Continental quality

Roger Protz visits some of Europe's finest breweries

Belgium · France-West Flanders · French Flanders · Bavaria

The Silly Brewery may sound as if it is run by the Monty Python team, but in French, the name is perfectly sensible. The farm brewery, in the village of Silly (which takes its name from the local river, the Sil), dates from the 1850s. Its 5.4 percent Saison Silly is brewed from French malts and Belgian caramalt for color, with Kent Goldings hops.

In the small brew house, the mash kettle doubles as a hop back, with wort returning to the kettle after the hop boil. Fermentation lasts for 15 days in small conical vessels, using a top-working yeast. The ales are matured for two weeks and then filtered. Saison Silly is copper colored with peppery hops and winey fruit on the nose, dark fruit in the mouth, and a dry, hoppy finish.

De Dolle Brouwers of Esen in West Flanders are not resurrecting old styles but are creating their own. The name means "the Mad Brewers," and it is a micro driven by a blend of eccentricity, passion and enthusiasm. The Herteleer brothers, former homebrewers, bought the plant in the 1980s when it was about to close down. The driving force of the company is Kris Herteleer, an architect, who brews on weekends in a cramped brew house with antique equipment: a pre-World War I mash kettle, a brew kettle fired by direct flame, and an open wort cooler or cool ship.

The main beer is Oerbier (or "original brew"), first made in a wash tub in the Herteleer home. It uses six malts, including caramalt and black malt, with Belgian hops from Poperinge and East Kent Goldings. It has an aroma of sour plums, is bitter-sweet in the mouth and has a long fruity finish. Arabier is a summer ale with a hazy bronze color, a damson jam and spicy hops aroma, ripe fruit and hops in the mouth, and a big, fruity finish. The name is a joke incapable of translation, though a parrot is the central character: more shades of Monty Python. Other seasonal ales includes Boskeun (Easter Bunny) and Stille Nacht at Christmas.

The brewery (open for weekend tours) may be a mad house but the beers are brilliant.

Go to: Belgium · French Flanders · Bavaria

This story originally appeared in All About Beer Magazine in May 1997.