Beverage Innovation Coach, Inspiration Partner, Quality step up, Advisor
When I was studying for the Advanced Cicerone exam I kept sketching beer history on a timeline. It’s a very neat way to visualize some key milestones! Now, I’m not an historian and all I know comes from books, blogs, websites and friends I met during all these years so if you see any error let me know I’ll be happy to adjust! Also if you think of other legacy info to add, be a contributor!
You can use the download button below to get a higher definition copy.
Beer Masters is arriving in Belgium after a successful broadcasting in UK end of last year!
Wait… no, it’s not Brew Masters, the famous TV series from 2010 with Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head). Beer Masters is a brand new program. In short, it is to beer what Master Chef is to food: an entertaining TV show where homebrewers compete through rounds of challenges to deliver the best beer!
The teams (of 2) were selected in 5 countries. Italy, France, Netherland, UK and of course Belgium.
I strongly believe that everything tastes better with a good story. So, I have developed BEERSCOVERY, a set of infographics designed to elevate your beer tasting experience.
You can download them for free. Please add my credits if you want to publish them.
Let’s picture the situation…
You’re in lockdown, you have reduced your essential shopping experience to the bare minimum. When you go to the beer store – which made it to the essential survival short list – you pick a couple large 12, 15 or 24 packs and you go. No more touching and reading every pack to find your experimentation of the week.
Worse than that. As you open the first can you realize the freshness is not what it used to be. Rotation has slowed down and as much as you have empathy… this is frustrating.
I’ve got your back. You want to add a bit of zing ? Some powerful citrus aroma’s ? Some fresh coriander notes ? Even better, you want to customize your beer and treat it like a mixologist ?
Campfire is a place of togetherness. A place of marshmallows, smoke, bacon, pancakes, ice and fire, cosiness…and beer!
@thebeertrale and @beerisaconversation (yup that’s me) settled in Virginia, along the Appalachian, next to Devil’s Backbone brewing to run some “Beer & Campfire” experiments.
Warning: try this at home
Turn up the heat and the volume as we’re going to Smoke (on the Water). Just like Scotch Whiskey and cured ham beer has been smoked for ages. Actually all beers were smoked up until recently. Not the beer itself but the grains. The old school way to dry malted barley was to kiln it above wood fire and that was still the case until the 19th Century. As the heat was kilning the grains, the smoke was also imparting flavors. Smoke is a natural heritage flavor in beer. Some beer styles are still living to that tradition nowadays, using a portion of beechwood or oakwood smoked malts in their bill, like German Rauchbier, London Porter, Lichtenheiner or Grodzikie…
In this video we smoke beer on the spot, by the campfire, choosing our smoke in the wild (spruce, pine, oak,…). It’s not smoking the beer itself so much but add a complementary aromatic component floating on the glass and the foam. A beautiful way to turn a Jalapeno Sour or a Baltic Porter into a complex smoked beer! Enjoy and try this at home!
We named our best result the Baltic Mallow. Roasted Marshmallow and Baltic Porter!
Long time in the making HOPPY™ is now available to everyone (above LDA, I mean).
HOPPY™ started as an ambition to bring beer culture to everyone in a new, different way. Not too academic, not too sophisticated, not too technical,… in a fun, casual and engaging format.
So what is HOPPY™?
It’s a web access app. The look and feel directly sets the tone. A playful smiling beer glass! Because HOPPY™ is a learning game, unlocking badges and collecting beercoins along the way.
The content can be accessed in any sequence. No need to complete the ingredients 101 before you can explore glassware or learn about Octoberfest. You choose to learn what you want and there’s content for every beer lover. How beer is made, beer culture, styles, how to taste, gluten free beer…
The pace is gamified, with quizzes at the end of each lessons (beer flights) and a leaderboard to compete with your friends! The daily challenge (which you can repeat as much as you like) will challenge your knowledge with 5 questions. Nail them 5 right before the glass is empty and you’ll collect extra beercoins!
BBB (Buggenhout Bosteels Brewery) has been brewing beer since 1791, even before Belgium became Belgium. It’s famous for its 3 awarded beers: Kwak (and it’s signature epic glassware), Tripel Karmeliet (and its perfected 3 grains blend) and Deus (brewed following a Champenoise method). Check our short video to learn about some of these beers secrets!
When I visited Mexico City a few years ago I got to try a few very unusual drinks. Pulque in particular, Smokey Mezcal with orange wedges and gusano worm salt,… and Tepache, a more or less sponteneously fermented pineapple juice.
So on this Columbus day I brought my SS homebrewing equipment in the backyard to brew an IPA inspired by Tepache. I also added Jalapeno to give it a kick…. want to see more? Check this out!!
Dinant Belgium. This is where one of the most famous abbey beer was born from the name of a small river, the river Leffe.
An Authentic Abbey Beer must follow some key fundamental rules. Be genuinely connected to a monastery and give back to charities.
Abbey beers have a unique distinct quality. Heritage from time when beer was offered to pilgrims as only safe beverage to sustain.From time when only the monks had the knowledge to read and write.
And as per medieval tradition , we were warmly welcomed to visit the courtyard of the abbey…
