Normally during August we would be providing an update on the beer and locations for the upcoming Cantillon Zwanze Day. However, in April 2023, Brasserie Cantillon announced on their Facebook page that they would be postponing Zwanze Day going forward until the Spring. Starting in 2024, in fact, April 20, 2024, Zwanze Day will alternate with Cantillon’s annual Quintessence event, occurring in April or early May, instead of at the end of September. As such, there will be no Zwanze Day 2023.
The change in the timing of the Zwanze Day is due in part to the effects of the timing of the annual fruit harvests, which are now coming earlier in the year, during the late summer months. This means the brewery is in full swing of their annual production process of fruited lambics making use of the grape harvests from countries like Italy and Spain, who are now providing their grapes already at the end of August.
Cantillon will resume Zwanze Day on April 20, 2024, and will alternate the event with Quintessence which will next occur in 2025. It is not yet known if Quintessence will occur during April or return to the usual pre-pandemic May 1 date.
If you were planning to be in Brussels for Zwanze Day, or for BXL Beer Festival taking place at the end of September now on the normal Zwanze Day weekend, you are still in for a treat. Moeder Lambic Fontainas, the normal host of the Cantillon crew for Zwanze, is still celebrating Zwanze with a No Zwanze Day event. This event will feature a full run of Zwanze Beers from 2013 – 2022 on draft, and a bottle selection that is still to be announced. Perhaps the 2008-2012 editions will be available there as well?
