A Visit to Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle

Returning to a series of beer travel-related posts I was working on a few months ago, here is a post about a visit in May to Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle. Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle was started in 2011 (first beers released in 2012) by Chris Vandewalle. Chris is the 10th generation in a line of brewers and he has a serious passion for both beer and his region. As is not uncommon for small Belgian breweries, the brewery is a second job for Chris, who works as a regional historian for his day job. Chris's passion for beer and history make him a great resource for learning about beer of the region and he is proud to bring brewing back to his community of Reninge which, although the current population is only ~1000 people, he reports was once home to half a dozen breweries.

Hop fields outside of Poperinge.

The brewery is located in the municipality of Lo-Reninge in the southwest corner of the West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen) province. It is not far from Poperinge, one of Belgium's hop growing centers. This region of Belgium was hit especially hard during WWI. Perhaps nearby towns such as Ypres are familiar to those who remember some WWI history. Between people fleeing the fighting to start new lives elsewhere (and not returning) and those killed during the war, this time saw the region lose nearly a generation's worth of people and knowledge. This included brewing knowledge and the types of beers being brewed. Chris is passionate about collecting what was left/lost and bringing that knowledge and history back, for general life and culture as well as beer.

Even without meeting him his passion for his region and beer traditions should come through clearly based on the line of beers he makes and the regional West Vlaams product logo proudly noting the use of local ingredients.

The Vandewalle beers: Oud Bruin, Bitter Blond, Kriek, and BB à Lambiek

The beers

Chris's beers all have some common threads, most notably is a certain edge. To say that his beers are unpolished gives absolutely the wrong impression, but let me explain. I don't mean that his beers are rough takes that need working out yet. His beers are well crafted and are made to be exactly what they are through recipe and process. But the beers have an edge to them. On purpose. They have not been rounded out or softened for broader appeal. So that is what I mean by unpolished - they retain every bit of grit and character that Chris intends. The blond is firmly bitter - more so than I think any other Belgian beer I've had (excluding maybe Belgian made IPAs, but even then it is more bitter than most of those). The Oud Bruin is not as sweet as those familiar with the more commercial examples would expect. And the Bitter Blond à Lambiek is forward in its brett character. So I think unpolished is an accurate description in this context, but perhaps it's better to say it this way - Chris brews beers with an edge.

Chris's walk in cooler with bitter blond and a selection of bottled beer.

Chris is currently making 4 beers. Given his location in hop growing country, it may not be surprising that the Bitter Blond was his first beer (first released in 2012). And although I didn't ask about production breakdown, it seems to be his main beer as well. The accurately-named  Bitter Blond is a firmly bitter beer with a pleasant landrace-type hop character. While the hops are grown in West Flanders, they are English varieties. It is common now to find English varieties grown in Belgium as the historic Belgian varieties had been replaced. Some small farmers are starting to grow older Belgian varieties again, but it will likely be some time before they are produced at a commercial level.

Barrels of Oud Bruin.

While the Bitter Blond doesn't try to classify itself as such, this beer fits well with modern saisons. The first, and most obvious way, is in the pale, dry and firmly bitter characteristics of the beer along with the yeast character (though the hops play the dominant role in this beer). Additionally the motivation for the beer fits the lore of saison as a beer of farmworkers. Agriculture still plays a major role in the regional Lo-Reninge economy, and historically as well as in the modern day one of the major activities was growing (and then harvesting) grasses. This can be seen if you time a trip right, although now the cutting is done by industrial farm equipment. Historically this would have been by hand, and as Chris explained the field workers would have needed a refreshing bitter beer to quench their thirst. Chris has made his Bitter Blond in this spirit.

Chris's second beer was his Oud Bruin (also 2012). Sour beers were once common in the region, though you wouldn't know it by looking at many of the nearby modern breweries. But in line with the modern remaining Flanders red-brown beers, the wider region was formerly known to produce darker acidic beers. Like others, Chris's Oud Bruin is a blend of an aged beer (a brown which spends about 1 year in oak) with a younger brown beer. The beer is drier than many others on the market with a great acid balance and a touch of sweeter/mellowing character from the younger beer. This is a great modern example of these mixed-fermentation brown beers which were once ubiquitous in the region, especially as sweet beer showing only hints of age and mixed fermentation can be over-represented.

Kriek base in barrels awaiting the summer's cherry harvest.

The third beer is Krieken Rood, a kriek made using locally grown cherries. The beer ages in oak with the whole cherries (and as Chris confirmed with a laugh, those cherries are slowly and meticulously removed from the barrel by hand). The beer is brewed in February, where it waits in oak for the cherries. In July when the cherries are in season they are added to the beer and they remain with the beer until the following February, when the beer is bottled and the cycle begins again. It was just released when I stopped by in the first week of May, meaning roughly 2-3 months of bottle conditioning.

This kriek is unlike any other that I've had (note that kriek just means sour cherry and, as such, does not have any inherent tie to a given beer style). The acidity of Chris's kriek is mellow, but present, and the focus is more on a fuller/sweeter fruit (but it's not a sweet beer!) and almondy/woody character. Part of this likely comes from the varietal he is using, which his website lists as Nordkrieken from Veurne. Unfortunately I have no other experience with these cherries either on their own or in other beers, so I can't speak much to the character of these cherries. The time in oak barrels which are less neutral (more on this below) than what many other Belgian kriek producers are using and the longer contact time between the whole fruit and the beer likely play into the uniqueness of this beer as well. Here are some photos of the cherries from the 2016 harvest, coincidentally posted to the Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle facebook page the same day that I published this post.

The fourth and newest addition to the lineup is Chris's Bitter Blond à Lambiek. The first blends were released in 2015, though bottles list blending dates as early as 2013 so this beer has been a part of the Vandewalle plan for some time. The beer is made from blending his Bitter Blond with commercial lambic (coming from Oud Beersel) at a ratio of roughly 5% lambic. The blending occurs right before bottling. After this the beer spends at least 8 months in the bottle to condition, though I've not seen/had a bottle that was less 12-18 months old. Likely due to the substantial hop presence, the beer doesn't develop a lot of additional acidity from the extended conditioning; however the Brettanomyces certainly makes its presence known. Amos at Browne & Bitter talks about this beer and the Bitter Blond a bit more in his contemporary Bière de Coupage post.

The brewery and brewing process

Chris is brewing 450 L batches on a Braumeister system and he is employing some non-conventional process to make beer which (fittingly) breaks from the general Belgian norm. One of the most striking things about Chris's process, and something that he stresses when talking about brewing, is the time that the beers are given. For example the Bitter Blond, his beer which is released the youngest, spends 3-4 months (mostly in cold storage) between brew day and bottling. And the Bitter Blond à Lambiek spends at least 8 months bottle conditioning before release. Brewing at the scale and running the brewery that he is, Chris can fully let the beer dictate when it was ready and give it all the time it needs to get there. He firmly feels that this is best for his beer, and by tasting the products I agree with him.

