a travelogue style movie about Belgian breweries.

For 4€ you can wander around for a while and then have a beer from one of the 2 samples they keep on tap - but they won't tell you whose beer you're drinking. On our day there it was a light golden pils and a Belgian red ale.

St. Arnould at the guild house of Belgian brewers.
That's a holy relic for sure.

Arend - On tap. A home blend at a small, well-known bar in Antwerp, the De Groote Witte. Too sour. Turns out it's a wit with a cheap lambic added. Dark red with a flaming pink chunky head that leaves red chunks as the foam dissipates. Very little cherry notes. Disappointing.
Brugse Tripel - On tap. Blond. Strong stuff. Nice. Right tasting.
Brugs Wit - On tap. Whiter than most but not weak. No orange nor tartness. Some bitterness.
De Koninck Blonde.
De Koninck Tripel - On tap. Bright oak blond tripel with lots of basic malt and lots of hops to bitter it up. 8%.
Floris Fraises - A wit with strawberry added before bottling. Fresh and fruity.
Gordon Highland Scotch Ale - On tap. Big malt scotch. Vanilla. Roast. Concentrated. Dark brown walnut. 8%.
Gordon Xmas - On tap. So balanced. Actually in harmony. Like butter. Wonderfully quaffable. Could drink it by the quart. OK, maybe one quart. At Peters Vaetje sitting at the entrance to the cathedral listening to a street string quartet with the sun peeking through the clouds.
Haecht Witbier - Somehow lighter in color, body, and presence than most wits. A quick-drinking beer.
Hoegaarden Grand Cru - On tap. They distill the essence of their great wit leaving out all the unnecessary stuff. Like Colman Chapman said at Lotus, "add lightness".
Judas - On tap. Big blond worthy of the name. Big belch too. White grape in the nose. A bit hot on the tongue but not offensive. All light malt. Dark blonde character throughout. From Maes.
Petrus Blanche - Bright solid gold.
Petrus Brune Double - Served in a proper Brit pint glass. In fact a Bavik pint glass. Deep brown. Spicy background underlies the malty, sharp-edged brown ale with some toasty character.
Rodenbach. On tap. Deep brown, black. Sour ale. Roasty sour. Malty sour.
Rulles Triple - Lots of candy sugar in this one. Has a 14-day fermentation using Orval yeast, then 4 weeks in the secondary. Delicate sourness with citric and a bit of honey taste also. 8.3%.
Steendonk Wit - On tap. Very cloudy. Very white; more so than bottled as I remember. Plenty of coriander. Plenty of bitter aftertaste.
Tripel Karmeliet - On tap. Blond triple abbey. Bright nose and taste. All light malt. Solid.
Westmalle Trappist - On tap. Served nicely warmish. Trappist with green "fresh" distinct edges between the malt, hops, chocolate, sweet, and burnt sugar. Not as strongly alcoholic as I remember.