Bruges – Day 25: 25 Jan. 2012

 I need to watch “In Bruges” again.  We spent the day today wandering around the old city, guided by Christa, who seems to have really taken us under her wing. Well, she seems to do that with everyone.  Bruges is her hometown, so I think she really was looking forward to giving us a tour, along with the Brit who is currently staying with her.

Bruges is probably what most Americans think of when they envision an old European city.  Gothic architecture, cobblestone streets, and lots of history.  Oh, and canals.  Lots of canals.  If Christa is right (she tells a lot of stories, and has a great poker face), Amsterdam has canals because that city was started by former residents of Bruges.  

I can’t possibly recount everything Christa talked about, so I’ll stick with the highlights.  One of the best was a statue of Mary and Jesus by Michael Angelo that is inside the cathedral in Bruges.  The story behind it being in Bruges was interesting.  Apparently the work was originally commissioned by a bishop in Rome, but when said bishop became Pope, he tried to short change Michelangelo.  Evidently he didn’t like that, so he walked into a tavern, announced he had a statue for sale, and a merchant from Bruges purchased it.  You can see the statue by paying a 4 Euro entry fee at the cathedral, which is full of a great deal more history (many of the nobles of Flanders/Burgundy were buried in it), and there are other graves dating from the 11th century too.  

We tried to stop by a brewery, which was obviously brewing (what a sweet aroma!), but they weren’t open to the public.  We were able to go to the Gruuthaus.  Gruut (or gruit) was the blend of spices used to counteract the sweetness of beer before brewers started using hops.  The Gruuthaus in Bruges was where the merchants who controlled the trade throughout Europe had their warehouse and headquarters.  The area was carefully guarded, almost like a castle, even with a cannon above the main entry gate. 

I wondered how quickly gruit’s economic downfall came once hops became the norm.  Hops really became useful in the middle ages because of their preservative quality – the hop acids and other compounds in them are antibacterial, so beer brewed with hops lasts longer than without.  This isn’t much of an issue any longer since most beer is Pastuerized.  Hops also don’t poison people – sometimes gruit included things like henbane, nightshade and psychedelic mushrooms.

 

A visit to Bruges probably wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a Chocolaterie.  Christa took us to the Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc, a family-owned choclate shop where all the chocolates are hand made.  We were given a nice lecture about how choclates are made, followed by a sample of some chocolates.  The shop had a huge selection of different chocolates available – it would be like the John’s Market of chocolates, except all were made there, in the shop.  Christa surprised all of us with little bags of three chocolates each, as an apology for the “bad day” we had when our bus driver went to the wrong town to pick us up.

Well, this is the last post I’ll make from our class.  Gudrun and I have learned a lot, and have some great ideas for how to improve it next time (although, it really went well this round).  Almost all the groups have made up recipes for next year’s class, which will be back in Oregon.  I hope to arrange some different visits for that class – maybe one of the local malting facilities, and hopefully to visit the fermentation sciences folks at Oregon State, in addition to our regular brewery tours.  I’ll miss this group of students, I’ll look forward to working with Gudrun again, and I’ll be very happy to be home with my family (and really great tasting tap water)!

 

Leuven – Day 24: 24 Jan. 2012

 We spent today in Leuven, approximately 20 min (by fast train) from Brussels.  Leuven is a university city, home of the Katholische Universiteit Leuven.  The university in Leuven is pretty old, dating to the 15th century, known as a center of learning throughout Europe.  Our main purpose for visiting was to tour the Domus brewery, home of Condomus (he he) and Nostradomus (ha ha) beers.  Gudrun and I also wanted to scout Leuven out a bit to see if it might be a better “home” location in Belgium than Brussels.

As a university city, Leuven has many small eateries that cater to students.  In other words, inexpensive food.  We saw the same thing in Ghent, which is another university city.  Ghent has more medieval structures, and a wonderful 14th century cathedral that houses important artwork and is built on top of an 8th century church (which you can visit in the catacombs of the cathedral).  

Leuven, in the time we were there, didn’t seem as geared to it’s history (although it was evident), and seems to be making a bigger push toward being known as a “beer capitol”.  Oh yeah, it’s home to Stella Artois, “the largest brewery in the world” of InBev fame (or infame?).  At the tourist information center located around the corner from the city hall, we were given a beer map of Leuven.  They are apparently trying to be known as the world’s “beeriest” city; Portland could easily take that title based on breweries alone.

