Microbrewed Adventures

by Charles Papazian

  At Vello and Dan’s homebrewery recordkeeping was not a habit, but from my senses I surmised they brewed a beer at 1.050 (12.5 degrees B) original gravity. Color was about 14 SRM, and the hop character of Hallertauer contributed about 30 units of bitterness. Their Gotlandsdricke had a fruity and pleasant juniper taste and a smooth, distinctive smoky flavor. But friendly rivalries existed among Gotland’s homebrewers, and everyone had his own secret recipe and styles: sweet, bitter, strong, weak, dark, pale, sour, with more or less smoke and juniper. We finished Vello and Dan’s beer and continued our daylong expedition to Virungs Bryggeri, the island’s brewery/brewpub in the small village of Romakloster. In fact, the small cottage and barn compound seemed to be the entire village. There we visited Lillis Svärd and his family, who raise sheep, run a smokehouse and meat house and operate a small malt house, brewery and attached inn. Lillis malts his own barley and was experimenting with growing and malting wheat and spelt.

  A lightly smoked (relatively speaking) version of Gotlandsdricke was brewed using 40 percent lightly smoked malt along with some Munich malt bought from a commercial malt house. Lillis’s other beer is called Drog öl, brewed with pale and Munich malt and honey. Lillis had been a homebrewer for the past ten years and had recently gone commercial. Though he was working on a system with which to bottle his beers, you would have had to be there to experience the finest essence of his craft. Lillis has since closed his brewery in pursuit of developing concrete tepees, but I can’t imagine he has stopped homebrewing.

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  VELLO’S GOTLANDSDRICKE

  The fruity and refreshing character of juniper boughs and berries combined with the mellow warmth of gently smoked malt emerge as a magical combination. It is not without reason this centuries-old beer tradition remains regionally popular. If you have access to fresh juniper, you can recreate this Scandinavian experience at home. The recipe can be found in About the Recipes.

  * * *

  I believe that as you brew your next batch of beer, whatever your style might be, Lillis and Vello will be tending their most recent batch of Gotlandsdricke. I fell in love with the stuff and was very pleased with how my first homebrewed batch turned out. I did have a little help, since Lillis gave me about 10 pounds of birch-smoked malt he had made, but you can produce your own style of “dricke” using ingredients locally available. Why? Because you’re a homebrewer and microbrewer.

  And if you can drink it out of a wooden juniper mug, please do. It’s simply wonderful.

  CHAPTER 9

  Flights of the Imagination—Eccentric, Creative and Wild The Netherlands and Belgium

  “Geezus I’m blasted. No, not wasted. Blasted. Do I get combat pay for this trip? Everyone seems to want to feed me three times more than I could possibly eat and then pour me five times more than I can possibly drink. I am truly saturated. HELP! I mean having a beer at 10 a.m. is one thing but continuing until 1 or 2 A.M. one after another and knowing that the next day begins at 7 A.M. is an awesome thing to consider.”

  —FROM MY TRAVEL JOURNAL, MAY 1995,

  THE YEAR I VISITED THE NETHERLANDS AND BELGIUM.

  Long Days’ Journeys into Nights

  PERHAPS there is no country in the world more under-discovered and under-recognized for its beer culture than the Netherlands. Amsterdam is both a magnificently beautiful and wild city. Explore its streets and alleys with beer in mind and you will discover brewpubs, world-class beer bars/cafés and memorable beers. Go beyond the city limits to the countryside towns and villages and you will begin to realize the beer passion homebrewers and microbrewers have embraced as their own. There is much more to Holland than Heineken. My introduction began in the small town of Vllesingen, the Netherlands, with beer, homebrew, microbrew, cider, liqueur, distilling, herbal, horticulture and wine master Jan Van Schaik.

  Jan has a small goatee and trim mustache, reminding me of photographs I’ve seen of Louis Pasteur. I learn that Jan frequently gives lectures about Pasteur, one of his favorite scientists and heroes. He has written numerous books on homebrewing, wine, cider and distilling. He not only is an expert at all things alcohol, but has helped lobby the Dutch legislature to legalize home distilling and established the Dutch beer judge program. Born in 1936, Jan continues to love the finer aspects of alcohol, but seems to overflow with a passion for beer more than anything else.

  He lives with his wife, Irma, in the small coastal village of Vllesingen, on the most southwesterly tip of the Netherlands. His garage is an experience, magnificent to behold, filled with herbs, spices, brewing ingredients and an unfathomable collection of homemade beer, wine, brandy and liqueur.

