by Jay Hersh with Joyce Miller
Bruges refers to itself as the "Venice of the North" a name it well deserves. This charming town in West Flanders, just a short drive west of Brussels, is built upon an island in the middle of the river Zwin. At one time a wall with entry gate towers ringed the city, but now only a few of the original towers remain. Canals were built within the town over the years to provide the town with better port facilities to support its burgeoning trade. The facades of many of the buildings along its narrow streets date from the 15th century creating a charming old European feel. Some of Bruges main attractions include the 83 meter high Belfry tower (which possesses a magnificent carillion and clock dating from 1748) on theMarkt (the main market square), the Town Hall (from 1376), and the Gruuthuse Museum (once the residence of a wealthy spice trader in the days when spices were used in beer instead of hops). While Bruges is famous for lace, we went there for the beer.
Bruges boasts two breweries, both rich in history. Time did not allow us to visit the smaller of the two, named the Straffe Hendrik, however we were able spend a part of the day touring the De Gouden Boom Brewery thanks to the help of Bill and Nancy Erskine of International Beverages in Canton, Mass., importers of the range of De Gouden Boom products.
The De Gouden Boom brewery is located at Langestraat 45, just a scant 500 meters from the Belfry tower and the Markt. The brewery's history is a long one. The first brewery to stand on the site dates to 1577. It was a small inn called 't Hamerken (the Hammer). Over the years it had changed from a brewery to a gin distillery (Genever has been, and still is, a popular drink in Belgium), which it still was in 1872 when the first member of the Vanneste family (the present owners) took it over. In 1879 it was converted back to a brewery, producing beers under the name 't Hamerken. At its height the brewery had 100 accounts purchasing the 't Hamerken pilsener beer named Triumph (so named for the Allies WWII victory) as well as lemonade, orange and pineapple drinks under the name SPITS. At one point just after the war the brewery sent a letter to its accounts prohibiting them from selling Coca-Cola claiming it was bad for their customers health!
The De Gouden Boom name itself is steeped in history. In 1468 Duke Charles the Bold married Margaret of York, sister of King Edward IV of England. Since Margaret owned Flanders the marriage allowed Charles to acquire it. Among the festivities at the wedding celebration was a jousting tournament. This tournament is now recreated every 5 years (next in 1996) and is called the Festival of the Golden Tree. The festival takes its name from the motif of the decorations at the wedding celebration, a tree with a gilded trunk, known in Flemish as De Gouden Boom. The name and motif have also become the brewery's symbols.
The present owner, Paul Vanneste, is the 4th generation of Vannestes to run the brewery. However, after assuming the 't Hamerken brewery he made a bold move. In 1983 he stopped the brewery's production and sold the license to its accounts to another brewery called Van Aacht. Later the same year he opened the De Gouden Boom brewery in the buildings of the former 't Hamerken brewery and introduced a new line of products.
De Gouden Boom offers four products, all top fermented. A Wit beer named Blanche de Bruges (aka Bruges Tarwebier), Brugse Tripel, and 2 Abbey beers under the name Steenbrugge, a Dubbel and a Tripel. The Abbey beers are named after the Bruges abbey that was originally founded by St. Arnoldus (the patron saint of Belgian Brewers). The brewery pays the Abbey a yearly royalty for the use of its name, and of course provides beer for the abbey. As at most Belgian breweries a likeness of St. Arnoldus keeps guard over the brewing of the beer.
The beers are brewed from a variety of malts among them 2 row and 6 row Pils varieties from the Dingemans and the Huis maltings. The Blanche de Bruges also contains Brugge unmalted wheat. In addition the Steenbrugge Dubbel contains caramel and torrified malts. The mix of malts may vary from year to year but they are always chosen for low nitrogen and water contents. A two temperature mash is used, the first rest for 1 hour at 63C, the second for 20 minutes at 71C.
A mixture of hops is used depending on the quality, but they are typically chosen from among Belgian hops grown in the Poperinge region, the Yugoslav (now Slovenian) Styrian Goldings or the British Kent Goldings. This variety of ingredients allows the brewery to maintain a greater degree of consistency in its products from year to year even though the raw ingredients themselves may vary.
Our tour of the brewery itself was conducted by the Commercial Manager, the courteous and engaging A. Louis Van Reeth. While we were there the brewery was making the Blanche de Bruges. Though we arrived too late for the mash we did get to witness the end of the sparge and the boil in quite spectacular fashion, through a glass window in the side of the boiling tank which allows viewing from the brewery control room. The brewery uses a 2 vessel system. The mash is performed in the same vessel in which the boil will be done later. The mash is then transferred to a lauter tun where the runnings are taken. Both vessels contain mechanized stirring systems. After the mash is drained it is sparged twice more to extract a maximum of fermentable sugars. The runoff is collected back in the first vessel where it is then boiled with the hops for a total of one-half hour.