The cooling tun and open fermenter.

Chris's beers are open cooled overnight. This open cooling is done outside in a dairy tank, which is then wheeled in to the brewing building where yeast is pitched and it ferments in the same vessel. This open cooling allows for the potential of mixed-microbe inoculation and when I taste the bitter blond I get the sense that there is something more than just sacch at play. Additionally, given Chris's focus on time, for many of his beers there is sufficient time for a mixed culture to express its different sides. The open fermentation in a relatively shallow wide pan certainly has an influence on the expression Chris gets from his yeast. Both of these processes - cooling outside in some sort of open vessel and then pitching yeast and fermenting inside in that same vessel - are accessible to home producers more easily than larger commercial producers. I may try some of this out when I'm back in the swing of brewing and the weather cools a bit.

More barrels at Vandewalle.

Chris is using oak barrels for the production of his Oud Bruin and Kriek, and additionally he is also aging a bit of Bitter Blond in oak for trials. It is interesting to note that all of Chris's barrels are new - their first use was his beer. He doesn't want used barrels (e.g wine barrels) as he doesn't want other microbes from whatever the barrels held previously influencing his fermentation. Now after 5 years of use he is happy with how his barrels are mellowing out and the characteristics they are giving now, though he is also expanding his barrel production and therefore not all his barrels are 5 years old yet.

Visiting - Public visits to the brewery are probably best set up for small/medium groups, and include 3 beers and some local snacks. Contact the brewery to set up a visit. Otherwise look for Vandewalle beers around Belgium. They can be found at some select good beer spots (Malt Attacks in Brussels, Mi Orge Mi Houblon in Arlon, and Bierhalle Deconinck in Vichte to name a few).

I'll close with a quote from Chris, which was accompanied by a firm pat of his stomach, about how he is brewing and what drives him to brew the way he does/the beers he does:

"A brewer does it his own way, following his belly!"

If you're interested in Belgian beer travel I've written up some general thoughts as well as specific insights on visiting lambic producers and saison producers (with links for posts of my visits to individual producers within those).

Visiting Belgian and French Saison Producers

In continuation of my Belgian travel series (see this first post with general advice and this second one focusing on visiting lambic brewers and blenders) I've put together this post on visiting Belgian and French producers of saisons. Not all producers name their beers with these terms, but to me they are all excellent examples of beers that fit within the saison family. There are other brewers that one could say should be on this list, some justifiably so and some that I would say aren't my favorite. So I'll update this with more breweries as I visit more breweries if I feel they should be included. But whatever the case, this is not an exhaustive list of all the Belgian producers calling their beers saisons nor is it an exhaustive list of Belgian brewers whose beers I feel could accurately be termed saisons (even if the brewers don't use this term).

As I mentioned in the first introductory travel post, I tend to get around Belgium by public transport and foot. So directions presented here reflect that. I might be one of few remaining analog travelers of my generation (I print or hand-draw maps, no data/gps on my phone). So many of you will probably get around differently. But this serves to show that it can be done without much knowledge of French or Flemish and by public transport, walking, and hand-drawn maps. So if you want to do it this way here's how I did it. Generally, getting to these breweries by public transport will make reaching lambic brewers/blenders seem easy. If you want to reach the following brewers without a car you'll often be walking 4+ km and/or using a combination of bus and walking from the nearest train station. But don't let that deter you. Taking some time in the Belgian and French countryside, or at least smaller villages, adds to the experience of visiting these breweries.

The Brasserie a Vapeur mash tun, with steam engine at back right.

Visits through saison country will show you that there is quite the range in terms of brewing systems being employed and the beers being made, and visits will give a good juxtaposition of the current state of saison. While maybe at one point saison was a beer for local consumption only and brewed by farmers, that is far from the case now. Of course that doesn't take anything away from how excellent the beers are and how great the brewers are, both in creating their beers and as genuinely nice and welcoming people. Just that the romanticized/nostalgic notion of saison combined with the modern flavor profiles we associate with these beers form an identity that might be more historical fiction than anything else. Again, that is not to place value judgments on which identity of saison is better. I'm just trying to more accurately identify what modern saison is. Some of these producers do make beers that could fall closer to the realm of historic saison as well.

The belfry and cathedral in Tournai

As a contrast to lambic producers, these breweries are mostly comparatively young and many were founded in the 1980s and 1990s. This wasn't an easy time for small brewers in Belgium and France and we can be thankful that the brewers fought through those difficulties and made it to today. You'll find that as with lambic, there are some unique and passionate people running some of these breweries. I'd recommend if you're making visits that you spend some time talking with brewers about more than just how they make beer. There are interesting stories from how they got started, how people reacted (and at times still react) to their beers, and what motivates them/inspires them as brewers. I guess the sort of passion that would drive one to open a small brewery as such breweries were dying out makes the brewers people who are worth talking to outside of their role as the producer of a beer you like.

So in no particular order, here are some excellent Belgian and French producers of saisons. Some of the breweries are in farmhouses, some are in residential houses, and some are in warehouses. Some are new and some have been around for decades. Some make 'clean' beer (Saccharomyces only), some make mixed fermentation beer, and some do a bit of both (though not always intentionally). But whatever the case, and while some may not always make consistent beer, they all make beer that can be excellent. I talk a bit more about some of these breweries in brewery-specific blog posts(linked below) and a few years ago I put together a post with some general thoughts from visiting saison breweries in 2013-2014.

Brasserie Thiriez
Brasserie a Vapeur
Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle
General thoughts from saison brewery visits

At the brewery in 2011.

Brasserie Dupont - Brasserie Dupont is responsible for introducing most of us to saison (if not directly then likely indirectly). While in farmland and in a farm building, they have certainly modernized from the farmhouse brewery days. But that shouldn't deter you from a visit and there is still some great stuff to see at the brewery.

Visits in English at this point are not given by a brewer so if you are looking for some production secrets, you probably won't get any. Fortunately the production methods are well documented in books like Farmhouse Ales. But seeing the brewhouse, as well as a glimpse at some of the older equipment still in use or (relatively) recently retired is great. Their fermenter geometry is something very unique that you are unlikely to see almost anywhere else. And the fermenters have analog temperature probes on them so you can watch a tank bubble away at 36 C (96.8)!

Overall a visit to Dupont falls more on the inspiration/seeing one of the icons side rather than lots of practical brewing info, but with a sharp eye/ear both can be found. So I would definitely recommend a trip there, but if you are looking for something more along the lines of discovery of new beers/info or talking with a brewer then this might not land at the top of your list.

Short fermenters (in the wall, left) and more standard taller conditioning tanks (right).

They also make cheese which is nice and can be found at some restaurants around Brussels (and presumably elsewhere). And they produce cheese with Cantillon lambic which is also very good and can be bought (when available) at Cantillon. If you want more info on the history of Dupont, here is a nice article by Chuck Cook.