  Within hours of my arrival from Colorado, Jan whisked me away to a truly micro microbrewery, the Scheldebrouwerj in the village of ’S Gravenpolder/Bergen op Zoon. These guys impressed as the epitome of true homebrewers. Their hand-built microbrewery, with tiled floors and walls, is in immaculate order. They were brewing 10 hectoliters (about 265 gallons) a week—only on the weekends. The owner, Kaees Loenhout, was a social worker involved with the child protection board by week, brewing on the weekends with his assistant, Louis Spoelstra. Louis’s day job was as an oil refinery cracker, electrician and mechanic; he had a keen interest in engines, steam engineering and electronic gad-geteering. The brewery has grown a little since my visit in 1995, but they continue to brew with skill and passion as only original homebrewers can do. Their beers were unlike anything I had ever had.

  Jan Van Schaik, the Netherlands

  The first thought that went through my mind was that American microbreweries have a lot to discover when it comes to beer character. They made a beer called De Zeezuiper Natuurbier, a 7.5 percent top-fermented bottle-conditioned ale with 5 to 10 percent corn or maize, malt, coriander, curação peel and woodruff, all deliciously blanketed with an unbelievable creamy, dense head. They referred to their yeast as Belgian “zampus.” Their hopping rates were low at 20 bittering units, but the beers wonderfully impacted my palate as though they had 30 units of hop bitterness. De Zeezuiper is fermented for 10 days, then cold “lagered” or aged for three weeks before bottling. The bottles are conditioned at warmer temperatures for 10 days before being released from their tiny microbrewery. Whew! What a beer!

  They also brewed a Winterbier with 8.5 percent alcohol, made with pilsener, amber, crystal and caramel malts. With the skillful addition and balance of cinnamon, coriander, Belgian candi sugar, Czech Saaz and German Hersbrucker hops, this ale becomes indescribably awesome and unlike anything I’ve ever had by any American homebrewer or microbrewer.

  The repertoire of beers went on. They have made a 6.5 percent (low-alcohol beer!) called Lamme Goedzak, as well as a Liberation 1945–1995 Teugs Teugje Meibok Beer. How did they develop all this brewing knowledge? As homebrewers first, but not without some professional training. Kaees went to the University of Ghent for three years of Sundays to study brewing. Every Sunday morning he would commute to Ghent to attend classes. What he has learned he imparts to others as a beer judge and beer judge teacher.

  Brewer and founder Kaees Loenhout of the Scheldebrouwerj

  MUG IS THE DUTCH WORD for mosquito. It is also the name of one of the most charming pub-restaurants in the Netherlands and Jan’s favorite local specialty beer bar. A tiny place and easy to miss, De Mug is wonderfully nestled in the village of Middelburg only a 10-minute drive from Vllesingen. De Mug’s regularly published newsletter features news of the beers they offer and events they sponsor. One can’t help notice the abundance of candles and large casks of old medium sherry, dry Madeira and rich ruby port behind the “brown” bar, so called because of its ambience. Bottles of Tabasco sauce are tucked away amidst the carved wooden nooks and crannies and an American Express sticker can be seen on the window, but that’s as far as 1995 seemed to express itself, except for the selection of 64 classic Dutch and Belgium beers (though they did have Murphy’s and Guinness stout and Paulaner Salvator doppelbock as well). Heineken is offered, but it isn’t the He
ineken light lager the rest of the world knows; rather rare bottles of Heineken “Oud Bruin” and Amstel “Meibok” were offered as world classics.

  The pub was established in 1973. Barend Midavaine, the owner, really loves what he is doing—and it shows. At De Mug I met folks who make beer, sell beer, think beer and drink beer. Barend’s wife is a homebrewer. Need I say more about the heart and authenticity of this tiny bar near the Zeeland coast?

  I enjoyed a few beers, including a Trappist-brewed Westvleteren and a Rochefort. I savored their complexity and freshness, thinking that this was the finale for the day’s visits, but I was wrong.

  Nearby in the small village of Hilvarenbeek, we approached an old brick building. I was taken behind its unassuming garage door. I glanced to the side and noted that the iron gate had a hop motif designed into one its supporting posts. Inside this unassuming brick building is a brewery that has been turned into a working museum. The two-hectoliter (53 gallons) Stichting Museumbrouwerij De Roos brewhouse, built in 1850, was hidden from the Germans during World War II and thus saved from being scrapped for war materials. The original Stichting De Roos Brewery was a top-fermenting ale brewery, one of but a few breweries that did not change its beer to the more popular lager style. Harrie de Leijer De Roos, son of the founding grandfather, only recently renovated the brewery premises. At the time of our visit he had the support of the local city council for plans on offering to the local homebrew club an opportunity to brew at this historic brewery museum.

  Upon returning to Jan and Irma’s home we took off our street shoes and slipped into wooden Dutch shoes to roam around the soggy yard and into the crammed floor-to-ceiling garage. We began tasting Jan’s various liqueurs, including a homemade Scottish Drambuie indistinguishable from the real thing and a mystery liqueur whose origins Jan asked me to guess. I tasted vanilla, cocoa, coffee and Curação. But Jan flabbergasted me when he confided that he had hand roasted his own cocoa beans, saying, “You really can’t get the really true taste of cocoa unless you roast your own beans. They were very difficult to find, but I did.”

