Belgian Beer Hunts

Belgian Beer, Trappist Beer, Rauchbier (Smoke Beer or Smoked Beer) from Bamberg, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, and Real Ale from the UK, and other types of Speciality Beer are promoted on this, the White Beer Travels website. But what's in a name, the site's name that is? All is revealed on the Home Page!

Schneider Weisse, a well-travelled, classic Wheat/White Beer, brewed in Bavaria by Schneider. Click on the image to go to their website

This Web page covers group Belgian Beer Hunts that have been run by White Beer Travels in the year 2007. Click here for the page that covers Beer Hunts that took place in 2006

Belgian Beer, German Beer, British Real Ale, North American Craft Beer and Speciality Beer and Specialty Beer from around the world, are all covered in this White Beer Travels website

This White Beer Travels website has been in operation since March, 2002. It promotes Speciality/Craft Beer from around the world: Belgian Beer, German Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, Real Ale from the UK, etc

Belgian Beer and other great Speciality/Craft Beers, these including Belgian Beer, Real Ale from the UK and Craft Beers from the USA and Canada, are promoted on this, the White Beer Travels website. It is a big site, so to get an outline idea of the contents, click here to go to the site's Contents page

Würzburg, in Germany, is world-renowned for its "Franken" wines. However, White (Wheat) Beers have certainly travelled to the city. The three different ones shown here are excellent examples. All are brewed in the city's Würzburger Hofbräu Brewery. Click on the glasses to go to the brewery's website, from which the image was pasted

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The above photo was taken in the bar within the Brouwerij Bios - Van Steenberge, a renowned brewery in Ertvelde, in the Province of East Flanders Oost-Vlaanderen). It was taken by Cameron Larson, an American College Student, in March, 2007. On the left is Josef Van Steenberge (1914-), who handed over the running of the brewery to his son, Paul Van Steenberge (II), in 1985. In the photo, Josef is checking out the quality of a batch of the brewery's Gulden Draak (10.5%), whilst yours truly, John White, is doing the same for the brewery's Augustijn (7.5%). These draught beers, which, like British Real Ales, are unpasteurised and, somewhat unusually for Belgian draught beers, have yeast in the keg, for a further fermentation in the keg. This means that they are living beers, and magnificent they were, as was the other beer, featured in the window, Piraat (10.5%). Bios - Van Steenberge Brewery was the subject of a White Beer Travels Beer Hunt, in March, 2007, which is covered below.

White Beer Travels Group Beer Hunts
in Belgium, in 2007

This page and companion one a, and companion one b, and companion one c cover White Beer Travels group Beer Hunts from 1993 onwards for Belgian Beer, in Belgium itself. Each individual Beer Hunt is listed with all group Beer Hunts for Specialty/Speciality/Craft Beer, organised by White Beer Travels, around the world, on the Past Beer Hunts page, which can be reached by clicking here.

The following are all the group Beer Hunts covering Belgium from 1993 onwards, 1993 being the first year that White Beer Travels ran an organised Beer Hunt outside the UK; click on the titles to get more details of them:

2007: Beer Hunt featuring
the O.B.E.R. Christmas Beer Festival,
in Essen, Antwerp Province

The itinerary for this December, 2007 Beer Hunt is currently being worked on. It features a Christmas Beer Festival (Kerstbierfestival) (www.kerstbierfestival.be) run by the O.B.E.R. (www.ober.be) branch of Belgium's premier beer consumers' organisation, Zythos (www.zythos.be). Essen has its own dedicated White Beer Travels Web page, which features its Christmas Beer Festival; it can be reached by clicking here.

2007: Beer Hunt featuring
the Bruxellensis Beer Festival,
in Brussels, the Capital of Belgium

The full itinerary for this September, 2007 Beer Hunt, featuring the world-class Bruxellensis Beer Festival (www.festivalbruxellensis.be, White Beer Travels Web page) is currently being formulated, but will include two brewery visits. It is based in Brussels, subject to no major events taking place in the city on the weekend of the festival.

