My trip to Belgium and the Cantillon Brewery

[strange-steve]

I haven't been about the forum recently, just got back from Belgium last night. Spent a few nights in Brussels then a couple in Bruges and it's really depressing to be home :-(

I went to the Cantillon brewery and it's one if the most amazing places I've been to. If you're not familiar with their beers, they are one of the most celebrated sour beer brewers in the world and one of the few remaining traditional lambic breweries. They still use the original mash tun, coppers and coolship from 1900, inoculation the wort overnight in the attic with the windows open before transferring to wooden barrels to ferment for up to 3 years. A fascinating place and the tasting in the tap room was awesome too. Some pics...

This is the bar, mash tun and bottles maturing.


The old grain mill (still in use) and the copper boiler.


The attic area where the wort is cooled overnight, and also where the hops are aged for 3 years before use. Also a few bottles of 40 year old gueuze.


The fermenting and maturing room, row after row of barrels fermenting away, as well as the blending area and bottling line.


And finally the tasting room. These beers are kriek (blended lambic aged on cherries for 3 months), straight unblended young lambic, rose de gambrinus (a lambic fermented on raspberries), Iris (a gueuze dry hopped with hallertau).


After a visit to a place like this and tasting their amazing beers (this was my second visit here) I find it incredible when people tell me they don't like sour beers. The only explanation I can think of is that they have only tasted bad examples, much like tasting a Greene King IPA and saying you don't like IPAs. Don't give up on a style after one or two tastes because lambics can be really beautiful!

More to follow later...

 

[YeastFace]

Jealous. Nice write-up and pics.

 

[braziliain]

Excellent! I love seeing all the old equipment, thanks for the photos. I visited a Victorian distillery in Scotland last year and there was some very similar looking kit.

I find it interesting that they cool the wort in the attic overnight with the windows open. Presumably without chiller worms etc? Just allow it to naturally cool, like a no chill?

Off to the Witkap brewery in Ninove on Saturday, but they don't make any sours. I'd like to try a lambic while I'm over there, what would you recommend?

 

[strange-steve]

Excellent! I love seeing all the old equipment, thanks for the photos. I visited a Victorian distillery in Scotland last year and there was some very similar looking kit.

I find it interesting that they cool the wort in the attic overnight with the windows open. Presumably without chiller worms etc? Just allow it to naturally cool, like a no chill?

Off to the Witkap brewery in Ninove on Saturday, but they don't make any sours. I'd like to try a lambic while I'm over there, what would you recommend?

Yeah the big shallow copper tray thing in the 3rd picture is the coolship where the wort is pumped after the boil. They leave it overnight and all the natural wild yeast and bacteria in the air begin the spontaneous fermentation. Quite amazing really.

Where abouts in Belgium are you going, I might be able to recommend some places. Gueuze and lambic can be a bit of a shock to the system if you haven't had them before, but stick with them! Anything by Cantillon is a good bet but can be shockingly expensive. Some bars have their beers on draught which make them a bit cheaper. Fruit lambic like kriek or framboise are more accessible and probably a good starting place, but often they are sweetened too much which imo make them more like a fruit cider or something than a proper sour. Boon kriek is a decent example. For a proper gueuze (which is a blended carbonated lambic) try something like a 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze, a Tilquin Oude Gueuze or a Girardin Black Label which are all really great.

 

[braziliain]

Yeah the big shallow copper tray thing in the 3rd picture is the coolship where the wort is pumped after the boil. They leave it overnight and all the natural wild yeast and bacteria in the air begin the spontaneous fermentation. Quite amazing really.

Where abouts in Belgium are you going, I might be able to recommend some places. Gueuze and lambic can be a bit of a shock to the system if you haven't had them before, but stick with them! Anything by Cantillon is a good bet but can be shockingly expensive. Some bars have their beers on draught which make them a bit cheaper. Fruit lambic like kriek or framboise are more accessible and probably a good starting place, but often they are sweetened too much which imo make them more like a fruit cider or something than a proper sour. Boon kriek is a decent example. For a proper gueuze (which is a blended carbonated lambic) try something like a 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze, a Tilquin Oude Gueuze or a Girardin Black Label which are all really great.

Will keep my eyes open for any or all of those thanks! I'm pretty sure I tried Boon Kriek last time I was over on a friends recommendation. I'm heading to Ninove near Brussels on Saturday which is where the Witkap brewery is, then over to Ghent on Sunday evening. There's a bar I like in Ninove with a very extensive beer menu so might find something there but I haven't visited Ghent before.

 

[strange-steve]

Will keep my eyes open for any or all of those thanks! I'm pretty sure I tried Boon Kriek last time I was over on a friends recommendation. I'm heading to Ninove near Brussels on Saturday which is where the Witkap brewery is, then over to Ghent on Sunday evening. There's a bar I like in Ninove with a very extensive beer menu so might find something there but I haven't visited Ghent before.