Leuven might be a more central location than Ghent, but then Belgium is only the size of Maryland, so for us northwesterners, everything seems close together.  So, dear reader (I’m pretty sure there is only one of you), if you have opinions about where we should stay, please let me know in the comments!

On to the Domus tour.  Domus is located in the center of Leuven, near the cathedral (a gothic cathedral built in the same style as the one in Cologne, but much smaller) and the town hall.  Domus is a small brewery, equipped with a wonderful old brewing system (which they are going to upgrade).  They usually brew two 300 L batches during each brew day.  

Our tour guide, Bart Landuyt, was wonderful.  He is a brewer, runs his own brewery that focusses on experimental beers, and works in the Laboratory of Functional Genomics at KU Leuven.  After the tour, Gudrun and I spent most of our time during the tasting (Condomus and their special Christmas beer, Engel) chatting with Bart about beer, his brewery, and potential visits with people at KU the next time we come.  We couldn’t have stumbled into a better contact!

Domus beers are (unfortunately) only served at the brewery.  So don’t be tricked.  I had a Nostradamus beer at the Oak and Ivy in Mac – this is NOT the same as Nostradomus (note the tricky spelling).  Domus doesn’t even really keg their beers.  Instead, the put the finished beer into large, sanitized plastic bags, that are then put into serving tanks.  The beer is then drawn from these tanks, through a pipe system, to the bar.  This reduces contact with oxygen, so beer remains fresher longer – evidently this is becoming something of a trend, at least in Europe.  

So the beers.  Condomus is a pilsner, clear and golden in the glass with a thick white head.  It’s aroma was mostly malt, with just a hint of DMS.  The flavor was malty with a good bit of bitterness (it is 40 IBU).  I don’t really remember the Engel as well – I was really chatting with Bart at the time.  It is darker – brown with ruby highlights, and not a very long lasting head.  Gudrun thought it smelled of licorice.  I thought it smelled sweet and malty, which was the main flavor.

 

Brussels – Day 19: 23 Jan. 2010 – Bosteels, Ghent and Liefmans

 After a day off yesterday, we are back to some brewery tours and visits.  I should say that yesterday was wonderful, with a visit to the Magritte Museum as the highlight and later a great Pizza dinner with the students.  At this point, the students have completed all of the brewing activities except for one – designing their own brew.  In addition to blogging, they also will write a reflective paper, which Gudrun and I hope will be very useful for future planning of the course.

Ok, so on to what we did today.  We left the hotel at 8 am with Christa (our Flemish tour guide) and Dave (our Flemish bus driver), bound for Buggenhout and Brouwerij Bosteels.  Bosteels brews three beers – Pauwel Kwak, Tripel Karmelite and Deus.  At this point, we’ve toured several breweries, so we can probebly give people good recommendations about where to go if they decide to come to Germany or Belgium and tour on their own.  Bosteels gets high marks.  It is a family owned brewery, since the late 1700′s.  

We felt very welcomed, especially with a US flag flying from the family’s house – we found out in honor of our visit!  The tour began with a nice review of historical carriages, which is important with regards to the Pauwel Kwak beer.  All Belgian beers pretty much have their own glass.  The Kwak glass is really one of the different ones.  It resembles a yard glass like you might find in an Irish pub, but not as large.  It has a spherical round bottom, so it has to sit in a special holder.  This is where the carriages come in – the story is that in the time of Napoleon, carriage drivers were not allowed to stop in at inns and have a drink.  Kwak therefore built special holders on the sides of the carriages so the drivers could have a beer.  

Tripel Karmelite is also a historical beer – brewed in the style that a Buggenhout-area abbey used to brew.  The final beer is very special – Dues is fermented and treated like Champagne – the bottles are stored upside down and rotated to collect the sediment.  It is like a cross between beer and Champagne (Golden Valley did this once – the IPA Brut, brewed back in 2006, which was very good).