When to visit: The brewery gives tours on the first Saturday of the month, English tour at 11:30 (book in advance, though it sounds like drop-ins at this time are ok as long as space is permitting). While you can go there and have a beer at the cafe across the street (Les Caves Dupont) unless you are really prioritizing seeing the building and/or spending time in the Hainaut countryside I would wait to visit Dupont to coincide with a tour (note - it seems that since my visit to Les Caves in 2011 that they may not normally be open, so this might not be a safe bet).

Getting there: The brewery is walkable from the Leuze train station (the same station that gets you walkably close to Brasserie a Vapeur). It's about 4.5 km from the station and mostly on one road (route here). The walking route is fine, though you'll be walking on the shoulder of the road for a while.

Brasserie Thiriez - Brasserie Thiriez, run by Daniel Thiriez and founded in 1996, makes excellent beers fitting into both the Saison and Bière de Garde categories. The brewery is in the northwest corner of France, quite close to both the border with the West Flanders region of Belgium as well as the French city of Dunkirk. Located on the site of an old farm and a brewery (up until 1945), Thiriez does a good job of combining new and old. The bar is filled with breweriana in the old building side of the property while the brewing system and brewhouse building are relatively new.

The Thiriez bar.

Thiriez yeast is believed to be the origin of the well known Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast, though as I've written about in a post focusing on the brewery there are some clear differences. I think this yeast really shines with pale hoppy beers, and a good amount of the Thiriez lineup fits this description. They also do some barrel aging with brett and bacteria, which isn't especially common among saison brewers. The barrel aged beers I've had have been excellent and distinct, so I look forward to coming releases from this program. In addition to brewing great beer, Daniel knows a good bit about regional beer history and has a great collection of breweriana. This is a great stop to make and personally I have found more inspiration here than at just about any other European brewery I've been to.

Fermenters at Thiriez.

When to Visit: The brewery is generally open for visitors as long as you contact ahead of time, so the best time to visit is basically whenever you can. There are some special events at times (coming up soon is their 20th anniversary/open house on 21-May-16).

Getting there: This might be the trickiest one of all by public transport from Brussels. From Brussels you can reach the Flemish town of De Panne/Adinkerke by train. This is not a fast trip, and it is only the beginning. There is also a De Lijn streetcar which connects the coastal towns of Belgium and ends on the south end at the De Panne station. So if you are along the coast already this shortens the trip.

Adjacent to the De Panne train station is a DK bus stop (Adinquerque). DK bus is the bus service for Dunkirk and line 2 (you might see it labeled as 2a) connects the Flemish trains at De Panne/Adinkerke to the French trains at the Dunkirk station. From there you can catch a regional train to Esquelbecq, From the Esquelbecq station it is about a 2 km walk to the brewery. Some of these connections might be tight and while I've had it work out, I've also found myself waiting for the next 1/hour trip multiple times after missing a connection by minutes due to one leg running late.

If you do this as a day trip from Brussels, and it is definitely doable, book all day for it (and a long one at that). All in all it is about a 4 hour trip one way from Brussels by public transport and walking if you don't get delayed by missing a connection and connections time out well. The trip is shortened quite a bit if you stay in western Flanders or northern France for a night or two. Or you could go by car, but then you'd miss out on all the fun.

You can also get there by bike from Poperinge (which has a train station and bike rentals). The trip is about 20-25 km 1 way and mostly flat. Biking through farmland is a great way to get yourself ready for a refreshing saison! Poperinge is connected with major Flemish cities by 1 train/hour and it is both in the center of Belgian hop growing and the closest point to Westvleteren/St. Sixtus by train, so as a beer tourist you may find yourself in the area anyway.

The brewery (back left), new warehouse space (front left) and the cafe building (right) in May 2015.

Au Baron's cafe/restaurant/brewery with a riverside patio.

Brasserie au Baron - Brasserie au Baron is another excellent brewer of beers fitting into both the Saison and Bière de Garde realms in northern France (though they are only a couple hundred meters from the Belgian border). They make simple, excellent beers along with great food and in a beautiful setting. The brewery started in 1989 and current head brewer Xavier took over from his father.

Their Cuvée des Jonquilles fits into what many would consider a classic saison, but saison doesn't show up on the label. Their amber and brune both clearly say saison, and their elevated maltyness might remind some of nice top fermented bières de garde (they are still pleasantly dry and crisp). This all goes to show that while we like to apply these names as categories with specific meanings, the words have literal meanings in French that aren't restricted to one style of beer, and these sorts of breweries are not bound by strict style definitions. So not everyone follows these naming conventions, and with fair reason. One of my favorite moments in talking with Xavier was while discussing the modern identity of saison and application of style terms (especially outside of Belgium/France) when he said "Saison is a rubbish style!" and then mentioned all the things that some brewers call a saison (beers like saison-ipas or super brett-forward beers).

Whatever name/label you wish to use, Au Baron makes beers of delicacy, simplicity and grace.

A yeast propagation tank converted into a fermenter

When to Visit: The brewery is open for visits Monday through Thursday from 9:00-16:00 and Friday and Saturday from 10:00-15:00. Email ahead to schedule a visit. There is a restaurant there serving beers and good food and selling bottles to go. In warmer months the patio is open along the Honelle (called Hogneau in France). This would be a great place to enjoy Baron beers over lunch.

Getting there: This is also a more tricky one to get to without a car. By train from Brussels you can get to the Quievrain station. From there it is either a 10 km walk to the brewery, or you can catch TEC bus #29' to Roisin (~20 min, roughly one every 1.5 hours on weekdays, though the schedule is a bit erratic so check it). From Roisin it's a 4 km walk to the brewery. There is some signage as you make your way out of the center of Roisin. Following google maps led me into a nature preserve and the 'road' was actually a thin trail that was a touch on the muddy side. It still led straight to the brewery, but I was a bit apprehensive at first.

Brasserie a Vapeur - Founded/taken over from the closed Biset-Cuvelier brewery in 1984 by Jean-Louis Dits, Brasserie a Vapeur was at the leading edge of the wave of breweries making saisons which opened in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1980s and 1990s were a hard time to open smaller specialty breweries in Belgium and (especially) France. On the whole these sorts of breweries were a dying breed and the idea to found a new specialty brewery was a bit crazy. If you discuss the origins of these breweries with their owners you'll find a common thread of cooperation/sharing among them, both when they were opening up as well as now. To survive as a new small brewer in that time required sharing of resources and knowledge with fellow brewers. Some established larger breweries also helped out with supplies and ingredients in small quantities as some companies were not interested in selling in such small volumes. Multiple other brewers from this list point to Jean-Louis as someone who helped them out when they got started.

The Brasserie a Vapeur steam engine.

