A Dream Vacation
Last year, one of the NABBF guests won the trip for two offered by sponsor Bon Beer Voyage and Brussels Air. We connected with Sheryl about her experiences, first time ever to Belgium. Here’s what she had to say.
Q. What jumped out (or surprised you) about Belgium? About the breweries you visited?
A. The breweries we visited treated us like family. They welcomed us into their spaces, shared stories, and allowed us to ask questions about anything and everything. The hospitality of the Belgian people is outstanding.
Q. What did you learn that you didn’t know?
A. There are quite a few women involved in the beer industry over there. The brewer at Abbaye des Rocs is the daughter of the founder, if I’m remembering correctly. [Editor’s note-2018’s festival has for the first time a draft keg of De Rocs brune, one of something likely only 5 that came into US from this nano-brewery. The Importer said you could fit the brewery in some folks garage. Obviously a special experience.]
Inside the brewery Abbaye des Rocs
Everything we drank there was very good. They showed us every part of the brewery, which is a maze of small buildings cobbled together. We even got to go into a private home’s basement to see the original equipment used when they opened as Belgium’s first microbrewery.
Q. What breweries did you visit?
A. That’s a long list! Westveleren, Rodenbach, Chimay, Abbaye des Rocs, St. Bernardus, and several more along the border of Belgium and France.
Dining among the foeders at Rodenbach Brewery.
The Rodenbach dinner beer menu.
Q. Any particular beers that stuck in your mind?
A. Having a glass of Westveleren 12 at the source was as incredible as it sounds.
Q. How would you explain to new to craft beer drinkers about the differences in authentic Belgian-made craft beers? (Even though the breweries you visited may have been around for decades or even centuries, they really are small family businesses and epitomize, IMHO, craft beer.)
A. Terroir. The water, the grains, the yeast, and the hops used in beers brewed in Belgium impart characteristics you can’t replicate anywhere else. You have to go there to experience it.
Q. Other thoughts you’d like to share?
A. Bon Beer Voyage is a class act all the way. Ruth and Mike were the best tour guides and travel companions you could ever hope for. The itinerary was incredible from beginning to end. Each day brought experiences you wouldn’t get on any other trip.
On a river barge in Deinze, Belgium