Kulminator (Antwerp)

https://www.facebook.com/Kulminator.friends/?fref=ts

 

even worse news.
UPDATE !!!

-Allot of you know that Dirk ( the owner ) has a bad knee that should need surgery.
Now we have a more accurate update about his surgery.

Starting from 07 November 2016 Kulminator will be closed as Dirk has to undergo surgery on 10/11/16.
Doctors told him he should AT LEAST take a 3 months break before they can see wether or not he should rest even more, or if there's a chance he can slowly get back to work and open the bar;
So we'll calculate it for you Kulminator will DEFFINITLY be closed untill at least 10th of February 2017.

I hope all of you people understand this is a necessary thing that can't be neglected, especially if we want to make sure Kulminator itself can remain existing as long as possible.

If by any circumstance(s) or compilations Kulminator has to be closed longer, you'll get another update as soon as possible !

Cheers and think of him the day of his surgery.

 

this is part of a greater problem that you see in Belgium. lots of the old generation getting on in years without a solid contingency plan to sell/pass their business on to a new generation.

3F got smart and figured out what to do. but you still have a # of stubborn brewers/bar owners that don't appear to have a plan in place. Kulminator's one of them.

having Dirk as the only person allowed in the cellar is a running joke. closing a business for 3 months is a sad joke and, financially, you hope they are ok with this happening. you also have to wonder if, post surgery, dirk will be able to keep on going to the cellar.

 

sucks because you can see that he suffers.
but that oerbier reserva won't drink itself!

 

this is something that some Antwerp people can talk about in greater detail.
Dirk's talked to me briefly about the cellar. it's apparently a few levels deep, very narrow and stretches down the city block. how much of this is true and how big it is, i don't know.
he's said it's not really organized, so only he knows where things are. his wife never really goes down there (think she just goes to the basic level).
he is stubborn (no shit) and won't hire someone. belgians tend to do things as mom and pop operations (i think it's primarily due to taxes), so hiring wouldn't be profitable. then again, neither is closing for 3 months.
i've heard of one of his younger friends having gone down there with him once, but i haven't heard of anyone else going down.
i have heard that a (relatively) famous European brewer offered to buy the bar and Dirk was pissed off.
in the end, Dirk is Dirk. i'm not a regular at Kulminator by any means. he's actually spent time talking to me once (july 2015 lolz) and is quite nice and has a great fucking laugh. hoping his knee surgery removes some of the misery and grumpiness that he has.

 

also known as "don't take it personally, but it's likely personal."
first time we were there (in 2011), think he thought we were going to walk out without paying. didn't look trustworthy. he also got pissed off that i asked for a suggestion on what to drink. never, ever ask him for a suggestion. years later, Leen seems to recognize me when i visit. she's met my wife twice in 5 years and if i show her a picture of my wife, her face lights up. Typical, endearing belgians.

here's a good article on Kulminator, including some pics of the cellar. it mentions 3 levels. https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/672/





you can see why a bum knee would make this job impossible. i tweaked my knee at work and could barely walk my stairs at home.

 

even if Dirk wanted to sell the business, how can one properly assess the value of his inventory. that would take weeks and, even then, the number/value would be arbitrary