Visiting during a brewday is something truly amazing. I've written a good deal about that in the post about visiting them so I'll only write about that briefly here. Brewing at a Vapeur is not exact. They brew once per month using old iron equipment and a steam engine. The saison is brewed once per year so if you are visiting for a brewday chances are you'll be there for Vapeur en Folie or Cochonne. Their brewery is the sort of thing you rarely see at all, let alone in use. From the moment you walk in the door the sticky heat of the steam engine and the smell of grease hit you hard. This, combined with the rhythmic whistling of the steam engine are something I'll never forget. A trip across the uneven worn brick floor to the open topped iron mash tun to watch the water to grist ratio adjusted by feel (by using a hand to assess the consistency and temperature) should confirm if you didn't know it already that you are witnessing pieces of brewing from a different era.

Steam in the brewery.

When to visit: They are open for the public during their brew days on the last Saturday of the month. You'll need to book in advance, and something like EUR 35 covers your spot watching the brew as well as all you can drink Vapeur beer and all you can eat from an excellent lunch. When I was there, offerings included slow cooked pork, home made bread, ~25 different Belgian cheeses, salmon, soup, etc. It was certainly worth it. Information is given in French, though if you speak to one of the brewers/assistants they will likely be able to give you a rundown of what is going on in English. Brewers/assistants include Jean-Louis or his daughter as well as a main assistant Bernard, and then Jean-Louis's wife and possibly a young brewer or two living nearby who are planning their own brewery in the region (note that Bernard, while very welcoming, speaks only French).

Getting there: You can reach the brewery by taking a train to Leuze, one stop away from Tournai(FR)/Doornik(NL). There is regular train service from Brussels to Tournai (1/hour) and these trains stop in Leuze just before Tournai. From the Leuze station it is a pleasant 4 km walk through farmland to the the brewery in the town of Pipaix. There are a couple possible routes you can take. This route is the most direct but the roads aren't always marked excellently, so if you miss the right turn in the fields (it is pretty much the only road) then you can go the long way through town.

As I mentioned in the post on visiting a Vapeur, I recommend getting to the brewery early if you are there for a brew day. In order to easily do that and if you don't like waking up very early, it might be best to spend the night in Tournai before hand. It's a reasonably pretty city with a very old cathedral and an old belfry. There is a youth hostel there and there is also a bar with a well curated tap selection plus bottles along the river (Saison Dupont and De Ranke hop harvest on tap when I was last there, the bar is roughly here if my hazy memory is correct) as well as specialty beer shop which will certainly have enough to keep you entertained for a few nights in the way of saisons and lambics.

Brasserie Blaugies - I have not yet made a visit, so I can't offer much insight here. I'll update when/if I've made a visit (nothing is planned for the near future). I can say that a couple friends have reported (from multiple visits) that this is a great place to visit and that it ranks at/near the top of their brewery visits in Belgium/France. The brewery is not especially set up for tours, but the restaurant Le Fourquet is open Wednesday-Sunday for lunch and dinner. Word on the street is that Pierre-Alex, the original brewer and father of the current brewer (Kevin) and restaurant owner (Cedric) likes to hang around the restaurant and grill. So a visit to the restaurant, on top of being a good stop for lunch/dinner, may allow you to talk a bit of beer and/or peek into the brewery.

Fantome - Fantome was founded in 1988 by Dany Prignon to do something to bring more notoriety to his town. In the Ardennes and separated from classic saison country, the brewery stands out from other saison breweries in more than just its location. Foreign interest in Fantome beers is much higher than Belgian interest and most of Dany's production is exported. Furthermore much of it is spoken for before it is released. He receives a lot of visitors (especially in summer), sometimes too many. Visiting the brewery shows a contrast to other producers. Dany's system is older than most others (excepting a Vapeur) and a bit pieced together rather than the more complete and modern systems seen at many other breweries. The Fantome setup is perfectly in line with the spirit of Fantome.

The recognizable Brasserie Fantome ghost.

Fantome brews a wide variety of beers (some regular seasonals, some less seasonal but re-occurring releases, and a healthy number of one-offs) generally with unique and mysterious spicing and generally stronger than the typical saison (usually sitting at 8%). The beers often have the influence of brett and/or bacteria, and this can lead to some truly remarkable beers and sometimes some not as excellent beers. However one feels about this, I think it is safe to say that the best Fantome beers I've had have been some of my favorite saisons. And they provided early inspiration for me to move past thinking of saison only as something like Saison Dupont (which is an excellent beer, but is not the whole scope of saisons). Fantome is an important piece in the puzzle of saison beers and brewing. I discuss their beers a bit more in my post about general thoughts from saison brewery visits.

When to visit: Go when you can. They take visitors for tours on weekends/holidays when available and with a booking in advance. There are some special events (see the Confrérie page of their website) including Santé release weekend (August), an old car rally (May) and a carnival in February, It seems that some also meet on Sunday evenings at the brewery cafe. I don't have personal experience from any of these events.

Getting there: You can take a train to Melreux from Brussels (it will require at least one change). From there it is about 6 km of walking, making this a tricky destination. If you're lucky you might get a ride. This was the case for me both directions so I haven't had to walk between the station and Fantome.

De La Senne - Brasserie  De La Senne's co-founder Yvan de Baets is a man who needs no
introduction to a saison enthusiast. He is probably the world's foremost expert on saison history and his chapter on this topic in Markowski's Farmhouse Ales is by far the best English-language source of information on the topic. It is easy to underestimate the amount of work that went into this chapter, but if you ever turn to French language brewing sources from the 1800s (or earlier or even in the 1900s) you'll see how frustratingly difficult it can be to find information about historic saisons. And often the info you do find will be incomplete and can contradict either your other sources or could be self-contradictory within one source. The simple truth is that writers at the time didn't care about poor rural breweries. And the information Yvan has compiled to come up with a coherent history is truly remarkable.

A short and wide De La Senne fermenter.

Brasserie De La Senne has earned their place as a leader of a new and innovative wave of Belgian brewers who are breaking from classic Belgian beers of today like sweeter blondes, dubbels, tripels, etc. by making modern beers with historical connections. They make beers that they call saison, but they also make others that fit with saison characteristics without using the name. Hop-forward and low strength beers like Taras Boubla remind today's drinkers that Belgian beer can be hoppy and light (as was common historically) and fit well within the historical roots of saison. At their core, De La Senne beers are for people who like drinking beer and De La Senne shows that beer can have complex flavor while maintaining a balance and drinkability.

I won't say too much more about them here but if you are interested Topher at Farmhouse Beer Blog has a nice write up (including discussion of their fermenter geometry, which is unique among modern brewers). And there are also some good interviews out there like this old one by the Shelton Brothers with Yvan and the other co-founder Bernard Leboucq and this more recent one from the Beer Temple.

When to visit: The brewery is open from 9-3 (office 8-4) Monday through Friday and they have a bar/tasting room. The aren't set up to receive individual visits but can take groups of at least 15 people with a reservation.

