Salut Brussels!

We're off to a strong start in Brussels. Today we toured the Cantillon brewery, which is probably the tour I looked forward to most. It exceeded every one of my expectations. When we arrived at the brewery we entered into a rustic old building, which had an amazing, indescribable but unforgettable musty aroma. We then began our tour of the brewery. Our tour guide led us through each stage of the brewing process. She was extremely knowledgeable and nearly everything she said was something we had not heard before, which was surprising and refreshing considering how many brewery tours we have gone on so far. The reason for this was that there were some significant differences between this brewery and every other brewery we have visited up to this point. First of all, they boil the wort and hops for up to four hours, as opposed to the one hour that is typical in Germany. They boil for so long in order to evaporate some of the water from the wort which makes it more concentrated and results in a higher alcohol content in the final beer. Another fascinating aspect of the brewing process is that the brewer does not have the process set in stone. In other words, one day they might boil for three hours, while another day they boil for four, it all depends on how the brewer feels about the beer. In this sense, the brewers at Cantillon are much more in touch with their product than many of the brewers we met in Germany. Another major difference is the fermentation process. According to our tour guide, only about two percent of breweries in the world ferment their beer the same way as Cantillon. The process they use is called spontaneous fermentation, during which the beer is exposed to open air where the yeast live. Basically the only part of this process that the brewer can control is ensuring that he brews on days when the temperature outside is suitable for the yeast. Other than that he makes sure to use only natural paint throughout the brewery and steam is essentially the only cleaning agent used throughout the brewery. The lack of deep cleaning gives the brewery a beautiful rustic look and smell. Cobwebs are pervasive and the floors are sticky from beer that had overflowed. This tour was really an amazing experience and has changed my perspective of brewing as an art-form.

Santé