2007: Beer Hunt based in Ghent, featuring: the Zythos Beer Festival, in Sint-Niklaas; a Cantillon Brewery Open Brew Day, in Brussels; Bios/Van Steenberge Brewery, in Ertvelde; and Het Anker Brewery, in Mechelen

Your cursor is on a photo taken in the Cantillon Brewery, in the Anderlecht suburb of Brussels, the Capital of Belgium. Click on it, to go to the brewery's website

Your cursor is on a photo taken at the Zythos Beer Festival (ZBF), which is Belgium's premier beer festival. Click on it, to go to the festival's website

This White Beer Travels Beer Hunt, took place in March, 2007. It was based in Ghent (Gent) (www.gent.be), the capital of the Province of Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders). Ghent is covered by a fifty-one page White Beer Travels guide, which can be obtained from the Downloads page, along with equivalent guides to places also visited on this Beer Hunt: Brussels and Bruges.

The above two photos at the head of this section were taken by White Beer Travels Beer Hunt regular, John Wood, on the same day, on this Beer Hunt. I mention "same day" should you think that I may have worn the same shirt on consecutive days! In the one on the left I am with Mark Dorber, the world's most famous cellarman, in the Cantillon Brewery (www.cantillon.be), in Brussels. This was on the March Open Brew Day (there is another in November), which is always on the first day of the Zythos beer Festival (ZBF) (www.zbf.be, White Beer Travels Web page). Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page giving further details of these don't-miss Open Brew Days, in this don't-miss brewery. In the other photo, I am with Lieven de Vos, the somewhat-of-a-character landlord of 't Velootje, his superb, but unusual bar in Ghent. The Beer Hunt coincided with the Zythos Beer Festival , which is, quite simply, one of the world's best beer festivals. The 2007 Zythos beer festival took place in the same venue as the absolutely superb 2004 to 2006 ones, in St.-Niklaas, in the Province of East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen). This year, for the first time, it was all "no-smoking", which was a big plus for me. If one were to bet who would ignore such a rule, Lieven de Vos would be on your short list, and, as you can see, in the hand that is over my shoulder, there is a lit cigar! Thankfully, there was very little violation of this most sensible of rules, sensible for those who want to get the full enjoyment from the truly wonderful beers that the festival had to offer.

On the trip, accompanying my wife Joyce and I were: John Wood and his son, James; David Mummery & Mary Jane Lewis; John Wilson; and from Lafayette, Louisiana, in the USA, Denise Goetting, her daughter, her son, Dee Goetting, her brother, Tad Broussard & Dee's girlfriend, Jill Camos. Lafayette is renowned for Zydeco and Cajun music and also for food. Holly Goetting is the chef in one of Lafayette's most renowned restaurants, Charley G's (www.charleygs.com). Click here for a report on a visit to Lafayette.

As well as Cantillon, two other exceptional breweries were visited on this Beer Hunt: Het Anker (www.hetanker.be), in the historic City of Mechelen, in Antwerp Province; and Bios - Van Steenberge (www.vansteenberge.com), in Ertvelde, near Ghent, in the Meetjesland area of East Flanders. Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page covering Mechelen and Het Anker.

Your cursor is on a photo of the entrance to the Bios Van Steenberge Brewery, in Ertvelde, in the Belgian Province of East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen). Click on it, to go to the brewery's website

Your cursor is on a photo taken in the bar within the Bios Van Steenberge Brewery, in Ertvelde, near Ghent (Gent), in the Province of East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen), in Belgium. Click on it, to go to the brewery's website

The above two photos were taken by John White, during the Bios Van Steenberge Brewery visit, in March, 2007. The brewery is to be found at Lindenlaan 25, this being the number at the bottom of the photo, this and the discrete sign above it, are the only indications that one has arrived at the right place; the legend reads "Brouwerij Limonadefabriek" (Brewery Lemonade Factory). Just inside the gate is a marvellous bar, where visitors to the brewery can have a drink before or after a visit. The photo, above right, featured the impressive fonts for some of the draught beers available in the bar: Piraat (10.5%), Gulden Draak Ale (10.5%) and Bornem Double Abbey Ale (8%) (Bornem Dubbel). As stated at the top of this Web page, where another photo taken during the visit can be seen, all the beers tasted on this visit were magnificent.

