The Bruery's First Day in Brussels

Our day began with the usual wi-fi check in at the nearby hotel, followed by a brisk walk through Bruges to the train station. All of us were equally excited at the idea of purchasing Belgian beer from a vending machine to drink on the train, but alas, it required ID and none of us trusted that our California ID would work. So we ended up having fun buying several bottles of cola which had our coworkers’ names on them.

Once in Brussels, it was another short walk to Cantillon. Like nearly every other beer geek, Cantillon has been on my list of bucket list breweries to visit since my first introduction to the Cantillon Gueuze in my craft beer drinking infancy. I had heard stories of others’ visits, so I knew to expect the brewery to be oddly located in an unassuming industrial building, in a not-so-glamorous area of town (sound familiar?).

The instant we walked in, a change in atmosphere could be felt. We went from the warm sweaty streets of Brussels to a cool, pleasantly humid, and deliciously smelly interior. The stern-faced lady behind the counter greeted us with a friendly smile and gave us her spiel of the brewery basics, the lambic brewing process, and how to proceed on the self-guided tour. Soon enough, we were on our merry way.

The first stop was the ‘Mashing tun’. The rustic white walls and floor of the room complimented the rustic wood and antique looking metal equipment as if it were staged for a museum… except, unlike a museum, this is completely functional and makes some of the best lambic beer around.

Cantillon, Cantillon (You're so delicious)

I think I Cantillon, therefore I can.
What tricks belie your layered lambics?
The guzzled gueuze that goes so quick?
With sours of cherries, grapes and raspberries.
A perfectly balanced lot, like your teetering tin man, a teetotaler not!

Cantillon, our fermenter mentor, our tormentor.
Spiders in webs, wed beside barrel heads. Spying on flies.
So is this where spontaneous souring secrets lie?
Or in the wood beams, near the coolship tun?
(Is there no health department in Belgium?)
I've prayed tell us, what games, will say the rows of
Rosé de Gambrinus, are played?

Forget it. A sip of Lou Pepe made with Schaerbeekse,
a Zwanze, a Kriek, a Framboise. A fanboy am moi.
An ode to an oude gueuze of 2006.
What would I owe to taste the brett in that mix ... again?
So much to gain.
I think I Cantillon, therefore I can.

Yes, this beer poem was indeed written by Carl Katz, our CFO and resident champion of eastern culture ... and poems.

Belgium, Day 3

Lets start at the very Beguine, a very fine place to start.

For our first day of brewery tours, we loaded up in Serge's van and headed towards Antwerp. Not far from there, in the area of Mechelen is Het Anker, a brewery that is on a location where beer had been brewed for over 700 years. In the 1400s, the Beguine sisters received permission to brew beer here. Beguines and Beghards were an indigenous Catholic religious order, whose adherents performed works of mercy, which included running hospitals, baking bread for the poor and, at this particular Beguinage (convent), brewed beer.

A local volunteer took us on a tour of Het Anker. We tried to explain that we were an owner and employees of a brewery in the States, but the point got lost. Tyler especially enjoyed hearing how beer includes four basic ingredients and how yeast turns sugar to C02 and alcohol.

Belgium, Day 2

Note to self... when seeking to conquer a foreign land, be well rested.

Our 20 hour journey from Orange County to Chicago to Brussels to Brugge took its toll on us. We arrived in Belgium on Tuesday (though it might've been Wednesday), met our driver Serge, who took us the 90 minutes to Brugge.

The Bruery Takes Off for Belgium

Belgium is a door mat. In the course of European history, one country/kingdom/empire/duchy can't conquer another without trampling over the country. It's the original Game of Thrones.

In the course of the last 2000 years, the Romans, French, Habsburgs, Vikings, Germans, Spanish, English, Austrians, and countless fiefdoms have had there way with large swaths of the Low Countries. No wonder Belgium is the world's beer capital, as what could be more needed than a nice pint after another day of storming the castle?

Today, The Bruery prepares for its own invasion.