Belgian Beer no.85: Wittekerke

Belgian Beer no. 64 was brewed at the same brewery as Wittekerke - the Brasserie Bavik.

At the Belgian Beer Weekend I tried the Wittekerke. You might have figured it out, I was on a white beer trail. Wittekerke is a very refreshing white beer. At only 5% it makes for a perfect summer beer.

A little bit of trivia: Wittekerke beer was 'invented' by Bavik together with VTM, a major Flemish TV station. Why you might ask? Well, because VTM runs a very popular Flemish soap, Wittekerke. And what better advertising than inveting a beer to go with it?

I am not going to go through the beers brewed by Bavik ... as there are too many.

Tagged with: Beer Belgian Beer Bier Biere Brussels

Belgian Beer no.84: Super des Fagnes

Another new beer, as I have never before heard of the Super des Fagnes. Brewed at the Brasserie des Fagnes, this was a rich dark beer at 7.5%. Maybe a little sweet for my taste.

They also brew the blond version, 7.5%. And I get the impression this is a very recent brewery. In any case, if you plan a visit every second weekend in July, the Brasserie des Fagnes is open for the public.

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Belgian Beer no.83: Postel

More monks, more beer. Postel is brewed at the Postel Abbey. This is a little bit confusing, as at the Belgian Beer Weekend, Postel was sold at the Affligem stand.

Confusion sorted out, the beer figures at both abbeys. Postel Dubbel (pictured) is a soft brown beer, quite caramelized at 7%. Further Postel beers are the Blond 7%, and the Tripel 8.5%.
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Belgian Beer no.82: Leute Bokbier

The Happy Goat? We are still at the Van Steenberge stand. This Belgian Beer was first brewed in 1927, yet production stopped and was only restarted in 1997. It is a dark red colored beer, I didn’t personally try out.

Yet I was told it had hints of caramel, quite sweet and rich. What I found to be just great about the Leute Bokbier, was the glass though. I have never before seen a beer glass comes with its very own wooden support. Chic.

And as we are still in the beer and food world, another recipe from the website of the Van Steenberge brewery. This time around, game.

Rabbit with Leuke Bokbier

1 rabbit

2 chopped apples

1 finely sliced strip of smoked bacon

1 finely shredded onion

1 slice of brown bread

33 cl Leute Bokbier

water, natural butter, mustard, thyme, sugar, pepper & salt

Cut the rabbit in pieces and brown well in butter and sugar. Add all remaining ingredients and leave it on a low flame (for approximately 45 min.) until done. Add a slice of bread spread with mustard at the beginning of the preparation. This will thicken the sauce.

Serve with potatoes.

Tagged with: Beer Belgian Beer Bier Biere Brussels

Belgian Beer no.81: Mater Blanche

Back to the first stand, we tried the Mater Blanche from the Roman Brewery. All a little bit confusing, I can understand that. Wait till we get more into the whole Belgian Beer Weekend.

I tried this one and really liked it. A very nice and balanced white beer. A little bitter, but a good summer beer at 5,0%.

Tagged with: Beer Belgian Beer Bier Biere Brussels

Belgian Beer no.80: Celis Blanche

The next stand we went for was that of the Brewery Van Steenberge. Same dedicated approach, here we started with a Celis White beer. There is something of a complicated history on the website, but this white beer stays a very pleasant and refreshing beer at 5.0%. A summer beer, with hints of herbs and fruit.

And given that the website seems to be pretty well done, here is a recipe as well using the Celis White.

Asparagus with Celis White mousseline sauce

2 crowns of asparagus
3 egg yolks
juice of 1 lemon

10 cl Celis White
100 g butter
pepper & salt

Peel the asparagus thoroughly and boil for 20 to 30 minutes in lightly salted water.Remove from water and keep warm. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, lemon juice, Celis White, pepper & salt togetherin a saucepan to a creamy consistency.Place the saucepan on a very low flame, making sure that the mixture doesn't boil!Whisk the mixture until it has doubled in volume. Carefully stir in the melted butter.

(recipe taken form the Brewery Van Steenberge website)

Tagged with: Beer Belgian Beer Bier Biere Brussels

Belgian Beer no.79: Black Hole

The first stand we hit with our jetons (that’s the ‘currency’ during the Belgian Beer Weekend – chips instead of money) was the Roman Brewery. Four of us, we divided the tasks and started to go through their beer offers.

We started with the Black Hole. A cool bottle, a cool glass. The beer is pleasant, refreshing blonde. At 5.6% a good start to the Belgian Beer Weekend.

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Brussels Beer Festival 2006

1-2-3. The first weekend of September was under the sign of Belgian Beer. 48 breweries, big and small, famous and not, served Belgian Beer to the willing and thirsty.

Starting Friday and ending Sunday, we made our way through some of the Belgian Beers on offer. Our attitude was pragmatic and very ‘blogger’ friendly: we will only try out beer we don’t know or which can’t be found in you every day shop/ beer bar.

So bear (beer?) with me while I am taking you through the Belgian Beer Weekend and the beers we tried. Some are very vivid in my memory, others less, but overall the weekend scores a 10 out of 10.
Tagged with: Beer Belgian Beer Bier Biere Brussels Beer Festival

Belgian Beer no.78: Haacht Blanche

Summer, the heat of the city around what better way to relax than a white beer on a terrace? This time around I tried the Haacht Blanche, a white beer brewed by Primus and at 4.80% almost like juice, no?

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Belgian Beer no.77: Belgian Beer Paradise

If you will ever make it to Brussels, finally past the Belgian Beer bars, then you might pay a visit to the Belgian Beer Museum. The beers they serve are very much your 'standard' beers. The idea behind these beers is to take you through the different types of Belgian Beers.

Never short of a Belgian Beer we are!

Tagged with: Beer Belgian Beer Bier Biere Brussels