  We had dinner, and the beer, brandy and stories continued. I learned that Holland’s only Trappist monastery (De Schaapskoot) would be hosting the next year’s Dutch National Homebrew Championship and would brew a special beer in honor of homebrewing. Meanwhile I prepared for another day’s adventures with a short night’s sleep.

  DE VAETE BROUWERIJ in Lewedorpwas was a microbrewery I visited, conceived by yet two more homebrewers. Located at the end of a long dirt road running alongside a canal in an extremely small farmer’s shed. Inspired by their 10 years of homebrewing, Ton de Bruin and Alexander Roovers had become weekend microbrewers, producing about 25 gallons at a time. Keeping 30 different strains of yeast on culture, they fermented their Plder Blondje, Tripel, Winterbier, pale ale, Dubbel and Pa’s Best in five-gallon carboys. By trade, Ton is a laboratory technician and Alexander a microbiology technician. Their annual production at the time of my visit was about 660 gallons a year. All for the love of beer.

  Homebrewing activity in the Netherlands is a relatively small part of the beer landscape, but the few dozen homebrew clubs throughout the country have a great impact on beer education and awareness. Each of the clubs inspires homebrewers with beers and the passion of camaraderie. It is clearly evident that their gatherings are about both beer and family. The next evening we joined about 40 people in a small village community center. I talked about homebrewing and beer judging in America. We then all turned our focus on Meibocks (May/Maibocks), a light-colored German-style strong, malty bock beer that the Dutch have embraced as their own. Tasting six commercial Dutch Meibocks and then 12 homebrewed Meibocks, we judged and chose a winner.

  IN AMSTERDAM we met 40 beer judges. This was a Dutch Beer Judges Guild special field trip to visit a brewpub, drink beer, go on a walking tour of Amsterdam brewery sites, drink beer, attend a seminar and, of course, drink beer. These guys are thrifty when it comes to non-alcoholic endeavors. I was tagging along. We stayed at a $10-a-night youth hostel in the center of one of the diciest areas of Amsterdam. There must have been several hundred travelers bunking in the dormitory-style accommodation. I was in Room 7 with at least 60 guys. Despite all the wonderful beer we had indulged in, I had difficulty sleeping. What does a pod of 30 hippos belching and farting on the riverbanks of the Zambezi sound like? This was an experience to be forgotten, but nonethess it was being experienced at least once in my life. Good beer helped. The sound of 50 men snoring started kind of low key with about 10 or 12 snorting randomly. By 2 A.M. there were at least 30 or 40 all snoring their way to wherever their dreams were taking them. But the most interesting thing was that by about 3 A.M. they had all cycled into snoring in unison. I was not hallucinating—the effects of alcohol had worn off by that time. I had difficulty believing what I was hearing: 59 Dutchmen snoring in harmony, lending a spooky ambience to the darkness of the room, lit by one lonely and beckoning exit sign.

  I don’t know how much any of you know about Amsterdam, but, well, shall we say, it can get pretty damned weird. Strange-looking people, the smell of legalized hashish and marijuana wafting its way out of numerous street cafés. And hookers, their whorehouses lining the alleys and side streets. It was in this atmosphere that we started our two-hour morning brewery tour. While the guide was explaining the sights in Dutch, all these beer guys were focused on was the one building we were told used to be a brewery 100 years ago. It looked like a brick building to me. Meanwhile in my sleep-deprived state, I did not believe what I was seeing in the picture windows on either side of the historic brewery site. As our guide was pointing out architectural features, I was looking across the canal and up the street. It was only about 9 A.M., but there were “ladies” shaking their booties, winking and carrying on in all manners. Farther down the street were dozens of the most bizarre sex shops I’d ever seen. Meanwhile, our guide was rambling on about the brewer in 1789 and the beer and the pubs. Junkies (though friendly ones at that) were staggering around amongst us and the thousands and thousands of other well-to-do tourists, young and old, shopping for chocolates, teacups, T-shirts, postcards and the weirdest-looking dildos I’ve never even imagined!

  My tour of the Netherlands was winding down. I took a pass on a tour of the newly opened microdistillery pub in Amsterdam in the hope of returning to Vllesingen in time for a decent night’s sleep. But that was not to be the case, as immediately upon our return to Jan and Irma’s home we explored the finer points of homemade Calvados and Poire (Pear) Williams brandy.

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  ZEEZUIPER SPICED NEDERLANDER STRONG ALE

  Formulated from my tasting notes and conversations with the brewer, this ale is an effusive expression of creativity on the brewer’s part. It’s herbal, fruity, mellow yet zesty, with a rich, creamy head. With a potentially head-banging 7.5 percent alcohol, it is to be enjoyed in moderation with friends and on special occasions. A people pleaser and conversation piece. This recipe can be found in About the Recipes.

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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 m
an 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.