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chthon

Landlord.
Joined
Dec 18, 2016
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And of course you might wonder what someone from Belgium does on an English forum? I am also a member of the Flemish and Dutch forums, but I need input and ideas from other places too. And when I was reading this forum I saw a topic of someone who spends this New Years' Eve at Bruges, so I decided to give my own input, especially since I live at the vicinity of Bruges.


I am 51, and only brewing a year and a half. I would have started earlier, but I did not want to brew 20 liter at a time. Then, last year, two things happened. Two different local supermarkets had suddenly each a brewing kit for brewing 3 and 4 liter respectively, and I got one for Father's Day. I also discovered http://www.thekitchn.com/5-reasons-why-i-became-a-1gallon-brewer-beer-sessions-189903. So that decided it, I knew now that I could brew less than 20 liter. Once the kit was done (which as a malt extract kit), I once brew a beer using pure DME, but afterwards I went to all-grain. I was lucky, my father still had an old
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coffee grinder which I could use to crush my malt (this kind of mill works fine for that: it does not break the husks, and it can be adjusted to mill coarse). So, my first brews were done with this mill and pots and pans from the kitchen, and a 5 liter DJ I bought for fermenting. My very first brew was done using a mechanic oven thermometer.

Things I specifically bought in the first half year of brewing were a better electronic thermometer, a pH-meter, a Bulldog malt mill and a 17 liter boiling pot.

However, I like to try my hand at brewing with recycled things, so I built a filter from two buckets, retrieved from the local fries shop, and one fermentation bucket.

After having done 20 brews (yes!) I have now a good idea of the amounts I want to brew. I use a 5 l DJ for lagering, I also have a 6 liter plastic barrel, used for lagering a little bit more. When I want to brew even more then it is from the fermentation bottle in the bucket. I think that my practical limit is now 24 0.33 cl bottles, which suits me fine.

My favorite blog is "Shut up about Barclay-Perkins".

I also tried my hand last year at cider, but it was a little bit too sour. This year I also tried wine, since I grow grapes too. I hope to have nice dry wine for next summer.

That's it! Cheers, and happy holidays,

Jürgen
 
My favorite blog is "Shut up about Barclay-Perkins".

Jürgen

Welcome. That Ron Pattinson chap is a real beer historian....worth checking his blog to understand the history of beer in the UK. He also did a book ' The Home Brewers Guide To Vintage Beer' which is really interesting..why certain things happened at certain times driven by a whole mix of circumstances. Also check out Beersmith Podcast 75.
 
I know I will be getting the Dutch translated version of 'The Home Brewers Guide to Vintage Beer' :-)
 
Welcome to the forum Chthon. Input and information about Belgium and your excellent beers is always welcome. I have a selection of Beers from Belgium to enjoy the christmas, I'm looking forward to that..! :drink:
 
Welcome to the forum Chthon. Input and information about Belgium and your excellent beers is always welcome. I have a selection of Beers from Belgium to enjoy the christmas, I'm looking forward to that..! :drink:

Remember a Belgian beer isn't just for xmas :twisted:

welcome Chthon, any tips where to buy candi sugar when I'm next over there most welcome :-)
 
I just looked at the Holland homebrew forum, and I think that the only thing that's worth buying here (if you can't get it in UK) is Candico dark candi syrup. Apparently this gives the best color.

White candi sugar is the same as castor sugar. Dark candi sugar (like Candico) (not syrup) does give a rummy and liquorice taste, but no color (the dark color is has does not survive fermentation), this should be offset with a lower attenuation.

I have mostly started making my own invert sugars using castor sugar and cane sugar.
 
Soo many Belgian beers to taste, so little time!

You'd be surprised at the attempt I've made. :lol:

From Jupiler (the less said the better) to Westvleteren 12 and everything in-between.

Didn't really get the Gordon range of scottish ales by John Martin.

unexpected finds were the lupulus blonde , hommel bier, and oude gueze boon!
 
I'm going to be visiting Bruges mid feb 2017 and would appreciate any info you could give me in regards to Beer related activities and "proper" bars :)

Cheers!
 
Soo many Belgian beers to taste, so little time!

Had a couple of small glasses of the Affligem last night. Nice beer, quite malty, full bodied, goes down nicely. But, 2 glasses (33cl - 6.7%) is all I managed. This is definitely not a session brew!:oops:
 
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I'm going to be visiting Bruges mid feb 2017 and would appreciate any info you could give me in regards to Beer related activities and "proper" bars :)

Cheers!

There's another thread here on this forum from someone who spends new year in Bruges. Most good advice has already been given there.

But, while I was composing this, I just remembered something else: there is also another nice place to eat and drink, its called 'Jilles' and you can get hamburgers (real nice ones) paired with the perfect beer. It's near the fish market (Vismarkt).
 

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