In an ugly street in Anderlecht, where one would expect it least, you can find the Brouwerij Cantillon. Anyone who ever has dealt with Belgian beers definitively knows the name – after all, Cantillon is THE benchmark for both, Gueuze and Lambic style beers.
When on 13th February 2010, the GPS told me that I had reached my destination, I was hesitating at first. That should be the famous Brouwerij Cantillon? Here, in this city district of Brussels, the air is so pure that the brewer can take the risk to intentionally infect the cooled wort with wild yeasts? And this process should be so repeatable that the spontaneous fermentation guarantees a consistently high quality of Gueuze and Lambic?
the old fashioned mash tun
If you open the old wooden door, all doubts the visitor might have had, fall off again. Within a few steps, the visitor is being taken on a journey to the past, to the beginnings of the last century. Already at first glance, you see the old wooden barrels, bottles, bottlers, and other traditional, almost historic equipment – partly covered with a thick layer of dust. Head brewer and owner of this brewery, Jean Van Roy himself, welcomes the visitors and proudly offers samples of his beer specialities.
For five Euros, you get a self guided brewery tour and a small sampling at the end. With a hand photocopied flyer, you walk freely along all the old devices, be it the ancient copper mash and wort kettle, the lauter tun, the malt mill, the copper cooling vessel, or the endless rows of large wooden barrels. Tubes, mugs and glasses are standing around, as if Jean Van Roy just interrupted his tasting, decanting and blending activities for a minute; you see lambic puddles on the concrete floor; and the brewery’s cat whizzes between the barrels to and fro, and is looking for prey. Fascinating!
the lauter tun
Even more intriguing it was, as we were strolling around through the attic, when we discovered a hole in the concrete floor, and realized how thin the ceiling is which carries the heavy burden of hundreds of beer barrels, filled up to the rim. It can make you even a bit nervous, and the imagination turns somersaults, when you are walking a level below through the aisles and are thinking about the barrels stored immediately above your head…
Back at the entrance, still stunned by all the fascinating impressions of a museum with an integrated brewery (or is it a brewery with an integrated museum?), we meet Jean Van Roy again as he awaits us and invites for some samples. We could taste three distinctively different beers – the Gueuze, the Kriek, and finally, the Rosé de Gambrinus, a Framboise beer. All three beers have in common that they are aged, matured, fermented for years in the wooden barrels.
fermentation in ages old wooden barrels
Bone dry, the flavours hit your tongue; leaving the most intense sensual impressions, real explosions on the taste buds; and after swallowing, a long woody, slightly sour aroma sticks to your tongue and throat. In case of the Rosé / Framboise, this is paired with an intense acidity and hefty fruit aroma in your nose, whilst the Kriek is woodier and, after some minutes of exposure to the oxygen in the air, it starts developing creamy sensations that are occupying the whole nose. An almost viscous odour experience – or how else should I describe it? Flavours and taste sensations I never had before – a completely new experience!
Whilst the beers are maturing for years here, the decision to buy several bottles of these matured way quicker – and we took home a large number of all the different beers. It was definitely not cheap, but it was worth every single Euro!
Brasserie Cantillon SPRL
56, rue Gheude
1070 Bruxelles Anderlecht
Belgien
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