Getting there: You can reach the brewery by MVIB/STIB (Brussels public transit) streetcar from the Weststation metro station in Brussels. From there take tram line 82 to the Molenbeek cemetery stop. Then it is a quick walk to the brewery which is in an warehouse space to the right/north. Note that they are moving locations within the next two years and that these instructions/descriptions are for the Molenbeek location.

Bitter Blond a Lambiek

Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle - Although a new brewery (first brew was fall 2011) and in the Flemish region of Belgium, Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle fits well with the spirit and characteristics of saison. Chris Vandewalle is the owner/brewer and he is the 10th generation in a line of brewers. The brewery is a small and focused operation, with Chris taking the time to produce exactly the beer he wants. He puts an emphasis on local products in his beers, and on the whole he makes a point to promote his region. There are some unique production methods in use here (as I mention in this post about the brewery) and checking them out might be especially interesting for inspiration for smaller brewers and home brewers.

Chris makes 4 beers - Reninge Bitter Blond, Oud Bruin, Kriek and Bitter Blond a Lambiek. The Reninge Bitter Blond is a dry and very hoppy blond beer that seems to match the sort of descriptions that Yvan De Baets gives in his history of saison chapter - a beer that when younger was very bitter. Vandewalle also produces a version of this beer blended with lambic (Reninge Bitter Blond a Lambiek) which again aligns with saison brewing history and provides an interesting balance of hoppy and mixed-fermentation beers that have a vinous character and light acidity. Vandewalle is quite the beer historian, so it should come as no surprise that he is producing great beers which fit with historical Belgian brewing.

Barrels for Kriek at Vandewalle.

Chris is a very welcoming brewer and is happy to share his story. A visit to the brewery is packed full of local history, beer history, brewer philosophy, unique production, and good beers. Go expecting to learn, especially about how the local history influenced regional brewing. I'll try to get a post focused on visiting Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle and I'll update this post with a link if/when I do.

When to visit: Visits need to be arranged in advance, so contact the brewery for timing. They may take solo visits here and there (I was fortunate to have that opportunity) but generally visits are better suited for medium to small groups as there is a minimum cost of EUR 80, which I'm told includes a tasting of beers paired with local food).

Getting there: The most convenient/pleasant way I found to get there was renting a bike in Poperinge and heading through the hop fields (with a quick stop at Westvleteren/St. Sixtus for a glass of blond) to the brewery. As an aside, the Reninge bitter blond is massively more hoppy than the Westvleteren blond.

The nearest train station is Diksmuide (the same station one would go to in order to visit De Dolle, and on the line between Brussels and De Panne which you would use to get to Thiriez by train). From there you can take De Lijn route #24 to Reninge and the brewery, though note that this bus has very limited hours and it may not line up with your trip. So the bike plan is probably safest.

The brewery building.

Brouwerij De Glazen Toren - In Flemish-speaking Belgium and closer to traditional lambic territory that the traditional saison region of Hainaut, Brouwerij De Glazen Toren is a comparatively newer arrival in Belgian saison brewing. They opened in 2004 as a joint venture of 3 friends. Their brewery is shiny and generally modern, although there are some unique differences from conventional breweries. Their fermenter aspect ratios are basically the opposite of someone like Dupont or De La Senne. They also don't have temperature control (or at least didn't a couple years ago) but will at times wrap insulation around tanks to keep them warm (see the tank on the right in the photo below).

Their saison follows very much along the lines of Dupont's saison - pale, crisply hoppy and 'clean' fermentation (no brett or bacteria). They don't really offer tours and they have no tasting room/bar. I've had poor success emailing them and it's one of the only breweries I visited where I didn't feel especially welcome. After waiting for a bit I was able to ask some questions and by the end I felt more welcome. In the end I had a nice trip and got to talk with the owners/brewers for a fair bit, but I can't say that this is a reliable destination for getting some brewing info/talking about beer and drinking a beer.

Tall and thin fermenters at De Glazen Toren.

When to visit: They are open on Friday afternoons and Saturdays. They aren't really set up to welcome guests, so the term 'visiting' is used loosely. In general their opening hours are for people to show up, buy bottles to take home, and then leave. Although I did have a good time in the end, based on my experience I can't recommend visiting and I would put this pretty far down the priority list unless you have a very strong reason to visit this specific brewery. Things may have changed since I was there in 2014.

Getting there: You can take a De Lijn bus #81 or #91 from Aalst or walk from the Ede station (a bit over 2 km, trains from Brussels to Ede only on weekdays). The brewery is in a residential area and coming from a North American background it was sort of surprising to see a line of houses, with one in the middle (still in a house-type building) that is a brewery.



I'll end with a list of some other breweries you might want to consider, but that I have not been to so I can't add anything about them.

Brouwerij de Ranke (just in the Walloon region in Dottignies)
Brasserie de Cazeau (outside of Tournai) - the brewery dates back to the 1700s.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll update the list and/or add to the notes as I make more visits. Happy travels!

Sunrise over Wallonian fields with a mound of sugar beets.

Visiting Lambic Producers

As prefaced in this first general post about beer traveling in Belgium, I often compile lists of places, how to get there, when to go, etc. for friends making a beer trip to Belgium. The general post covers intro and some of the basics about getting around Belgium and prompts for thinking about what you want in a trip. This post is more focused and gets into the destinations. So here are some guidelines from my experience for visiting lambic producers. I'd like to do that same sort of thing for saison breweries at some point, so keep an eye out for that.

I won't really cover anything about lambic cafes here (at least not yet). For those purposes your best resource is the book LambicLand. If you are going to put some serious time into visiting lambic cafes this book is a must. If you're only going to visit a few big name spots and the more easy to access breweries then you can probably get away without it, but it really is an excellent resource and I highly recommend it to anyone who has the time/interest to dive into the world of lambic producers and cafes.

The Senne River

If you want to learn about lambic and lambic producers, their beers and their history, lambic.info is an amazing resource and I won't try to cover that sort of stuff here. So I'll focus more on what places let you do (taste, tour, etc.), how to get there, and when to go. In the brewery sections I've included some special events that they do and at the bottom I've included some general lambic special event times and times of the year to visit producers and/or drink a good selection of lambic.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the spontaneous beer producers in Belgium, but it covers most of the ones focusing more quality lambic. I used to have a strong bias of lambic producers that I felt were worth my time and those that were not (based in which ones were spending more time on unsweetened products and which were not). While this has been upheld to some degree by having the more traditional beers from producers focusing less on traditional products, there have also been times when my mind was changed (or at least my biases relaxed). As I saw posted on facebook a few months back by a Belgian lambic enthusiast named Werner, there are so few producers of lambic around that we shouldn't really take any of them for granted. I think this is a valuable point of view and while I certainly wish there was more traditional lambic and I don't have an interest in sweetened products, some producers who are making sweetened products still contribute to traditional lambic by either their products or by supplying wort to blenders (professional and home). It does seem that some of the larger industrial producers who make a lot of sweetened products are turning some focus a bit back toward unsweetened characterful lambic, but we'll have to wait and see on the full extent and results of that. I've tried to strike a balance here by including some producers doing more sweetened stuff and if I make visits to some of the places that I left off this list then I will definitely add them with notes about my visits there.

