Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of podcasts.  his Lambic blendery Het Boerenerf, Senne Eylenbosch saved his father’s farm, discovered his own identity, and began the next chapter in his family’s storied Lambic heritage. You’d be forgiven for thinking Senne’s twin obsessions—Lambic and stag beetles—had little in common. But both are indigenous to the valley in...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of podcasts.  Bravin, Félix Damien, and Martin Pirenne started Brasserie La Jungle in March 2020. Today, Pirenne lives in Canada, emigrating to work at another brewery in Qubec.  This podcast is a conversation with Bravin and Damien, recorded in their brewery home at Studio Citygate, a complex of old textile warehouses in...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of podcasts.  has purchase on a roughly 65 kilometre stretch of North Sea coast. Bordered by Bray-Dunes and the French Opal coast to the south and Cadzand and Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in The Netherlands to the north, Belgium’s coast is fully in the province of West Flanders. Along the coast are 15 beach resorts or towns, from...

Photos by Cliff LucasProduction support by Audiotheque This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Straight Talk” series of podcasts.  has a rich festival scene. Every single weekend in the year, you could choose between a multitude of music shows, food markets, neighbourhood parties, and cultural shows.   Its beer festival circuit is equally rich. From village fairs to international events, Belgians...

Photos by Ahmed ElAmin of The Beer Idiots Production support from BitstreamSupported by VISITFLANDERS. year, in April, I moderated a panel discussion on the eve of the Toer de Geuze. The Lambic Roundtable was an event tailor-made for broadcasting in beer bars all over the world, and as you’ll hear from the discussion, we took questions live from bars with strong reputations for Lambic in different countries. The Toer de Geuze began in...

Jerry Franck, Director (left) and Mario Contini, Cinematographer (right) film Bottle Conditioned is the latest film from Jerry Franck, an Academy Award® nominated filmmaker, who is originally from Luxembourg but now living in America. Franck was in Belgium last month for the premiere of the film—a documentary that explores the small Belgian community of Lambic beer, where brewers and blenders of different generations wrestle with tradition and the increased demand for their...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Straight Talk” series of podcasts.  Bruin is a reddish-brown beer of mixed fermentation which presents as malty, fruity, aged, and somewhat acidic. It’s traditionally associated with the provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, particularly the region around the Leiestreek and the city of Oudenaarde.  The malt profile can range from caramel to...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of stories. Mengerink is the owner and brewer at Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar. The brewery is in Baarle, officially in the province of Antwerp, but located on the other side of the international border with the Netherlands.  Baarle is one of the most complex border areas in the world. It is divided into a patchwork of...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Game Changers” series of stories. September just past, in the small village of Bellegem in West Flanders, now 58 year-old Omer-Jean Vander Ghinste  presided over the 130th anniversary of his family brewery, Brouwerij Vander Ghinste, known as Brouwerij Bockor until 2014 when Omer-Jean changed the brewery’s name back to the family’s name.  The story of...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “New Arrivals” series of stories. podcast is an interview with Bart Delvaux and Ine Van der Stock of Brouwerij De Coureur, a small brewery and taproom in the Kessel-Lo neighbourhood of Leuven in Belgium’s Flemish Brabant province.  De Coureur brewed their first beer on 1 April 2020, two weeks into the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in...

Photos by Cliff Lucas This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Straight Talk” series of podcasts.  Brussels beer café is an institution that has enjoyed as much acclaim as it has suffered fatigue.  This podcast is a panel discussion recorded in a Brussels beer café in front of an intimate live audience. The central question we were trying to answer was whether the Brussels beer café is a doomed relic or a...

Photo by Joyce Panda This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Food Group” series of stories. Read more. 2015 at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Film Festival in Austin, Texas, the Belgian musician Paul van Haver, better known as Stromae, performed his song Moules Frites (Mussels and Fries) to an enthusiastic audience. He introduced the song by correcting the Americans on their use of the term french...

