BYO Belgium Brewery Adventure
Brew Your Own readers including Publisher Brad Ring recently spent a week exploring the amazing diversity of beers in the Flanders region of Belgium. With visits to 13 breweries, the group was lucky to experience the incredible beer culture of Flanders firsthand in June during the BYO Belgium Brewery & Bicycle Adventure. We visited a broad spectrum of breweries from walking through a forest of foeders at Rodenbach where the group enjoyed samples straight from the huge oak vats to biking to Heilig Hart located in a former church with the brewhouse sitting among the stained glass windows on platforms suspended above the old alter space. All along the way we had the chance to meet with passionate local brewers happy to share their tips and techniques while the group enjoyed sampling their beers.
In addition to beer, bicycling is a big part of Belgium’s cultural fabric. We connected with both these Belgian loves by pedaling through cities and scenic farmlands on their impressive bike route network and free bike ferries across rivers — always with each bike ride ending at a brewery! It was a wonderful way to connect with the local rhythms while earning that next chalice of wonderful Belgian beer.
From quadrupels to lambics, it was a special chance to enjoy classic Belgian beer styles at the source. It doesn’t get much better than enjoying a bottle of Westvleteren 12 sitting across the street from the Trappist abbey where it was brewed or peeking in at Cantillon’s famous coolship in their Brussels attic before heading through their aging barrels to sample their world-class lambics and gueuzes.
Our week was filled with very special experiences with local brewers even opening their homes for us; such as at Leroy Breweries where we sat in a living room for a tasting from two historic Belgian beer families pouring samples of their well-known Hommelbier and Duchesse de Bourgogne. Or the fun of spending two nights sleeping in the country inn run by St. Bernardus, fully stocked with their great beers in the shadow of the brewery and their hopyard. Speaking of hops, we also enjoyed a tour and visit with the small family hop farm of t’ Hoppecruyt, learning more about their operation and the Belgian hop industry.
Plus all that beer had plenty of great Belgian food often featuring beer as one of the cooking ingredients — and of course world-class frites served with most dishes. We had beer-soaked stews and mussels making sure to leave room for ice cream also made with beer. The group enjoyed a four-course beer-paired dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant and even traveled across the border to France for dinner at a wonderful beer-centric country tavern.
From the scenic medieval cobblestone streets and canals of Bruges and Ghent to the rolling Flemish farmlands dotted with dairy cows, hop trellises, and World War I cemeteries, the group had a great taste of both urban and rural settings for breweries all combining for the unique chance to experience Belgian beer culture up close one sip at a time.
Our upcoming BYO trips to South Africa, New Zealand, and the Netherlands & Germany are all sold out, but we hope you can join us on a future brewery adventure. Details on trips can be found at byo.com/trip. Proost!