The brewery has its own well. Water from this well is used to chill the wort after the boil. This water is then reclaimed to serve as the mash water for the next batch. The brewery typically brews twice per day. After the boil the chilled beer is centrifuged in an impressive old copper to remove the trub. The boiling and fermentation tanks are 125 Hectoliters in size. There are 6 fermentation tanks in total and these are cleaned automatically after their use.
De Gouden Boom uses two yeasts in all four of its products. The first is a fermenting yeast, the second is a bottling yeast. The wort is chilled to 18C, then moved to the fermenters. The heat from fermentation raises the temperature to 28C. The temperature then falls off slowly over the remainder of the 2 to 3 week fermentation before the beer is transferred to a cold storage cellar, also of 125 Hectoliter size. The beers are next cellared at 6C for approximately 3 weeks for a total time of from 5 to 6 weeks from boil to bottle. Except for the Wit beer the products are centrifuged to aid clarification, then filtered prior to bottling. The beer is passed through a special system (made by Alpha Laval) in which it is inoculated with the second yeast, the bottling yeast. The bottled beer is stored in a warm warehouse at 23 to 25C for an additional 10 or so days to allow it to carbonate properly. The time varies with temperature but is monitored by the insertion of pressure gauges into a randomly chosen bottle here and there in the batch.
After our tour of the brewery Mr. Van Reeth took us through the very impressive brewery museum located in 2 rooms on the upper floors of the brewery. The museum (open for public tours from May 1st to October via an entrance separate from the brewery itself) contains a number of interesting artifacts from the history of brewing in both Belgium and Bruges. Bottling machines from various eras, bottle capping mechanisms, breweriana (beer trays and the like) from the 't Hamerken brewery, old cooperage equipment, wooden shoes (which the brewers used to wear in the brewhouse), as well as photos of the Vanneste family, and of course the brewery tasting room.
At this point in our tour we were joined by our other gracious host Paul Vanneste, owner of the brewery and purportedly Belgium's (and perhaps the world's) tallest brewer. Mr. Vanneste proudly led us through a tasting of his brewery's fine products from the very refreshing Blanche de Bruges (aka Bruges Tarwebier), past the hearty Steenbrugge Dubbel and Tripel, and finishing with the excellent Brugse Tripel (my favorite). This made for quite a start to our day since it wasn't even lunch time yet. This was shortly remedied however as our host quite kindly bought us lunch at a local restaurant a few meters up the street from the brewery.
On the way he showed us a few last things that help to sum up the attitude of the staff of De Gouden Boom and the people of Bruges. The first was a recently acquired building immediately adjacent to the brewery which is currently under renovation to become the new brewery offices. The building's foundations and facade date from the 1600s. It was being renovated under the guidance of a specialist from the Bruges town government whose job it is to assist residents and businesses in excavating any important archeological artifacts and information from sites, and to preserve the historic architectural quality of Bruges' buildings. While this does cost the brewery more it is an expense they gladly pay to preserve their heritage. The second thing Mr. Vanneste pointed out to us on our way towards lunch is the inscription upon his family's house just a few doors down from the brewery. The English translation means "East, West, Home is best, Every bird praises its nest." In Flemish the final line is a play upon the family name "Vanneste."
Mr. Vanneste and the staff of the De Gouden Boom brewery exhibit much pride. Pride in the family heritage of the De Gouden Boom brewery, pride in the history of Bruges, and pride in the quality of their fine products. This pride is well deserved, as I have visited few places as charming as Bruges, nor tasted products I've enjoyed as much as those from De Gouden Boom.
De Gouden Boom Brewery Museum and Tap
Langestraat 45 050/33.06.99
Open for public tours during summer months, call ahead for hours
Straffe Hendrik Brewery Tavern
Walplein 26, 050/33.26.97
Open daytime, closed in the evenings
't Burges Beertje
Kemelstraat 5, near Simon Stevin Plein, 050/33.96.16
Small bar with an excellent selection and knowledgeable staff
Staminee de Garre
De Garre 1, a tiny alley off of Briedelstraat just between the Markt Square and the Town Hall
Look for a wooden barrel at the alley entrance. Quaint old pub witha nice selection.
't Hoefijzerte
Walplein 12, 050/33.06.04
Nice cafe, with reasonable food and a small bottle and gift shop with glassware
Last Updated: 16 August, 1995
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