Zwanze Day 2013

I'm broke, but I won't be missing this one, my group is probably gonna hit both Spuytin Duyvil and Alewife.

A little disappointed it won't be the amphora beer, especially as I'm not a huge Tripel fan, but anything from Cantiloon is sure to be fine.

 

I am a liked the Amphora quite a bit but that beer tastes like pure clay so don’t worry about not getting it. Also there is nowhere near enough of it in existence to organize Zwanze day. If you want to experience Amphora just drink a glass a lambic after eating clay.

 

I live down the road from Tørst so nothing except for like Mugs is closer lol.

 

just received this email
Source : Jean @ moeder lambic

cheers !

Zwanze Day 2013 - Saturday, 14 September

When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.

Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.

Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn't hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.

This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.

Since beers commonly referred to as "abbey beers" are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our "Cureghem" beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little "extra something" in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.

The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year's Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard "abbey" beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago.

I would also like to remind you, dear friends, that in Brussels dialect "zwanze" is the word used to refer to a type of semi-sarcastic humour typical of our lovely city of Brussels that one often encounters at Cantillon Brewery. So please bear in mind that the monastically-tinged story behind Zwanze 2013 is also a bit of an allusion to abbey beers and the related legends propagated by numerous breweries.

Nobody knows if the Abbey of Cureghem ever actually existed, and some people think it's a direct product of the zwanze-imbibed imagination of the team at Cantillon. On the other hand, others are still digging to try and uncover all the secrets of Father Faro...

USA :
Alewife Queens — Long Island City, New York
Armsby Abbey — Worcester, Massachusetts
Avenue Pub — New Orleans, Louisiana
Beachwood BBQ — Seal Beach, California
Birch Bar — Norfolk, Virginia
Brouwer's Café — Seattle, Washington
ChurchKey — Washington, D.C.
Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar — Denver, Colorado
Hill Farmstead Brewery — Greensboro, Vermont
Holy Grale — Louisville, Kentucky
Hop & Vine — Portland, Oregon
Jester King Brewery — Austin, Texas
Lord Hobo — Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mikkeller Bar SF — San Francisco, California
Monk's Caffé — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Novare Res Bier Caffé — Portland, Maine
REAL a Gastropub — Honolulu, Hawai'i
Redlight, Redlight — Orlando, Florida
Russian River Brewing — Santa Rosa, California
Spuyten Duyvil — Brooklyn, New York
Stone Bistro & Gardens — Escondido, California
West Lakeview Liquors — Chicago, Illinois

Canada :
Dieu du Ciel — Montréal, Québec
Alibi Room — Vancouver, British Columbia
barVolo — Toronto, Ontario

Japan :
TV Asahi Umu — Tokyo

Italy :
Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà — Rome
The Dome — Nembro
Sherwood Pub — Nicorvo
The Drunken Duck — Quinto Vicentino
Ristopub Margherita — Quartu Sant’Elena
Ottavonano — Atripalda

Belgium :
Moeder Lambic Fontainas — Brussels
Moeder Lambic Saint-Gilles — Brussels
Mi-Orge Mi-Houblon — Arlon

Norway :
Nøgne Ø — Grimstad

Finland :
Pikkulitu — Helsinki

Denmark :
Olbutikken — Copenhagen

The Netherlands :
De Bierkoning — Amsterdam

Sweden :
Akkurat — Stockholm

Spain :
Masia Agullons — Sant Joan de Mediona

France :
La Fine Mousse — Paris
La Capsule — Lille

Great Britain :
The Earl of Essex— London
Six° North — Aberdeen

Switzerland :
Erzbierschof — Liebefeld

 

I'm sure bottlewax beerclub has somthing planned. ..I'd watch all social media to see whatsup

 

Oh man, The Birch Bar is going to be more crowded than I was expecting I wonder if the Zwanze will last till 10pm.

 

Unless the keg is tapped at 9pm I don't feel for you much, lol. At WLV in Chicago last year I'm not sure the keg lasted an hour, and that was only because the bar was so packed it was impossible to move out of the way post-pour to let others in to get theirs.

Which, is unfortunate at the very least. These beers would do best with in a calm atmosphere allowing considerate introspection and appreciation for the beer. I'll try to drown out the crowds this year, but 2oz only goes so far. What I wouldn't give for Cantillon to double the keg allocations so that it would be possible to get a full pour.

 

I'm going to be angling for an early trip I think. We don't have quite the pop density in the area as chicago. The Birch is pretty tiny though.

 

Oh, those Belgians and their semi-sarcastic senses of humour. When will the mischief end?

 

pfft, will it last past 4pm?!

 

It may be a small place, but I can garauntee it will be packed to the gills! Even though I'll be there for the Cantillon, I'm looking forward the the rest of his draft list. Should be one hell of a time!

 

Zwanzde gij nu een pak?

I am assuming that you know that Zwanze is a bullshiting, slightly condescending semi-sarcastic type of humour in Belgium.

 

At Holy Grale in Louisville, tickets go on sale at 11 for the tapping at 3. Keg lasts as long as it takes them to pour and hand them out to people who already bought their ticket.

 

Yeah this is how I assumed most of the events went down these days (unfortunately).

 

If they still have it, get the Tartare. It is ridiculously good. They had it on late Saturday last week.

 

Last year I wasnt going to go and went at last minute not expecting to get the Zwanze pour but just to enjoy what else they had on tap that day, and was able to get one because the keg had a few extra pours in it.

I dont know about other places, but HG is makes it an event worth attending even if you dont get the Zwanze beer.

 

I'm assuming monks is a first come, first serve? Didn't see anything on their site about tickets. This will be the first time ever attending this event and am super stoked (more so for the pte, supplication and Firestone walker buckwheat stout they are supposed to have on hand but an abbey trippel has me geeked too).