Ah ok, I can't help you then. I've been through Ghent but didn't stop anywhere.You're only half an hour or so from Cantillon, might be worth the trip :)

 

[dad_of_jon]

I haven't been about the forum recently, just got back from Belgium last night. Spent a few nights in Brussels then a couple in Bruges and it's really depressing to be home :-(

you're telling me! - I've not been to belgium for a while now. Recently been to Prague , Madrid and off to Vienna soon but no-one does beer like the Belgians (and hb'ers of course :whistle:) Although to be fair to the usa they are making a good stab at it)

 

[dad_of_jon]

Will keep my eyes open for any or all of those thanks! I'm pretty sure I tried Boon Kriek last time I was over on a friends recommendation. I'm heading to Ninove near Brussels on Saturday which is where the Witkap brewery is, then over to Ghent on Sunday evening. There's a bar I like in Ninove with a very extensive beer menu so might find something there but I haven't visited Ghent before.

If you do get to brussels, this place is the centre for guezue/lambic paradise. It's down an alley so not easy to spot.

https://www.alabecasse.com/en/

 

[dad_of_jon]

Will keep my eyes open for any or all of those thanks! I'm pretty sure I tried Boon Kriek last time I was over on a friends recommendation. I'm heading to Ninove near Brussels on Saturday which is where the Witkap brewery is, then over to Ghent on Sunday evening. There's a bar I like in Ninove with a very extensive beer menu so might find something there but I haven't visited Ghent before.

a duchess de bourgougne,a rodenbach or a liefmans goudenband are mildly sour - boon oude gueze is at the other end of the scale

for other styles st. bernadus abt12, a brigand or a lupulus triple are all super beers.

 

[strange-steve]

If you do get to brussels, this place is the centre for guezue/lambic paradise. It's down an alley so not easy to spot.

https://www.alabecasse.com/en/

That's a cracking little pub. They do a Lindemans (edit: it's Timmermans actually) lambic tasting platter which is a good way to get a taste for the style.

 

[Sadfield]

If you do get to brussels, this place is the centre for guezue/lambic paradise. It's down an alley so not easy to spot.

https://www.alabecasse.com/en/

Nice, but touristy place with a limited range of mainly Timmermans, maybe a solitary Cantillon.

Now, La Brocante for example...

A good route into gueuze may be to track down some Curvee De Ranke, it's a blend of lambic and blonde ale, it has a lot of the lambic character without being artificially sweet or masked by fruit. Can be bought in UK in many good beer shops.

Nice write up strange-steve, Cantillon tour is very good and a bargain.



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[Graz]

I've also visited the Cantillon Brewery and would echo what's been said already, it's ace :thumb: Informative tour, amazing to see the old equipment, and a great tasting to to finish.

Possibly the best long weekend I've had away to be honest, would be hard to repeat now I've got kids (unless we can convince the grandparents to have them for more than a night!).

We went over for my birthday which happens to be the day after Valentine's day, so we traveled on the 14th. At the Eurostar terminal (in Waterloo back then!) they were doing some kind of Valentines promotion where somehow the missus won us an upgrade into first class! A good start to the weekend as the staff in first class kept us in complementary wine all the way to Brussels + we got fed.

We did the Cantillon on my actual birthday after a sugar fuelled breakfast of waffles, chocolate sauce, Advocaat and ice cream. Spent the rest of the day visiting many different bars and sampling many more beers, was a bit :drunk: :)

Did some proper sight seeing for the last few days but still plenty of beers in the evening :thumb:

 

[chesters-mild]

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

 

[markcc]

I went Cantillon's "Quintessence" last year which is a tasting they run once every two years. Easily the best tasting I've been to - I think there was something like 20 different Cantillon beers to try. They even cracked open some bottles of 20 year old geuze.

Next Saturday (18th March) is one of their open brew days. If you turn up early, you can follow the entire brew process with them for the day.

If you're ever in Brussels on a Sunday, it's worth taking a trip out to "In de Verzekering tegen de grote dorst", a bar a few kms south west of the city. It's only open on Sundays, but has a fantastic selection of geuze.

3 Fonteinen's new place in Lot (south of Brussels) is also well worth a visit.

 

[MyQul]

Those piccy's look fantastic steve!. It looks like one of those living museums

 

[Sadfield]

If you're ever in Brussels on a Sunday, it's worth taking a trip out to "In de Verzekering tegen de grote dorst", a bar a few kms south west of the city. It's only open on Sundays, but has a fantastic selection of geuze.

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.

 

[BeerCat]

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.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Nice, but touristy place with a limited range of mainly Timmermans, maybe a solitary Cantillon.

Now, La Brocante for example...

A good route into gueuze may be to track down some Curvee De Ranke, it's a blend of lambic and blonde ale, it has a lot of the lambic character without being artificially sweet or masked by fruit. Can be bought in UK in many good beer shops.

Nice write up strange-steve, Cantillon tour is very good and a bargain.



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I think the only one on that list I've not had is the cantillon

 

[strange-steve]

I went Cantillon's "Quintessence" last year which is a tasting they run once every two years. Easily the best tasting I've been to - I think there was something like 20 different Cantillon beers to try. They even cracked open some bottles of 20 year old geuze.

That sounds amazing, well jealous of that!

 

[strange-steve]

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.

It's not a great beer and nothing much like a "true" kriek imo. The difference between this and the Cantillon kriek is like night and day, the Cantillon isn't sweet at all, it has a delicious sour cherry flavour which doesn't drown out the fermentation flavours and doesn't taste like vimto.