A busy breweryweekend

Indeed, a busy weekend it was ! On Friday evening Laurie, Jon, Laura and Alan arrived. Laurie was the photographer that made such a nice photo shoot of our little family in Marina del Rey. Jon, her husband, is about to start up a small brewery with tavern and his intention was to visit as much breweries as possible during their stay here in Belgium. Laura and Alan are Laurie's parents and they were together with them on the trip.

They already arrived in Holland a few days before, but we had the honor to have them at our place during the entire weekend. On Friday evening we had dinner at home. I made pork filet with a sauce with geuze beer and mustard. They seemed to appreciate it. It's easier to drink and eat geuze, then to pronounce it (isn't it Laurie?)...

On Saturday morning we had a good breakfast, Axelle went to oma and opa and we started our brewery tour. We drove to Beersel (close to Brussels) where we visited Drie Fonteinen. Although the brewer did not have a lot of time to explain everything, he really made a big effort so we did not have to leave empty handed. We also tasted the real geuze and the real kriek… which means without added sugars. The taste was totally different (read less sugary) from what you find in stores. But of course that’s what made it so interesting.
Our next stop was a café “De Kring” which is very close to Brewery Boon. Brewery Boon was not open during the weekend, so the only way to taste their beers was to go to the nearby café. The owner, used to having visitors from abroad, immediately gave us his visitor book so our American friends could sign it.
Next stop was Geuzestekerij De Cam. They have a nice and cosy restaurant. We tried delicious dishes like: kriekjes met ballekes (meatballs with cherry in cherry sauce), pens met appelcompote (white sausage with appel sauce), and so on… Everybody was very happy to get some food after all the beer we already tasted, and before it would start over again. At 5pm we had a guided tour at De Cam. You could immediately see that this guide was extremely happy with his job. We learned a lot about fermenting, blending and so on and left De Cam to go home and change for dinner.

Dinner we had in Mechelen, a town at 15 minutes from where we live, in the restaurant “Het Anker”. This is the restaurant that goes with the brewery where Gouden Carolus is being brewed. Unfortunately the brewery was not open for visitors, because they were renovating. Lucky we were in good company because they were having a problem in their kitchen and so it took more than one hour to get our plates on the table. Also lucky that it was SO good that it had been worth waiting for. Most of their dishes are prepared with their beers… yummy.

Everybody was tired, so we went to bed after dinner. The next day would be a busy one again. Alain went with Laurie and Jon to a café close to Brussels, which is called “Verzekering tegen de grote dorst” (or translated: Insurance against being large thurst).

They came home and we immediately left for Beerzel, a village close to Lier and Putte. In Beerzel, ‘t Hofbrouwerijke brews very delicious beers.
We even bought a full crate, because I liked it so much!
Also the owner was so full of energy talking about his brewery… we learned a lot and Jon probably did not miss a word.
The brewer mentioned that we could go and see another brewery in Itegem, close to Beerzel. Here we went to Brewery Serafijn, where we first of all had a snack (our insurance against being drunk!). A tour of the brewery followed for those who were still in the mood. I stayed with Axelle in the tavern.
Back at home I prepared dinner: Belgian endives with ham and cheese sauce and sausage with Brussels sprouts… two typical Belgian dishes.

I had to say goodbye on Sunday evening, because Monday morning was back to work for me and they were all still in bed when I left the house at 7am.
Hope they had such a great time as we did!
Looking forward to seeing you them again in California or in Florida…. Who knows!

Hereunder: Laurie and Jon - Laura and Alan - us ...