Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [80]
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The next morning we caught the early-morning ferry to Belgium, but not before stopping at one last Dutch microbrewery—De Halve Maan Bierbrouwerij in Hulst, located in a old train station. By 11 A.M. I was sacked out on the ferry and dreaming of the beer and adventures that awaited.
The Mad Brewer of Esen
DE DOULLE BROUWERS (The Mad Brewers) is a small microbrewery in the picturesque town of Esen, Belgium. It is legendary among Belgian beer enthusiasts. I was still traveling with the guiding enthusiasm of Jan Van Schaik for one final day. De Doulle Brouwers was our first stop. The extremes, exceptions and the fantastic lengths to which microbrewers will go in order to achieve their dreams and produce the most exceptional beers on Planet Beer never cease to amaze me. De Doulle Brouwers is one of the most admirable brewery operations I have had the pleasure to witness. Not because of the beer or the equipment, but because of the single owner/employee who operates this “mad” brewery. Chris Herteleer is a man who seems to have kept his priorities in balance. An architect and graphic designer, he also paints watercolors and loves brewing beer.
Starting out as a homebrewer, Chris managed to buy a brewery that was founded in 1842. When I visited in 1995 he was still using the original brewhouse equipment. He had recently expanded, installing a bottle washer and bottling line. In keeping with his balanced lifestyle, he built a picturesque and artfully designed café, which reminds one of a large, airy, well-lit loft with tables, a bar and a large outdoor deck overlooking green pastures and very contented cows.
Chris brewed once a week (40 times a year, for a total of about 1,200 hectoliters or about 1,000 barrels), working on other operations at the brewery about three days a week. He is the sole employee/owner (except when bottling). His is another story of a passionate homebrewer gone pro. But Chris has also managed to balance the brewery operations with his other life interests.
Obviously, production is limited. Chris sells all he can make at a good price, despite a zero-dollar marketing budget. His most popular beers, some of which are exported to the United States, are:
Oerbier (Crazy Beer)—A Belgian Flanders–style strong brown ale at original gravity of 1.100 at 7½ percent alcohol. It uses six malts, three hops and candi sugar and is bottle-conditioned.
Bos Keun (Easter Bunny)—A seasonal blanche (pale) beer with a starting gravity of about 1.090 and alcohol of 8 percent. There is some honey used.
Ara Bier—A beer for summer. Starting gravity is at 1.080, with an alcohol content of 8 percent.
Stille Nacht (Silent Night)—A very strong Christmas beer, with an incredibly high original gravity at 1.120 and 9 percent alcohol. It is considered one of his classic beers.
Dulle Teve—I can’t recall an explanation for the label Chris gave me, but judging from that label and what memory I had left after departing, I think dulle teve means mother-in-law. Alcohol is at 10 percent!
After the tour we were joined by Leuven microbrewer Steven Pauwels (now the head brewer at Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City) and former American Homebrewers Association vice president Grosvenor Merle-Smith. We entered a dark and damp cellar. It is where Chris Herteleer keeps his special “vintage” beers. We loaded up with a few cobweb-laced bottles that had barely legible labels and rusted bottle caps and headed up to the loft café. It was beer-tasting time.
We began by tasting a 12-year-old bottle prototype and aged Oerbier. It was at this point I discovered that Chris enjoyed an occasional cigar. I gave him a Cuban cigar I had reserved for a special