Beer Culture with Des de Moor

Zythos Bierfestival 2010

The Zythos Bierfestival is the flagship event of the Belgian beer consumers’ organisation Zythos, earning multiple stars, a three line whip and a smudge of highlighter pen in many a beer diary, and a great way to get a rounded view of the multifaceted Belgian brewing scene in one fell swoop. It’s also become the focus for several other “fringe” events that take advantage of Belgium’s compact size and good transport and the presence of a solid corps of visiting beer geeks up for a very bleary weekend. Thursday kicked off with the Night of Whisky and Beer, Friday brought the Pré-ZBF Festival and the lambic-themed Nacht van de Grote Dorst (Night of the Great Thirst), while early birds could catch an open brewing day at the legendary Bruxellois lambic brewery Cantillon on Saturday morning before heading off for the first of two days of the ZBF itself. Energetic beer tour organiser Chris “Podge” Pollard was even offering a coach tour that took in the lot and some brewery visits besides.

I’m afraid your author’s alcohol capacity wasn’t up to such a pounding, but I did extend my regular visit to the ZBF proper with a jaunt to the Pré-ZBF, organised, like the Night of Whisky and Beer, by self-proclaimed “picobrouwerij” (picobrewery) Alvinne and in the same location, the Kasteel der Lakenbosschen on the edge of Ruddervorde, a little way south of Brugge. It’s a charming location – an eccentric little rustic castle, in fact a late 19th century romantic architectural confection overlooking a goose pond, with an adjoining orangery that provided a home to the main bars – even if reaching it while remaining within the drink driving laws involves a stretch on the bus from Brugge. Shuttle buses were organised for the occasion as an alternative to the regular service but where they stopped could have been more obvious.

Menno Olivier of De Molen brewery polishes the bar while his colleague gets down to the real business, Pré-ZBF, Ruddervorde March 2010.

Beers on offer at the event are from a limited number of breweries but include some rare and special stuff you’d find very difficult to obtain elsewhere, and there’s the added novelty that some of the participants come from outside Belgium. Alvinne invite like-minded breweries to partner – Struise and De Molen have been regulars and in this third year they were joined by Urthel and two from the UK, Aberdeenshire’s BrewDog and Derbyshire’s Thornbridge. In fact that’s only one genuine Belgian brewer, Alvinne itself. Struise are a Belgian brewing firm that rents equipment at other Belgian breweries, principally Deca; De Molen is a Dutch brewer, from Bodegraven in Zuid-Holland; and Urthel are a Belgian firm that contract brew at Koningshoeven, the semi-secularised Trappist brewery at Berkel-Enschot in Dutch Noord Brabant.

If you know anything about this bunch you’ll realise this was primarily a beer geek event drawing an international crowd, and indeed there was a ratebeer / Beer Advocate / Burgundian Babble Bent tent providing “bring and taste” accommodation, and as much English being spoken as Dutch. Most of the brewers are known for small runs, limited editions, high gravities, no-holds-barred experimentation and a penchant for wood ageing in refill casks – the sort of beers that tend to score highly among the regular raters of the online beer world. In this company, Urthel, whose beers are normally thought of as eccentric, looked almost ordinary.

The crowd enjoying Thornbridge beers, Pré-ZBF 2010, Ruddervorde March 2010.

Alvinne had the biggest range with versions of their strong beers from various casks, and, at a slightly more sessionable strength, the rather decent Chelmsford Smoked Porter (see tastings). Struise had supplies of their cult hits like Pannepot and Aardmonnik and lots of more unusual stuff too. De Molen had a dazzling eclectic range including some special versions of their regulars. BrewDog brought their silly gravity Tactical Nuclear Penguin, at 36% and €15 a shot, as well as their low gravity beer Nanny State, but all in filtered bottles. Thornbridge were overwhelmed with the popularity of their beers, particularly the cask aged Alliance and St Petersburg specials.

I was glad to have made the trip – I tasted some very impressive beers, bought some interesting rarities at the onsite offie and had some great conversations. But while I’m full of praise for brewers so full of energy, inspiration and a determination to push the envelope, I found myself longing just a little for beers aimed at ordinary mortals, and ones that are likely to be readily available for some time to come, so that writing about them doesn’t just feel like showing off.

Under the palms on a freezing Flemish day, ZBF 2010, Sint-Niklaas, March 2010.