Bosteels was right in the middle of brewing – we got to see them use the built in rakes to rake out the Lauter tun, and caught the beginning of the boil, where the brewers were adding hops.  They were also about to add some calcium chloride – a good quiz opportunity for the students (who knew why it was added – do you?).  We visited all the normal places – brew house, fermenters, conditioning tanks and the bottling line.  After the tour, we got to taste (they generally pour full beers for tastings here and in Germany, so be aware) Kwak, Karmeleit and Deus.  During the tasting, the patriarch of the Bosteels family came to welcome us – he was a very personable and friendly guy, who after the tasting took us to see his old family house, where he was born.  Very cool.

Our next stop was in Ghent, for a quick city tour and a bite to eat.  What we saw of Ghent wa beautiful – a medevil castle, canals, and many buildings from the 17th century.  The highlight was the cathedral, built in the 12th century, on top of a church (which you can also visit) built in the 8th century.  The cathedral is famous for it’s altar, the first artwork to use perspective in the middle ages, and a large painting by Reubens.  Sadly, we really had to run through Ghent – Gudrun and I both would like to bring the class back here and maybe us it as our base of operations in Belgium next time.  Oh, we also saw the building where the treaty of Ghent was signed and the building Wellington stayed in before Waterloo (which we drove by on our way to Pipaix the other day).  So much history.

Our last stop was at Liefmansin Ourdnaande.  Liefmans was on the syllabus because they brew Flemish brown ales – like Rodenbach and Duchesse de Bourgone – which are somewhat sour. Unlike the Lambics and Geueze at Cantillon, the Liefmans ales are balanced by a bit more sweetness.  The tour was interesting, partially because the beer isn’t actually brewed there any longer.  It is now brewed by Duvel, near Antwerp, and trucked to Liefmans so that it can be fermented with the “house” yeast – some of which are lactic acid producing bacteria (hence the sourness).  Our guide gave a nice description of a triple decoction mash, which Liefmans uses to enhance starch solubility.  

Most of the Liefmans beers are lower alcohol content – the Oud Bruin is about 5%, Goudenbrand, a provision beer (which means it can be laid down for 5 – 10 years) is 8%, and then their Kriek is 6% (very sweet, so they must add some kind of sweetner to it).    We were surprised in Liefmans by a visit from their former brewer – a wonderful older Flemish woman!  Our first female brewer of the course, which drew cheers from our mostly female class!  As we left, we were all given bottles of Kriek!

Brussels – Day 16 & 17: 21 & 22 Jan. 2012 – Ugh!

 Our journey so far has been really wonderful.  We have a great set of students and all the tours and hotels have worked out wonderfully, especially considering that Gudrun and I didn’t do a scouting trip.  So finally some things have gone wrong.  One was an inconvenience, the other was actually pretty bad.

After our trip to Cantillon the other day, several of us needed to replenish our cash reserves so we found an ATM and did so.  At some point, Gudrun noticed that her wallet was hanging out of her bag.  When she checked it, about 340 Euro were gone.  She remembers a young lady distracting her, at which point her accomplice probably grabbed the cash from her wallet.  This has put a real damper on our time here, as I’m sure anyone can imagine.  Even knowing that where we are is a hot bed for pick pockets, it is difficult to be careful enough.

The next day (21 Jan) we had planned to be picked up by a bus for an all day excursion to visit the DuBuisson brewery (makers of Bush de Noel, among other things) in Pipaix, and the Het Anker brewery (Gouden Carolus) in Mechlen.  Everybody was up in time, and we went to where we were supposed to meet the bus.  But it wasn’t there.  We eventually enlisted the help of our hotel front desk staff (who have been very helpful in many ways) to contact the driver.  He swore he was in the correct place, but we couldn’t find him.  

We contacted Christa, the local travel agent who led us on a tour on Friday, and she found out the bus company had sent the bus to the wrong place.  Brussels is made up of seventeen different districts, and street names repeat.  So he was on the right street, but in the wrong district of Brussels.  Eventually, he made it to us, two hours after we were supposed to leave for our brewery tours.

Christa had called the breweries to let them know we would be late, and both were ok, so we embarked on the trip.  None of the students had really eaten anything other than breakfast.  DuBuisson was a 1.5 hour drive southwest of Brussels, in Pipaix.  We shouldn’t have bothered.  The “tour” turned out to be a movie/ad depicting the history of the brewery.  The beer wasn’t good either.  I’d never go back there – and I’ll steer clear of their beer (Bush – Bush de Noel, and Troll).

