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FEATURES


The New Brewers of Belgium

Eccentric Entrepreneurs

by Tim Webb

Mike Janssen, owner of the palatial De Dool brewery.

Belgium is a country of three halves, united only by a common delight in beer, food, ancient market squares and weird humor. In the north is Dutch-speaking Flanders, flat as Jean-Claude Van Damme's stomach, only bigger. In the south is French-speaking Wallonia, a mix of weed-strewn industrial wasteland and the hills and valleys of the Ardennes forest. In the middle is Brussels, the crossroads of Europe, the center of so many important things that a threat to its beer supply would endanger world peace.

 

or all its love of traditionally crafted consumables, Belgium has few genuinely old brewery companies. Only about a third of the 150 or so currently brewing can trace a convincing history before World War II. A larger number have set up since 1980.
Two of the longest established pioneers of the new wave are Achouffe (1982) and Dolle Brouwers (1980). Each was created by a talented amateur brewer wanting to test his arm in the commercial world.

From Sheds in Achoufffe • Another Kris, Different Character • Latecomer to the House Brewery Business • Products of Distinction
• Not Abbey Beers • Holy Ales • Day Jobs and Night Jobs

 

From Sheds in Achouffe

When Kris Bauweraerts started making beer in the hamlet of Achouffe, set among the hill farms of Luxembourg province, in a tree-free part of the Ardennes, he brewed in the sheds at the back of the old farmhouse. The same area is now a warehouse filled with a modern steely plant that includes one of the nattiest yeast propagation systems in western Europe. There is also a top-rate bistro to provide sharply sizzled côte à l'os and fresh-brewed ale, in full view of the kettles.

He still describes Achouffe, the brewing company, as a "hobby that got out of hand." Some hobby. Bauweraerts and a business partner recently acquired the old Piron brewery at Aubel mainly to experiment with producing high-quality ales using 24-hour fermentation. And he has made a couple of attempts to link up with North American brewers to produce Achouffe beers closer to the US market.

Achouffe's secret was to take typical Wallonian blond and brown ales of around 8 percent alcohol by volume (abv) and add two things—aplomb and coriander. Previously, most breweries had used spices like coriander to cover the bad tastes caused by infections during conditioning. Kris Bauweraerts used it to enhance the flavor of good beers.

Asked why he brews from spring water, he explained that there is no commercial water supply to the village so he doesn't have an option. Why are Achouffe glasses made in that distinctive cello shape? Because they are the cheapest he could find. What is the significance of the gnome on the label? Other brewers use a monk, so why not a gnome!

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This story originally appeared in All About Beer Magazine in August 1999.


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