As a disclaimer, to the best of my knowledge this info is accurate as of the time I posted it. But lots of it is subject to change. As I become aware of changes I'll update, but it is probably best to look into these a bit more to ensure that you know what opening times/availability/event dates are. Directions to get places are all by public transport and walking as I'm assuming you've got some navigation method figured out if you are driving.

Here are some of my other posts about lambic and lambic producers:
Gueuzerie Tilquin Visits
Cantillon Visits part 1
Cantillon Visits part 2 (these are a bit dated now having been written in late 2013)
-See also these videos of wort entering the coolship and barrel cleaning as well as some miscellaneous pictures including racking cooled wort into barrels.

Last updated: 14-January-2016

Lambic Brewers

Cantillon:

Cantillon

Being centrally located in the city of Brussels and much better known internationally than any other producer, this is already a main stop on the radar for most. And I've talked about Cantillon a fair bit in a two part post from the early days of this blog which focused mainly on a public brew day (part 1 and and part 2). Cantillon offers self-guided tours 6 days a week (open 9-5 mon-fri, 10-5 sat). Around noon and the early afternoon it gets more crowded with tourists (pretty much every day I've been in there in that time frame). The plus side of that is that there are generally other people to share bottles with. But I tend to try for earlier in the day. Note that they close at 5pm, last tours at 4 and last bottles at 4:15.

The cover of Cantillon's mash tun

I regularly stop there in my mornings in Belgium as they open at 9 am. So as long as you are amenable to morning beers (at least on vacation) here is how I would suggest you start a normal day in Brussels that doesn't require you to get an early start to head into the countryside:

-wake up in Brussels at a reasonable time such as or before 8-ish (sidenote - Belgium is basically all reachable in day trips from Brussels unless you need to make some tricky connections and/or have early or late times you need to be places, see the general Belgium travels post). Do whatever sort of thing you do for breakfast.
-Go to Cantillon at 9-9:30 (assuming it is a weekday). If you're tight on time, get a glass of gueuze or lambic or something else. If you have more time, get a bottle and have a leisurely morning there before it gets busy while deciding what to do for the day and/or getting ready for it if you've already decided.
-Leave in the late morning to do whatever you've planed for the day. Chances are you can still get wherever you want by about noon even with a leisurely morning at Cantillon.

The full coolship on a brew day

Best times to visit: Really any day (but it can get pretty busy). They have a couple of special events that let you either try more of their beers in a short time or get a little more insight into their processes:

• Open brew days (November and March) - If you're interested in the production of lambic, then checking out a Cantillon open brew day is pretty cool. This is also the best chance to get a word or two in with Jean van Roy. On normal days he is working and not always around the tasting room but on the open brew days the point is that you can watch the production so Jean is much more accessible. Cantillon gets unreasonably busy on these days (and any other special event days really) so I would recommend getting there early. If you can stick it out until the wort hits the coolship that is sweet to see as well. Early afternoon is probably the worst time to be in there. At times it can be tricky to move around. Check Cantillon's website for updated open brew day dates.

• 

  Barrel room on a Quintessence morning

  Quintessence (generally a public holiday near the start of May on even years) - This is a beer and food event that Cantillon hosts inside the brewery every other year. In previous years they have also invited other brewers to join in the event with them. And it seems this is the trend for now. Tasting stations are spaced throughout the brewery and you get access to rooms that are not generally open to guests. There is also often some special beer to go along with the event that is not normally available. In previous years a certain number of people were let in every half hour or so with tickets corresponding to each beer that was served, and they were free to wander as long as they wanted and have their beers at their leisure. I could see this changing in the future (though not sure how such a change would be implemented) as it got super busy in the afternoon because much of the morning crowd didn't want to leave. And why would they? Anyway, if it keeps the same format in years to come then getting in early has definite advantages in terms of no crowds and better chances to talk with the visiting brewers (beers probably won't run out, so there is no danger of that).
• Zwanze day (September 19th) - At Cantillon this is a normal day, but the yearly one off beer is released at some Brussels bars. Some years this release has been accompanied by a really impressive list of current and vintage Cantillon stuff, but on other years there isn't much special on offer. Following Zwanze day bottles are generally available on-site at Cantillon.
• Regular yearly releases generally tend to fall around the same time and as time goes on they last  to go for less time (they are still available for a good amount of time for on site consumption), so if you are looking to pick up something specific you might want to plan accordingly. Sometimes they also announce well in advance roughly when less frequent releases are coming.

Getting there: It's in Brussels and is easily walk-able from the Central or Midi station. Go early and often.

Armand at 3 Fonteinen

3 Fonteinen:
With their (relatively) newly acquired brew system, 3 Fonteinen (3F) is back to brewing their own lambic. They may still be transitioning from mixed origin lambic to blends of purely their own, but they are well on their way. And with a young brewer/blender training to take over for Armand and an administrative/marketing/etc. partner joining the business (facebook link and news article in Flemish), it looks like 3F is securing their future well. They currently have lambic spread all over the Beersel area in various cellars, but that they are looking for a new building to centralize all of this in the nearby town of Lot (see here and here). Such an acquisition may change visiting options for the better.

Generally the brewery and cellars at 3F are closed to the public, but there are a few times a year that the public is welcomed in. The first of these is in their open brewery days in the beginning of September. This is generally accompanied by pulling vintage stuff out of the cellar for sale to go and/or special new releases. The other open time to visit falls around the end of April to coincide with Zythos, the major beer festival held in Leuven every year. 3F has decided in previous years that rather than attending the festival they'll invite those with a real interest in lambic to come out to them for a tour of the brewing facility and one of their multiple barrel cellars (and hopefully this continues).

You can't have beers on site at the brewery shop, so for that you'll need to head to the restaurant, where they serve lambic and geuze in addition to some vintage/special bottles (for quite reasonable prices given what they are). Note that while the restaurant is still in the family and right around the corner, it is a separate business from the brewery. It sounds like the new location in Lot should improve on-site bottle options when that is up and running.

Best Times to Visit: The brewery shop is open on Fridays on Saturdays from 9:00-18:00. It is easier to get there on Fridays but coming through on Saturdays (as long as its the 1st or 3rd Saturday of the month) lets you combine the trip with a tour at Oud Beersel (see below). The restaurant is quite good and is open for lunch and dinner on Fridays and Saturdays (also Mondays and Sundays for lunch and dinner and Thursdays for lunch, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Combining trips to the brewery shop and restaurant lets you drink some lambic as well as having an excellent meal.

For special events, the brewery open doors in the beginning of September generally means special releases and the rare opportunity to peek into the barrel cellar. If you miss that, late April may provide another chance to see the barrel cellar for a special open brewery day coinciding with the Zythos festival.

