We woke up early this morning in order to head out at 8:00am to Bosteels. The tour started out with a showing of about 10 “coaches” (cars) outside of their brewery. They were very old cars, trucks, and one that was used to transport barrels. The cars were very interesting, but the most unique fact about them was that they had a special holder for the kwak beer that they produce. Their brewing process was similar to most of the other breweries that we have been to, but today they were actually brewing while we were there. So we got to see them taking the wort from the mash tank to the boiling tanks. It was pretty cool. Then we watched them getting rid of the spent grains. We saw their fermenters, and also a big thing that they recently acquired in order to create their strain of yeast. After the tour we tasted three of their beers, kwak, triple karmeliet, and dues. 10:00 in the morning and were drinking three full beers. It was pretty funny. I really enjoyed the kwak, it is served in a glass that is basically shaped like an open topped hour glass, and held in a wooden contraption. (I’ll post a picture.) If you don’t drink it carefully the beer will get stuck in the bottom half and splash you. Unfortunately, no one got splashed, but I was secretly hoping someone would.
Then we napped a bit on the way to Ghent. Ghent is a very beautiful and old town. It was a lot more low-key than any city we’ve been to so far. Not many people walking around and definitely less touristy. Christa went with us, the same tour guide, and showed us around. We got to see the exact place where the Treaty of Ghent was signed. I believe she said something about how the city consisted of 19 islands that were all made up by 3 rivers with buildings built along them. It was all very peaceful and beautiful. The city is also very old. We got to see a castle that was built in 900, and a very old, gigantic, and beautiful church. We then got a sandwich and left to Liefmans.
Liefmans was a cute brewery that was directed and head brewed by a lady, who actually stopped in and said hi to us when we tasted. We walked through the older parts of the brewery that is unused now due to hygienic reasons. But all of the equipment still remains there for people to view. The only part of the brewing that takes place at Liefmans is the fermenting and conditioning. They only do top fermenting, and had the largest top fermenters I have ever seen. It was crazy. Then we got to taste the beers. Lactic acid comes from fermenting in the open air, which makes the beer sour. They also brew with fruit, such as cherries and blackberries. We tried their old brown ale which smelt like a wheat beer to me, but then shocked me when it was sour and kind of fruity and sweet. Then I tried their cherry beer (kriek), which was similar but sweeter, with a deep red color that was very pretty. They also create a fun summer ale that has more juices and fruits in it than the cherry beer, and less alcohol content, that is often served over ice. I only tried a sip of that which tasted pretty much like carbonated juice.
It was an awesome day in Belgium, and I had a blast. We got Vietnamese food for dinner at around 8:30pm, which we all chowed down. We were pretty hungry. We went to bed pretty early since our train to Leuven leaves at 8:00am.
Au revoir!!
 |
| Old car, the holder for the kwak is right in the middle of the photo under the top of that round piece of wood |
 |
| The boiling wort |
 |
| Getting rid of the spent grains, about to be sent off to a farm for the cattle |
 |
| Kwak |
 |
| Twins (whoops) drinking kwak at Bosteels |
 |
| Where the Treaty of Ghent was signed |
 |
| Ghent |
 |
| Castle built in 900 |
 |
| Cool ship at Liefmans |
 |
| Empty open fermenter at Liefmans |
 |
| Tasting at Liefmans |
No comments:
Post a Comment