Illustration by Flore Deman This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Food Group” series of stories. Read more. is known all around the world; a thick, creamy sauce used to dress sandwiches, burgers, and salads. But few nations have taken it to their hearts in the same way as the Belgians. The relationship between Belgians and their mayonnaise is tied up in their fanatical “frituur” culture and in a law which has made...

Feature photo by Christopher Austin of Austin Studio Denver. This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “War Chest” series of stories. Read more. Lee Stuart III, or Stu Stuart as he is better known, is the owner of a tour company called Belgian Beer Me! Tours which specialise in fun, smart, and affordable beer tours of Belgium from all around the world. More than 30% of his travellers are returning...

Words by Breandán KearneyPodcast featuring Breandán Kearney and Eoghan WalshIllustration by Flore Deman we approach the end of the year, this podcast episode is a look back at Belgian beer in 2021. It’s a conversation with Eoghan Walsh, who writes at Brussels Beer City. Eoghan is a fellow Irishman in Belgium and the winner of several awards at the North American Guild of Beer Writers Awards this year, including those for Best Beer Review, Best Short Form Writing, and...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of stories. Read more. De Baets is the Head Brewer and Co-Owner of DOK Brewing Co. in Ghent. His brewing experience includes six years at De Proefbrouwerij in Lochristi as well as several years with Hedonis Ambachtsbier. Janos is self-admittedly an obsessive personality. He throws his whole self into everything he does in brewing, and this intensity spills over...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Food Group Place” series of stories. Read more. Flemish town of Geraardsbergen is famous for its association with a small cake called the mattentaart. The cake has a long history, is a source of unifying pride, and dominates signs, shops, and conversation in the town. However, it turns out that the Geraardsbergse Mattentaart is in a precarious situation.  Today’s podcast...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of stories. Read more. the face of it, the Haspengouw region’s rich food culture, agricultural prowess, and status as a tourist hotspot should make it a place with abundant options for beer. However, the Haspengouw is not highly regarded in Belgium for its beer scene. It doesn’t form part of the pilgrimage that international beer enthusiasts take to places like the...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “War Chest” series of stories. Read more. Cnudde runs Brouwerij Cnudde with his two brothers Pieter Cnudde and Steven Cnudde. It’s a family brewery which has been located in the village of Eine for more than one hundred years, operated today as a side project which touches all aspects of community life in the village. Eine is a part of the city of Oudenaarde. It’s the place often...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS. Toer de Geuze couldn’t go ahead this year because of COVID-19. Its cancellation was very sad. The Toer de Geuze is a unique event for its incredible history, compelling characters, charming villages, and wonderful beers. One of those beers is the HORAL Megablend, a special blend which contains Lambic from each of the HORAL members released every two years for the Toer de Geuze. But despite...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS. Toer de Geuze couldn’t go ahead this year because of COVID-19. Its cancellation was very sad. The Toer de Geuze is a unique event for its incredible history, compelling characters, charming villages, and wonderful beers. To fill the gap, a new event was proposed, the Toer de Geuze At Home, showcasing each of the Lambic breweries and blenderies in specially filmed videos, as well as a series...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS. Toer de Geuze couldn’t go ahead this year because of COVID-19. Its cancellation was very sad. The Toer de Geuze is a unique event for its incredible history, compelling characters, charming villages, and wonderful beers. To fill the gap, a new event was proposed, the Toer de Geuze At Home, showcasing each of the Lambic breweries and blenderies in specially filmed videos, as well as a series...

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “War Chest” series of stories. Read more. year Duvel Moortgat celebrates its 150th anniversary and the occasion is being marked with the release of a new beer. Duvel 6.66% follows Duvel Green, Duvel Single, Duvel on Tap, Duvel Tripel Hop, and Duvel Barrel Aged. However, as these line extensions mount up, the original remains totemic of the brewery. What has been behind the success of...

Photos by Sophie CallewaertSound by Leander Meuris This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Common Place” series of stories. Read more. podcast is a discussion with three producers of wild and spontaneously fermented beer in Belgium who have appeared in more recent years: Raf Souvereyns of Bokke; Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin; and Tom Jacobs of Antidoot Wilde Fermenten. Tom Jacobs is located in Kortenaken in...