Het Anker, in Mechelen was another 1.5 hour ride, this time to the northwest of Brussels.  The routing was crazy.  The tour, however, was great.  Our guide was from the Netherlands, and ran tours and the onsite hotel at Het Anker.  He had retired there after working for the US Government for something like 40 years meeting with embassy staffs in other countries as and advance team for Presidential visits.  He started with Nixon and ended with Obama.

Het Anker is a historically important brewery, and has been around since the 15th century.  The king on the label is Charles V (I believe), and had a special tax exemption from the king.  The brewery has been through many ups and downs, most recently almost going bankrupt in the late 1980′s because the owner enjoyed the product a bit too much.  Fortunately it was revived by the current owner (all in a long family line), who has really focussed on the brewery.  Over 80% of their beer is exported, most to the US (you can buy Gouden Carolus at the Oak & Ivy in McMinnville).  

After tasting two beers (the triple and the dark, original Carolus, which is brewed with licorice) we headed home.  Everybody ran off to get some snacks (it was 4 pm and no one had eaten since breakfast).  Later, we met for dinner at La Becasse – a wonderful little pub/cafe not far off the Grand Place that we went to the first night here in town – for some much needed comfort food: large bowls of pasta and oven baked lasagne.

Brussels – Day 16 & 17: 21 & 22 Jan. 2012 – Ugh!

 Our journey so far has been really wonderful.  We have a great set of students and all the tours and hotels have worked out wonderfully, especially considering that Gudrun and I didn’t do a scouting trip.  So finally some things have gone wrong.  One was an inconvenience, the other was actually pretty bad.

After our trip to Cantillon the other day, several of us needed to replenish our cash reserves so we found an ATM and did so.  At some point, Gudrun noticed that her wallet was hanging out of her bag.  When she checked it, about 340 Euro were gone.  She remembers a young lady distracting her, at which point her accomplice probably grabbed the cash from her wallet.  This has put a real damper on our time here, as I’m sure anyone can imagine.  Even knowing that where we are is a hot bed for pick pockets, it is difficult to be careful enough.

The next day (21 Jan) we had planned to be picked up by a bus for an all day excursion to visit the DuBuisson brewery (makers of Bush de Noel, among other things) in Pipaix, and the Het Anker brewery (Gouden Carolus) in Mechlen.  Everybody was up in time, and we went to where we were supposed to meet the bus.  But it wasn’t there.  We eventually enlisted the help of our hotel front desk staff (who have been very helpful in many ways) to contact the driver.  He swore he was in the correct place, but we couldn’t find him.  

We contacted Christa, the local travel agent who led us on a tour on Friday, and she found out the bus company had sent the bus to the wrong place.  Brussels is made up of seventeen different districts, and street names repeat.  So he was on the right street, but in the wrong district of Brussels.  Eventually, he made it to us, two hours after we were supposed to leave for our brewery tours.

Christa had called the breweries to let them know we would be late, and both were ok, so we embarked on the trip.  None of the students had really eaten anything other than breakfast.  DuBuisson was a 1.5 hour drive southwest of Brussels, in Pipaix.  We shouldn’t have bothered.  The “tour” turned out to be a movie/ad depicting the history of the brewery.  The beer wasn’t good either.  I’d never go back there – and I’ll steer clear of their beer (Bush – Bush de Noel, and Troll).

Het Anker, in Mechelen was another 1.5 hour ride, this time to the northwest of Brussels.  The routing was crazy.  The tour, however, was great.  Our guide was from the Netherlands, and ran tours and the onsite hotel at Het Anker.  He had retired there after working for the US Government for something like 40 years meeting with embassy staffs in other countries as and advance team for Presidential visits.  He started with Nixon and ended with Obama.

Het Anker is a historically important brewery, and has been around since the 15th century.  The king on the label is Charles V (I believe), and had a special tax exemption from the king.  The brewery has been through many ups and downs, most recently almost going bankrupt in the late 1980′s because the owner enjoyed the product a bit too much.  Fortunately it was revived by the current owner (all in a long family line), who has really focussed on the brewery.  Over 80% of their beer is exported, most to the US (you can buy Gouden Carolus at the Oak & Ivy in McMinnville).  

