Fort Lapin Quadrupel 10 by Fort Lapin Brewery

This post is a part of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I will be trying a new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out Grown-up Travel Guide and his #grownupbeerdiary, where Andy Higgs came up with the diary format in use below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.

Day 241: August 29, 2015

Diary entry:

I am currently in Brussels for the European Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference (#EBBC15 if you wish to follow along).

Today was day two of the conference, though I must admit, I did spend a bit more time networking today than usual. And no, that’s not my way of saying I was hungover (I was actually surprisingly well rested this morning!)

I started off the morning with a run to Cantillon brewery with a few new friends I made at the conference, including some of the representatives from Stone Brewing Company of both San Diego and Berlin. Unfortunately, from what I have heard, we did wind up missing the most entertaining session of the conference, but was nice to have a chance to show some others around one of my favorite breweries.

We made it back to the conference in time for the walking lunch put on by Visit Flanders. A feast featuring Gentse Waterzooi (typical chicken meal soup) paired with Gruut Wit – City Brewery Gruut; Brabantse hespenrolletjes (Chicory rolls with ham and béchamel) paired with Witgoud – Farm brewery Hof ten Dormaal; Chocomousse (chocolat desert) paired with Fort Lapin Quadrupel – Brewery Fort Lapin; Stoverij (Flemish Meat Stew) paired with Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Blauw – Brewery Het Anker and Fricandon met Krieken (meat bread with cherry sauce) paired with Ter Dolen Kriek – Brewery Ter Dolen.

I didn’t try all of the beers, but I did try:

Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw (2015) by Brouwerij Het Anker – Sweet, but tasty. Would want to let it sit.

Ter Dolen Kriek by Kasteelbrouwerij De Dool – Sweet, but actually pretty tasty.

And the Fort Lapin Quadrupel, which is today’s beer of the day.

For the afternoon…well…back to Cantillon with a different group, including the representatives from BrewDog of Scotland, this time for some tasting!

Vigneronne (2014) by Brasserie Cantillon – Beautiful! Sour and fruity. Very well balanced and tasty.

Carignan by Brasserie Cantillon – A redrink, but one I would gladly try again and again!

Zwanze (2014) Cuvée Florian by Brasserie Cantillon – Another redrink, but I do still love this beer!

Lou Pepe Framboise (2012) by Brasserie Cantillon – Pretty darned awesome! Sour funk. Decent fruit. Bravo!

At this point, most of the group headed back to the conference. I actually planned to as well, but was tempted by the opportunity to visit En Stoemelings, a new brewery in Brussels whose beer I have not tried yet. They were supposed to be open, so Steve and I took a walk over, but unfortunately, they were closed! Pity! So we settled for a Kriekenlambik by Brouwerij Girardin at Het Goudblommeke in Papier / La Fleur en Papier Doré and then returned to the conference in time for the Petrus Sour Beers tasting.

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Sour beer session at #ebbc15 with De Brabandere, makers of Petrus Sour Ales.
A post shared by Brett Domue (@metsbwd) on Aug 29, 2015 at 7:37am PDT

After a short bottle share, we had our annual “Brewmaster’s Dinner with Vaclav” with Pilsner Urquell, hosted by Vaclav Berka. A tanker of 1000 liters of Pilsner Urquell driven straight from the brewery in Pilzen to Brussels for our dinner. Always a treat.

I must admit, though, that by the time we finished dinner, I was exhausted, I decided to drop out of the pub crawl early, making only one stop for some Oude Lambik (2 Year Unblended) by Brouwerij Girardin at Délices & Caprices – The Belgian Beer Tasting Shop. Nice lambic. Deeper flavor. Sour and savory.

Gave a short walking tour of the main sights of Brussels for the morning Cantillon run crew: Grand Place, Manneken Pis, and a quick stop at Moeder Lambic for the last beer of the night, which for me was a Faro by Brasserie Cantillon.

And then off to bed, as we have an early wake-up tomorrow for our tour of West Flanders.