Getting there: During weekdays there is a commuter train that runs into the Beersel station, from which it is a short but rather uphill walk to the brewery and restaurant. It is easiest to head to the Halle station from Brussels and then backtrack to Beersel. On weekends you can get there by a combination of streetcar and buses from Brussels, by bus from Halle, or walking from the train station in Lot (it's a bit more of a trek at almost 3 km and with the same Beersel hill, but if you're used to walking it isn't too bad). When the Lot location opens, that will be reachable every day of the week by train from Brussels.

The new copper brewing system at Girardin

Girardin:
They don't allow visitors inside, so if your time and/or luggage space is limited I would de-prioritize a visit to Girardin They do sell 10 L bag-in-boxes of lambic and kriek lambic to go which is pretty cool. But tricky to transport, especially if you are short on time. If you just want to try straight Girardin lambic then LambicLand has a good list of cafes that have that available by the glass. So again, if you are tight on time and luggage space then Girardin might not be the stop for you.

Ok, if that hasn't dissuaded you/if you have plenty of time and space to store and drink or blend 10 L of lambic then this is probably a good stop to make. As I mentioned, you don't get to go inside so you meet them in their courtyard parking lot to tell them what you'd like and then you go into the office to pay. Their opening hours are a bit limited, but they are open early in the morning so this makes another good early day stop that still gets you back to Brussels in the morning with plenty of time to head elsewhere. You can see into their new copper brewery from outside, but I believe they are still using their older system for traditional lambic production.

Times to visit: No special events, so the general opening hours: Monday and Friday 8-12, 13:00-18:00, Saturday 8-12, 13:00-15:00.

Getting there: It is a pretty easy trip by De Lijn bus #136 from Brussels to Molenberg (town of Groot-Bijgaarden, map here) with a short walk. You can do this either from a Metro connection or straight from the Midi station.

Boon:
I haven't visited Boon. It seems they take groups for visits and possibly one day a week of visits via the nearby tourist office. If I have any updates here then I will update this section.

Lindemans:
I haven't visited Lindemans. If I have any updates here then I will update this section. Their website says they allow tours during weekdays at a group rate, so if you want to take a tour try to get a couple other folks to go with you and/or try to join an existing tour.

Barrel cleaning at De Troch

De Troch:
De Troch is possibly best known for making a banana lambic as part of a line of sweetened products that don't seem much like lambic. But they do make some traditional products as well (they have made an Oude Kriek with Schaerbeekse cherries that seems to be well regarded). Their lambic cellar feels old and unpolished more so than any other that I've seen. And their barrels have definitely seen some years.

Times to visit: The brewery is open Monday through Saturday (check their website for hours). Brewery visits must be arranged in advance.

Getting there: I got there by car, but it looks like bus #128 from Brussels toward Ninove will work (this is the same bus you'd take to get to Eizeringen to visit Grote Dorst). You'll pass the abandoned Eylenbosch brewery and the stop is a about 3 km past that. From there it is about a 2 km walk to the brewery.

Geuzestekerij De Cam

Lambic Blenders

De Cam:
To me De Cam is the best combination of Flemish culture and lambic that I've experienced so far. I'll save most of what I have to say about them for a post in the works. In brief, Karel and Steven at De Cam care greatly about their heritage. Lambic is a portion of that heritage, and it is the portion to which they dedicate much of their time (the blendery is a side job). Karel is very passionate about the preservation of traditional lambic. However it is clear that lambic is a component of their culture and the passion that leads them to spend weekends and evenings keeping De Cam alive is driven by an all around love for the Pajottenland heritage. This is a great spot to experience both lambic and the greater Pajottenland in one place. I'd recommend a visit to De Cam as highly as (or more highly than) I'd recommend any other lambic stop.

De Cam doesn't have a production side and a visiting side - the two are the same. So a visit to De Cam means talking with Karel in between the barrels. Likely with a sample or two of lambic and possibly also with some traditional local food if you're lucky. There is no official tasting room but the (unaffiliated) cafe across the street serves De Cam lambic. And usually there is a barrel open for tasting. The overall production at De Cam is small, especially compared to other lambic producers, but their beers are certainly not lacking in quality. De Cam lambics can be harder to find around Belgium, and are generally more expensive when you find them due to limited availability, so a trip to the stekerij gives you a chance to buy some bottles as well.

Best Times to Visit: De Cam is open 3-5 on Sundays. There are some Gooik festivals that it seems they may open up for, but I can't confirm that. It might be reasonable to combine a trip to In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst (opposite the church in Eizeringen and open 10:00-1:30 on Sundays) with a trip to De Cam. The two are potentially walkable, though combining the two by bus is a bit trickier. There may also be special open brewery days throughout the year.

The 3 hammers roundabout of Gooik

Getting there: For making it to De Cam (without a car) you're going to be taking De Lijn, the bus system in the Flanders region of Belgium. But don't worry, taking the bus from Brussels to De Cam is about as easy as it gets. Starting from the option of a couple of stops on the south west end of the number 5 metro line in Brussels, the number 141 and 142 buses (alternating, one total per hour) take a pleasant bus ride through smaller towns of Pajottenland (possibly past a new Lindemans brewery location if you pick the right bus) and a left turn onto one of the more major roads is a give away that your stop is coming up. If you miss your stop then the roundabout with the three hammers, the familiar sign found on De Cam labels, should clue you in that you are there. From that point it is a simple walk into and through town until you see a patio on the right hand side with a three hammers flag.

The new barrel room at Tilquin

Tilquin:
I've written about visits to Tilquin in this post, and I think that sums up my feelings well. This is a great place to learn about lambics and lambic blending. Pierre readily shares information and while both he and the Gueuzerie are relatively young, based on his collection of lambics he has more extensive experience with lambic from a thorough selection of different producers than many others. Their gueuze is one of my favorites as well. For now the only access to 'special' beers from a visit that one can't get elsewhere are beers that have sold out elsewhere. But that shouldn't deter a serious lambic enthusiast from a visit. And, in case it does, with the possible plans of a tasting room in the works there might be some onsite only beers in the future. I'm not sure how expansions will influence the opportunities that visitors have to walk between stacks of barrels, and hopefully this doesn't change. I'd rather walk between barrels and talk lambic with an expert than drink a hard to find beer (and there are enough cafes with vintage lists to satisfy that need).

When to Visit: Aside from special opening times such as the Tour de Geuze or special events, Tilquin is only open from 10:30-13:00 on Saturdays from September to June. Touring at other times is possible with a group and prior arrangements. Pierre organizes some special events such as English Beer Festivals with open doors at the Gueuzerie (once a year, 2015 was late April/Early May around the time of the Tour de Geuze). These provide a chance to try more Tilquin stuff than usual (maybe with some special releases) as well as some other great English beers, with maybe a Belgian or French guest brewery or two.

