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Breweries — it’s beer and it’s brewed here
Fighting the Battle of the Bulge with beer… ‘My obsessive interest in beer started with a tour to Grolsch when I was based at Dusseldorf with the Royal Engineers,’ says the former NCO whose men reputedly called him ‘Killer’. ‘I realised I was the only one asking questions and I became very interested in the whole culture and history surrounding beer.’ After a lot of research, which no doubt involved a few samples of the local beer, Neil came up with Bier Mania, ‘Cultural Beer Tours’ that visit breweries, micros and beer-cafés in the Ardennes, Dutch Limburg and around Dusseldorf. ‘As well as experiencing the variety of beers on offer, we also see a lot of the countryside,’ he says, ‘but more importantly it is also a fun weekend with some excellent beers.’ I had met Andy and his German wife Evi the day before at Dusseldorf station. There were three others on the tour, all CAMRA members: Steve Weight, Bob Ferguson and Paul Bates. As if to emphasise the cultural aspect of Bier Mania, our first stop was at at the highest point of the Ardennes. Forests stretched as far as the eye can see and we were taken through the bracken to find the old Prussian border posts. Very cultural. After this it was time for the first beer at the village of Soy, where Dany Prignon was waiting for us at Fantôme. This is small operation, and we filed into the tasting bar where the friendly Dany served the first beer of the weekend. It was a dark-orange draught seasonal (or saison) of the brewery, the house beer; spicy, fruity, citrusy, resiny, bittersweet and utterly moreish. What spices are in it, asks Steve, who has come from Weymouth. Dany shrugs. ‘I don’t remember,’ he says disarmingly. Several other beers and a tour of the small brewery follows and people are beginning to warm up. We started off the tour as strangers, but there is a sense of good beer bringing people together. Mind you, I’m not so sure about the Sante-X. ‘I am always trying to find something new or different,’ says Dany, as he hands me a glass of a blonde beer with a very familiar herby nose. I taste it and recognise oregano.… Accommodation for the weekend is in the village of Achouffe, home of the eponymous brewery, where we will visit the next day; the Hôtel Vallée des Fées is a Swiss chalet-style building a few minutes walk away. The food is delicious, rabbit served in a MacChouffe sauce. There is a log fire burning in the middle of the dining room, even though it is August. The Ardennes, apparently, has its own temperature I am told. The landlady leaves and tells us to help ourselves. Full marks to Bier Mania so far. More culture and a Saturday morning wander round the grounds of Orval, but sadly no brewery visit. We’ve had an early start and a longish journey, but there’s a sense of peace and tranquillity about the place that clears the head. A couple of Orvals later, drunk at the brewery tap, we are on our way to what turns out to be one of the weekend’s highlights. La Rulles is based in the village of, er, Rulles and is a thriving, imaginative and well-regarded operation. Brewer and owner is Gregory Vehrhelst, who looks about 12 but is really 35. For a Belgian brewer he is a rare exception: spices have no place in his beers. ‘When I started my brewery I looked for new tastes,’ he tells us. ‘I don’t work with spices, for my tastes I look to hops. Continental hops are nice but I want something different.’ Which is why you will find the likes of Amarillo, Pioneer and Cascade in his hop store. The beers produced are elegant and stately, bursting with hop character and luscious fruitiness. This is where the tour comes to life as people feel that Andy is getting us into unique breweries that other official tours couldn’t. ‘Every time I visit Amsterdam the guide books say go to Heineken,’ says Steve, ‘but I don’t want to. These tours are compact and friendly and I’m enjoying it. I’m also seeing a part of Belgium that I’ve never seen before while visiting these little breweries along with people who want to learn, not get as much down their necks as possible.’ Things don’t always go right though. Our visit to Achouffe with an English-speaking guide doesn’t happen, so we join a bunch of Dutch and struggle to make out the words for lauter tun and fermentation. And bottling plants are not sexy. On the other hand, the two complimentary La Chouffes at Au Cheras, a bar outside Achouffe, is a surreal experience. A local farmer, full of Jupiler, wanders around with a cigarette clenched in his jaw, looking like an old sea salt, while loud oompah music deafens us and one of the La Chouffe gnomes watches the experience. Very Dali. ‘I’ve enjoyed it so far,’ says Sheffield-based Paul, ‘but you do get to a point in the day when you want a break and I think I would have gone back to the hotel at this point. At Rulles and Fantôme you have the brewer there, but Achouffe was impersonal. When you can talk to the brewer about the beers that’s really interesting.’ Next morning, the last day of the tour, we head off to the Dutch province of Limburg and another mix of culture and beer. After a brief stop at Lindeboom brewery, Venlo is reached. At the brown café the Roeëje Lieuw (the Red Lion to the rest of us) in the old town, we are met by its young landlord Louis Klaassens. He is passionate beer-lover, who sells about 40 beers (eight on draught), all originating in Limburg, on both sides of the border. Before the beer, Louis takes us on a walking tour of Venlo, and enlightens us on its heroic brewing past. Then it’s back to the bar with draught Chrisoffel Blonde a personal favourite. As we eat our way through a wonderful spread of local meat, beer cuisine and cheese, Louis springs a surprise by producing his own craft-brewed triples, which are excellent. He has plans for a small brewery upstairs and if the triples are any indication of quality then Louis’ beers will be popular with connoisseurs. Sadly it’s time to go, but there’s one more surprise. On the way back to Dusseldorf airport Andy takes us to the Schmitz-Mönk brewpub in Anrath. The stern looking landlord/brewer says he is too busy to show us around but his characterful and harmonious Alt is wonderful — golden-brown, full of roast and slightly smokey notes, palate leading to a dry, fruity finish. Despite the odd glitch, this has been an energetic and fascinating weekend. You can learn as much or as little as you like. Good beer, good company and someone else driving… while if Andy keeps dropping surprises such as Schmitz-Mönk and finds more gems such as La Rulle and the Red Lion then Bier Mania will prosper. Bier Mania’s The Ardennes Special costs €290, contact www.bier-mania.com or +49 (0) 21 57 – 81 05 58 for more details and information on other beer tours.
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