After tasting two beers (the triple and the dark, original Carolus, which is brewed with licorice) we headed home.  Everybody ran off to get some snacks (it was 4 pm and no one had eaten since breakfast).  Later, we met for dinner at La Becasse – a wonderful little pub/cafe not far off the Grand Place that we went to the first night here in town – for some much needed comfort food: large bowls of pasta and oven baked lasagne.

Brussels – Day:? 20 Jan 2012

 Where to start?  The train ride from Munich to Brussels was uneventful and we arrived safely in Brussels.  Which is completely different from Berlin and Munich.  Things seem more hectic here, more crowded, and dirtier.  But still interesting and fun.  Our hotel is just off the Grand Place, the center of old Brussels, where the city hall and guild halls are.  And around the corner from Cafe Delirium with over 2000 beers available.

 

 

We had a great city tour today full of history and humor.  After the tour and lunch, we headed to Cantillon, a pilgrimage site for lovers of Lambic and Geueze (sounds like gooze).  The brewery is a working museum, with equipment from the late 1800s, and run by the Cantillon family for the last 100 years. Originally, the family were blenders of Lambic – they would buy Lambic from the brewers and blend them to make their own.  Now they are the only traditional Lambic brewers in Brussels (there were once something like 100 just in Brussels).

 

We learned all about how they brew (the grist is malted barley and unmalted wheat, the wort is hopped with 3 year old hops used only as an antibacterial), and the got to see the cool ships where the real magic happens.  The beer is cooled overnight with the windows open, so it ferments with whatever micro flora inoculate it (over 80 of them).  They only brew between November and March, because the rest of the time it is too warm, and other microorganisms take over.  Climate change is already an issue for them, as in the last few years they haven’t been able to brew as frequently as they would like.

 

 

Fermentation occurs in wooden barrels, for 1-3 years.  Yes, years.  The base Lambic is used to make Geueze (1 year old + 3 year old), and fruit beers.  None of the beers are sweet, because they referment in the bottles.

 

Munich – Day 14: 18 Jan. 2012

 For our last day in Munich we arranged a tour of the Kloster Andechs brewery.  The abbey belongs to the Benedictine order, which we learned from Keith’s presentation the night before was established by Charlemagne. Beer has been brewed at Andechs since 1455, first by the monks, and later by secular employees.

Initially the monks brewed a strong beer for themselves to be used during the Lenten season, while they were fasting.  Eventually this beer evolved into a Doppelbock – something the Germans consider a strong beer (7.5% ABV).  While this is certainly a relatively strong beer in Germany, it is close to a normal Northwest IPA you might find at a place like Amnesia in Portland.  

The Andecheser Doppelbock is dark brown, with ruby highlights – very beautiful on a sunny day looking across farm fields from the “Holy Mountain” towards the Zugspitze and the snow covered Alps in the distance.  It has a light, creamy head which clings to the sides of the glass, and isn’t too highly carbonated (ours was served from a wooden keg).  The overwhelming aroma is of malt.  You can almost tell what malts were used just from this: pilsner, caramunich, carafa… Completely delicious. The flavor is malty and sweet.  One of the students remarked on the overall impression as one of Ummami – savory and sweet.

 

In the afternoon we returned to Munich.  A small group headed back to Paulaner, where we got to talk with the head brewer and watch parts of the process.  I learned more in a five minute conversation about decoction mashing, which he uses for Helles and Weissbier, but not Pils, than I’ve ever learned from reading texts on the subject.  There’s something to be said for talking with an expert, but I wonder how many different opinions I’d hear on this subject if I spoke with more brewers.

At the hotel, Kala’e gave a good presentation on Lambic and Gueze, to prepare us for our time in Brussels and Belgium.  I’m looking forward to seeing the students’ expressions as they begin to explore the complexity of Belgian beers after spending so much time with the Rheinheits gebot.  

Our farewell dinner was at the Nuerenberger Bratwusrstgloekl am Dom, a wonderful pub across from the Frauenkirche.  A lot of good sausages and Augustiner Helles from a Oak cask, as well as shared memories of our time in Munich.