Your cursor is on a photo taken in the brewhouse of the Bios Van Steenberge Brewery, in Ertvelde, which is to the North of Ghent (Gent), in the Belgian Province of Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders). Click on it, to go to the brewery's website

Your cursor is on a photo taken in the bottling plant of the Brouwerij Bios Van Steenberge, a brewery in Ertvelde, nearGhent (Gent), in the Province of Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders), in Belgium. Click on it, to go to the brewery's website

The above photos were taken inside the Bios Van Steenberge Brewery, by John White, in March, 2007. The one on the left features the stainless steel Kookketel (Copper, Hop Boiler), which was installed in 1993, along with the other splendid brew house vessels, by Steinecker, from Freising, in Bavaria (Bayern), in Germany, who are in the Krones group (www.krones.com). Freising is home to Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery (www.brauerei-weihenstephan.de), and the famous Weihenstephan Brewing School (www.wzw.tum.de). The narrow vessel behind the Copper is somewhat unusual in that it is where the hops are safely added, from where they are transported to the Copper. At one time, the great Pierre Celis, of Hoegaarden, brewed some Celis Beers in Austin, Texas, particularly Celis White. The Austin brewery was opened by Pierre in 1992, but closed in 2001. The full story is given in a White Beer Travels Web page covering Pierre Celis, which can be reached by clicking here. From 1992, Van Steenberge were awarded a contract to brew the Celis Beers and distribute them in Europe, which they do to this day, hence the "Celis Beer" crate, with "Austin Texas" on it, in the Krones bottling plant in the Van Steenberge Brewery, in the photo, above right. The brewery was founded within a farm on the present site, in 1874, and has been in the same family's hands since then, albeit with surname changes as it passed down to the female side of the family. In 1922, Paul Van Steenberge (I), the son-in-law of Jozef Schelfaut took over the running of the brewery. Paul is the father of Josef Van Steenberge, who is featured at the top of this page. Josef is the father of Paul Van Steenberge (II), who currently runs the brewery. Paul Van Steenberge (II) is the uncle of Jef Versele, who very kindly arranged this White Beer Travels visit to Bios Van Steenberge. Jef could not be present on the visit, as he was away on business in the USA, but he had arranged for Peter Buysse, to give us a tour of the brewery. In the bar, we were served beers by Willy Genbrugge (Thomas Rubico & Co.). Many thanks to Jef, Peter and Willy for making the trip such a memorable one.

Soon after taking over the running of the brewery, Paul Van Steenberge (I), he produce a beer with lactic fermentation, along the lines of Rodenbach, which he called Bios, which is Greek for "Life". This was soon named Vlaamse Bourgogne (Flemish Burgundy). He also named the brewery Bios, but today, it is referred to both as Bios and Van Steenberge.

We got to Ertvelde using a number 55 De Lijn (www.delijn.be, White Beer Travels Web page) from Ghent. Further details on this bus journey can be found in a White Beer Travels Web page covering a world-class bar, with a very good selection of Van Steenberge beers. De Bierkamer (www.debierkamer.be), in Kluizen (Ertvelde), which can be reached by bus from Ertvelde, although it is not that far a walk. In Ghent itself, an excellent, tied outlet for the brewery's beers is Gouden Hoofd, Slachthuisstraat 104, www.hetgoudenhoofd.be. There are many other outlets for their beers in the city, a number of which have house beers brewed by the brewery.

Of course, a number of great outlets for Belgian Beer were visited on this trip, both old favourites and new places, the latter including the don't-miss A Capella, in Ghent (Godshuizenlaan 33, www.acapella-gent.be, GPS: 51.043305 N, 3.716440 E); and the Bierbrasserie "Cambrinus" De Koning van Het Bier, in Bruges (Philipstockstraat 19, www.cambrinus.eu). A Capella has over sixty beers, to accompany first-rate food, impeccably served. Cambrinus (Gambrinus), as befits a place named after the King of Beer, has over 400 beers, and a good selection of hot and cold dishes.

Belgian Beer, such as Trappist Beer, which is just about the world's most renowned Speciality Beer (Craft Beer), is promoted on this website, along with great beer from all over the world