My trip to Belgium and the Cantillon Brewery

[JFB]

All this talk of sour beer is making me to nip into the beer shop in town and pick me up a sour. Is that a bad thing at 9.40 on a Saturday morning??

 

[JFB]

I had a great lambic on tap in the Bourgogne des flanders bar in Bruges. No idea what one but it was completely white in colour? I presume it would of been from Timmermans.

 

[strange-steve]

I had a great lambic on tap in the Bourgogne des flanders bar in Bruges. No idea what one but it was completely white in colour? I presume it would of been from Timmermans.

Timmermans do a beer called (iirc) blanche lambicus which is brewed with orange and corriander, so it's like a cross between a lambic and a Belgian wit, could that be it? It's a rather unusual one but very drinkable.

 

[JFB]

Timmermans do a beer called (iirc) blanche lambicus which is brewed with orange and corriander, so it's like a cross between a lambic and a Belgian wit, could that be it? It's a rather unusual one but very drinkable.

That's the one. Its like hoegaarden lambic cross, real sessionable beer.
Would be a great beer to try and recreate..

 

[dad_of_jon]

That's the one. Its like hoegaarden lambic cross, real sessionable beer.
Would be a great beer to try and recreate..

yes i've had that very nice too. Brewdog are doing to be doing sours big time. They are the next big thing apparently.

Unfortunately once everyone jumps on the bandwagon there'll be a shedful of rubbish sours. A bad bitter will just be crap but a bad sour will be absolutely disgusting.

I've resigned myself to buying sours as I don't have the spare kit to make them (or the time) - my favourites have a lead time of 2-3 years :-(

 

[JFB]

yes i've had that very nice too. Brewdog are doing to be doing sours big time. They are the next big thing apparently.

Unfortunately once everyone jumps on the bandwagon there'll be a shedful of rubbish sours. A bad bitter will just be crap but a bad sour will be absolutely disgusting.

I've signined myself to buying sours as I don't have the spare kit to make them (or the time) - my favorites have a lead time of 2-3 years :-(

I Just put a flanders red ale into a secondary yesterday and put it under the stairs. Only 11 months now till first testing!
In the mean time I've bought some sour malt so will have a play and see how that turns out.

 

[strange-steve]

yes i've had that very nice too. Brewdog are doing to be doing sours big time. They are the next big thing apparently.

Unfortunately once everyone jumps on the bandwagon there'll be a shedful of rubbish sours. A bad bitter will just be crap but a bad sour will be absolutely disgusting.

I've resigned myself to buying sours as I don't have the spare kit to make them (or the time) - my favourites have a lead time of 2-3 years :-(

I've been hearing for a few years that sours are the next big thing but it still hasn't quite happened. I think for homebrewers sours won't ever really get as big as some of the other trends we've seen in recent years (barley wine, RIS, AIPA etc.) for the reasons you mention, they require a lot more time, effort, storage space and so on, and if it turns out to be a bit crap it's a lot of wasted time. Personally I reckon the next HB trend (other than NEIPA) will be wild/brett beers, which I think is a good thing :thumb:

 

[Sadfield]

Excuse my ignorance about Sour Beers but the only one i have tried was a cherry Timmermans at Spoons. Is that a bad place to start? Made me think of a fizzy drink made with tangy haribos. Not unpleasant but seemed like an alchopop with added citric acid.

This is going to come across as beer snobbery, but it in reality it isn't, but that is near to trying to get into Indian food by having a Chicken Curry Pot Noodle. The unique way Lambics are produced results in the most rewarding beers being the most challenging to the unfamiliar, and I personally found it took a few attempts and the right beer for it to truly click to as what these beers are about. The slow fermentation and use of oak barrels leads to a product (a flat beer called lambic) that get smoother and more complex over years. A 6 month to a year old lambic will be quite harsh to drink and contain residual sugar, a 3 year old will be smooth and complex with character from the wild yeast, bacteria and oak barrel. This Lambic will then be used to make Gueuze, Kreik and other beers. Good ones will be made from a blend of 1,2 and 3 year old Lambics blended, where the residual sugar in the younger acts to provide carbonation in the bottle. Fruit beers will generally be steeped on real fruit. The cheaper, more widely available beers like the Timmermans you had would more likely be younger, harsher Lambic that is sweetened with fruit syrup and sugar to achieve the same effect. Leading to a sweeter and more accessible beer that is will also be a less complex and artificial product.