That’s certainly not a problem at the main ZBF, now in its seventh year. It’s the Belgian equivalent to CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival and although it can get very busy and lively it’s still on a notably smaller and more approachable scale. The venue is the Stadsfeestzaal (The Town Festival Hall) almost opposite the station at Sint-Niklaas, on the line between Antwerpen and Gent and with regular services to many other Belgian towns. It’s a bit of a soulless municipal venue that must look like a vast concrete-floored barn when empty, but it soon comes alive with drinkers of all kinds. Yes, it’s got an obvious following among members of Zythos, CAMRA and Dutch beer organisation PINT, and pulls a good few beer fans across the Atlantic, but like all good festivals it attracts its fair share of ordinary people too– folk who enjoy good beer without being obsessed with it making it a day out from Bruxelles, Antwerpen or Eindhoven, and curious locals just passing by. The latter will be encouraged by the fact that there’s no admission charge, just a €3 deposit on the tasting glass. To get it filled you need to buy a supply of jetonnetjes, plastic tokens that are the only form of currency accepted at the bars, at the cost of €1.20 a 150ml measure.

Kris Herteleer models Dolle Brouwers chic, ZBF 2010, Sint-Niklaas March 2010.

Unlike British festivals, where long bars staffed by volunteers offer a range from different brewers, ZBF has a series of small stands for each brewery or beer firm — ‘bierfirma’ being Zythos’ term for brewers without breweries that contract brew or hire other people’s kit, of whom there are quite a few in Belgium. The stands are staffed by the breweries, though Zythos  volunteers do everything else. Often you’ll find the brewers themselves behind the taps – Kris Herteleer from De Dolle Brouwers is a mainstay at their stand in his trademark novelty jacket and bow tie. This year there were a record 61 brewers represented, just about half of all the brewers in Belgium, offering over 280 beers.

The beers cover a huge range. It’s always a pleasure to see some of the smaller older-established independents like SAS (formerly known as Leroy) and Strubbe offering traditional everyday beers that can be particularly hard to find outside their own core distribution areas. Rarer still are the handful of unblended lambics that the festival can always be relied upon to exhibit. Newer micros are well represented, often with something unusual to showcase as well as their regulars, and it’s particularly good to see some of the excellent Wallonian craft brewers such as Écaussines, Jandrain-Jandrenouille, Rulles and Sainte-Hélène at what is still a slightly Flemish-dominated event.

Off on a side hall where the seating is less hotly contested are a number of food stands all doing rather basic fast food – filled rolls, burgers, and the inevitable paper cones of chips drowned with industrial mayonnaise. The veterans come prepared with their own packed lunches, snacks and large bottles of water, vital for soaking things up and pacing yourself given the strength of some of the beers.

One thing that will irritate British and North American first-time visitors is that Zythos recoup some of their investment by demanding 30c for every visit to the loo. Charging for public toilets is of course the norm in Belgium as in a number of other countries, but charging for them at a beer festival is a bit like charging hens for laying eggs, and considerably more of a dead cert as a fundraising initiative than skittles or tombola. That niggle aside, this is one of my favourite beer events.

Among other people I bumped into beer historian extraordinaire Ron Pattinson, who gave me a fascinating book on beer recipes in Britain in 1907. Ron’s writeup of the event is on his blog at http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2010/03/zbf-2010.html.

Selected tastings:

Pré-ZBF

• [intlink id=”630″ type=”post”]Alvinne Chelmsford Oak Smoked Porter[/intlink] 5.3%, Heule, West-Vlaanderen
• [intlink id=”634″ type=”post”]Deca / Struise Aardmonnik[/intlink] 8%, Woesten-Vleteren, West-Vlaanderen
• [intlink id=”637″ type=”post”]Thornbridge St Petersburg Whisky Reserve[/intlink] 2006 8.8%, Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire, England

ZBF

• [intlink id=”640″ type=”post”]Dochter van de Korenaar Noblesse[/intlink] 5.5%, Baarle-Hertog, Antwepen, Vlaanderen
• [intlink id=”648″ type=”post”]Écaussines Ultrabrune d’Écaussines[/intlink] 10%, Écaussines d’Enghien, Hainaut, Wallonie
• [intlink id=”644″ type=”post”]Oud Beersel Oude Lambik[/intlink] 5%, Beersel, Vlaams Brabant, Vlaanderen