Getting there: You can take a train from Brussels to the closest train station: Enghein/Edingen. From there you can walk a reasonably flat 5 km or try to work out a bus option (I've only done the walk, and looking quickly at Google maps a bus doesn't seem so promising).

Rows of barrels at Oud Beersel

Oud Beersel:
After nearly closing down not so long ago, Oud Beersel is doing great work in the lambic blending world. Unlike other blenders, all of their wort is derived from one location - Boon. Oud Beersel is expanding their capacity quite a bit and is also interested in moving toward brewing, so we'll see where that leads.

A group of local enthusiasts, De Geuzen van Oud Beersel, organize tours (including one in English) on the first and third Saturdays of the month. This guided tour takes you through a few of their different barrel cellars, old equipment, and a tasting room with a good small collection of old lambic brewerania. The tour includes a tasting of straight lambic as well as the options of the bottled Oud Beersel lineup. The lambic enthusiast guides are pretty well informed and lead a good tour. They may not be able to answer more technical questions about what exactly Oud Beersel does, so for those purposes the owner Gert can often be found in the main downstairs tasting room/shop and you may be able to ask him a few quick questions.

Getting there: Unfortunately the local commuter train to Beersel (see the 3F section) doesn't run on Saturday. The simplest option might be to take a train to the Lot station (note that there is only 1 per hour from Brussels) and to walk from there (2.6 km and a bit uphill, map here). As a plus, this will let you walk across the famous and stunningly beautiful Senne river (it's small and fairly murky, and you might even see a drainage outflow). If that isn't to your liking then you can piece together other options by some combination of train and bus (Halle is the closest major station) or metro, streetcar and bus from Brussels. You will get closer but it might be a bit trickier to navigate.

Times to visit: First and third Saturdays of the month for the English tour at 12:30 (make sure this timing hasn't changed). This can be followed with a late lunch at the 3F restaurant and a trip to the 3F brewery shop (see 3F section).

Hanssens:
I've never been to Hanssens, and I've generally heard that it isn't really available for visits, though this may be wrong as I've never tried to go. I'll update this if I learn anything different.

Events to look for throughout the year

This is not a comprehensive list and is just a couple general events covering multiple different producers that might be of interest to the lambic enthusiast.

The mellow beginnings of the Nacht van de Grote Dorst

The Nacht van de Grote Dorst is an evening full of spontaneous beers which falls in late April on even years. It is held in Eizeringen just outside In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst. Beer is sold only by the bottle (except for possible one or two cask/draft options) so you're going to want to go with friends or make some new ones there. The 2014 edition had a thorough selection of normal offerings from many of the producers and a couple more limited more from notable Belgian brewers (that sold out fairly quick) and even some beers from the Allagash coolship series. If you're looking for a night to hang out with other lambic drinkers in a small Belgian town and try a wide array of lambics all in one place, this is your night.

HORAL's Tour de Geuze runs on odd years in late April/early May, opposite the Nacht van de Grote Dorst. For the tour a number of lambic brewers and blenders open to the public, allowing many producers to be toured and lambics and geuzes to be tasted in a short time frame. In addition to the tour, a one-off geuze produced by blending lambic from Horal's members is released. I've never made the Tour de Geuze so I can't offer any person insight here, but if your goal is to see inside as many lambic breweries and blenderies as you can in limited time, this seems like the event for you.

The Day of the Lambic, in December on even years, provides a unique opportunity to try unblended lambic and blended or fruited lambics from a number of brewers and blenders (and even excellent some home blenders). I should note that for the most part when I say lambic above in this post, I was using it to be inclusive of geuze and various fruited lambics rather than meaning straight unblended lambic, but this is a great chance to try some unblended lambic. Although unblended lambic can be found here and there, it is still relatively difficult to find (especially from certain producers and when compared to geuze). As straight lambic is the often-untasted root of geuze and fruit lambics, it can be especially informative to the brewer interested in making lambic-inspired beers. Tasting lambic of various ages and from various producers can help the brewer know what to expect their spontaneous beers might taste like at different times (such as knowing when not to be worried by a strange tasting 1 year old beer) and to help learn what is added from blending. And for the non-brewer enthusiast, tasting the roots of the more available lambic products you've had is pretty cool. I've never made it to the Day of the Lambic, but as someone interested in brewing spontaneous beers I do look for opportunities to try unblended lambic and this seems like a great event to go to.

There are other various lambic oriented events throughout the year or every other year to possibly keep an eye out for (such as the day of the kriek).

Putting this all together

For my personal top picks for places to visit, I would say De Cam and Cantillon followed by Tilquin. Visits to 3F and Oud Beersel are great as well, and they combine easily to make for an excellent Saturday if the timing is right. When 3F's new location opens that will add another attraction in the neighborhood as well. Depending on your luck at Tilquin (i.e. how busy it is) and how much you want to ask about blending questions versus trying special stuff, you may lean toward combining Oud Beersel and 3F for a Saturday trip over Tilquin. But for the brewer/blender interested in asking questions about the blending process, Tilquin makes for a great visit.

Combining all the above and balancing for getting good coverage of geuzes, tours, and lesser available releases, if there is one time of year to visit Belgium for lambic, I'd say it is late April/early May on even years. Multiple breweries have special open brewery days in late April (3F and possibly also De Cam as well as Tilquin's festival/open doors). The Nacht van de Grote Dorst is an opportunity to try a bunch of different lambics/spontaneous beers in one place (and perhaps if you're quick some special seasonal fruit lambics that might not be available elsewhere). And then there's Cantillon's Quintessence. So April/May on even years makes for a great coinciding of special events and brewery visit options.

It does mean that everyday trips to lambic/general good beer spots in Belgium will be more crowded than usual with people coming into town for these events, but on a limited time frame without too many trips I think this offers the best access to brewers and really good lambic. I've never been able to make the Tour de Geuze, and that might be a similarly excellent event for the access to breweries (maybe even a bit more so) but I'd suspect it doesn't offer as much/as thorough access to more limited release and vintage lambics and maybe with the tighter time frame, more coverage but less thorough access to the brewers/blenders. September is another good time with 3F's brewery open days and Zwanze day.

This is, of course, assuming that you want to go in a bit deeper and schedule your trip around bigger events. If you'd prefer a more mellow time and want to avoid (or at least aren't prioritizing) the events, I'd say go in any warmer and more daylight time of year and plan to hit a first or third Saturday of the month. Go to Oud Beersel and 3F on that day (if you can sneak two Saturdays out of your trip go to Tilquin on the other one). Follow that up with Grote Dorst and De Cam on Sunday. Make that the central (planning wise, not necessarily timing wise) point of your trip and in two days you will have covered 3 great producers and one of the top cafes. Through the week hit other beer destinations (cafes/bars and/or other breweries) or tourist stuff after mornings at Cantillon. If you're going to be around for a while and want boxed lambic around put a quick morning run to Girardin early in the trip (maybe the Monday after De Cam).