 

[markcc]

This is high on my Belgium to do list, briefly visited once, but Tour de gueuze was on a bus load of Americans had already swamped the place and it was standing room only, outside.

I went to a day event in the village a few years ago.

It kicked off with a couple of lectures on lambic brewing, followed by a five course lunch at the bar with a different beer at each course. I sat next to a bloke that introduced himself as Michel. I only later realized he was Michel Moortgat, CEO of the Duvel brewery.

After the lunch, we blended and bottled a bunch of lambics under the supervision of the founder of the De Cam brewery. I think the lambics came form Boon and Girardin mainly. Eventually I got 6 bottles, but now only have one left.

It's great that the bars a success, but it is a bit of a bunfight there these days.

 

[markcc]

That sounds amazing, well jealous of that!

It was quite day! Got to try a few things I don't suppose I'll ever get to drink again. Look out for the next one in 2018.

 

[serum]

We missed the tour at Cantillon because of the mother of all traffic jams last time I went to Brussels. I was gutted! I just had enough time for a quick glass by the time I got there.

Several hours in Moeder Lambic was a good way of making up for that though. They had loads of good lambic on hand pull and quite a lot of other good beers.

Lambics are so different to the sour beers a lot of craft breweries are pumping out. Most of them are more related to Berliner Weisse or Gose than lambics so they're much quicker to turn around and the flavour is much more basic. They can be good but not as good as a decent lambic.

 

[strange-steve]

Lambics are so different to the sour beers a lot of craft breweries are pumping out. Most of them are more related to Berliner Weisse or Gose than lambics so they're much quicker to turn around and the flavour is much more basic. They can be good but not as good as a decent lambic.

Couldn't agree more with that. Most breweries are unwilling or unable to put the time and effort into traditional style lambics and so pay the price when it comes to complexity of flavour. As the famous sign at Cantillon says: "Time does not respect what is done without it."

 

[neoxblake]

I love Belgium very much, I go there a couple of times a year (for work).

 

[neoxblake]

I love Belgium very much, I go there a couple of times a year (for work). Of course, I love Brussels most of all, I would like to buy an apartment there somewhere in the center. When I first arrived, I didn’t like it, I just walked and wandered the streets. I called my friend and she just saved me, threw off this site is belgium a good place to live , I found where to go and what to see. And I began to fall in love with Belgium slowly, I especially really like the architecture of the old city and old chapels. If you are in Belgium, be sure to pay attention to the architecture, you will be amazed.

 

[Garmostripel]

And if you are ever in Ostend

Cafe Botteltje

Has a Massive selection of beers, 200 to 300 when I was last in there, I'll re-check when I'm back this year (mid May)
Cheers

Went in there about ten years ago, couldn’t believe the beer menu, remember having a 13% beer on draught !

 

[Eskimo John]

I have been to Belgium more times than I can remember as my brother in law lives in Brussels and has done so for over 25 years. Since Brexit he has joint British and Belgium nationality. Every time we go we try to do 'beer and bullets' by visiting a brewery and a battlefield. I can't say I have a favorite brewery as I have been to so many although I did particularly enjoy the De Dolle brewery as they were very welcoming and the beer was great.
Their flagship beer is Oerbier which translates as whore beer. The brewer noted that nuns could take a trappist (beer) to bed with them and so Oerbier was made so that a trappist monk could go to bed with a whore (beer)!

 

[MartinF]

We (swhmbo & I) visited de Dolle Brouwers in Esen back in 1992 as the first stop of a 4 day Belgian Beer Hunt coach trip. The two proprietors had bolts through their necks to show how "Doll" they were! Great characters.

Based in Bruges, we visited two or three breweries each day, including Cantillon and Rodenbach.

And by complete coincidence, speaking of Lambic & Geuze, I had a bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru in Bristol's Strawberry Thief Belgian beer bar yesterday. Fabulous!

 

[Lynx Brewery]

I walked there from the station a few years ago (passing through quite a rough looking area of Brussels) only to find it was the one day of the week that they were closed.

I’ve also visited the St Bernadus brewery which was good, but the best one for me was Het Anker in Mechelen.

 

[Lynx Brewery]

My accidental attempt at a sour beer. Tasted odd but very drinkable.

 

[Eskimo John]

The St Bernard's has nice accommodation or did have when I stayed there with my family a few years back. Needless to say there was much beer consumed!