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Beer

Mombasa Menu

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Café Mombasa

In Borgerhout, a suburb of Antwerp with a large Muslim population, there is a popular bar called Café Mombasa. Founded about 5 years ago, it has quickly become a favourite watering hole for beer lovers in the area. There is a broad selection of well-known and rarer beers, an ideal location to find a Ginger Tipple, or so I hoped.

15 Months

Ginger BeerI first went to Mombasa in February 2017 and presented Ginger Tipple to the owner, Rein who ordered immediately. She planned to put it on their menu once they had finished revamping it. I thought it would only take a few weeks.

Some customers of Ginger Tipple have taken up to 6 months to put our beverage on their menus as they change and print their menus once every 6 months.

This time it took 15 months.

The Writing on the Wall

Ginger Beer

Their selection of beers is also written up on a large blackboard behind the bar, and I admit to a feeling of pride when I see Ginger Tipple up there.

Mombasa only serves Belgian beers. It is also one of the few places which serves Dupont’s excellent saison on draught, which is worthy of a blog on its own.

Cycling Motif

There is a bicycle hanging from the ceiling and a lot of bike parts and posters because Beligan’s leading cyclist, Victor Campenaerts,  is a nephew of the owner.

On Friday 4th May, I want to Café Mombasa to replace the old bottles of Ginger Tipple. I arrived there soon after Victor Campenaerts come in 2nd place at the first stage of the Giro D’Italia which this year started in Jerusalem.

Favourites

When my sons are home during vacations, we love going to Café Mombasa because of its atmosphere and beer.

Now there is even more of a reason.

 

 

Tipple on the Catwalk

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Panningen 2018

About one month ago, Ginger Tipple’s distributor in Herentals asked me if I would like to do an event with a customer in Panningen on Sunday April 8th, I answered positively. It was not on Passover, and my sons would be here to help, so it sounded like a great idea.

Step 1 – Where is Panningen?

Ginger BeerPanningen is a small town of 7,500 people in south-eastern Holland. It is also the location of Wijnhuis Panningen, a beautiful wine, spirits and beer store which also stocks Ginger Tipple. Each year Panningen hosts a classic car and fashion event in the town center.

One upmarket clothing store which was exhibiting in the hourly fashion show is called Ginger, run by Elly van Bilzen, who has ginger hair.

For the first anniversary of her store what could be more appropriate than to offer Ginger Tipple to Ginger’s customers?

Expectations

Ginger BeerWe expected to be in a small shopping mall, but were happily surprised to be outside the shop on the main shopping area right next to the fashion show. There were ballet performances from the local girls’ dance school and a local fitness studio staged an impressive exhibition of weight training and boxing.

It was most probably the first time citizens of Panningen saw orthodox Jews with their skullcaps on their heads, but it did not seem to affect the flow of people to our stand.

The people there were very friendly and open to talking to strangers.

We were really lucky with the weather, a pleasant and sunny 25 Celsius; had it rained, a common occurrence in this part of the world, the whole fashion show would have been a disaster. One of the local wine bars had a notice which read “A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.”

Feedback

Ginger BeerThis was the first event where we were presenting both the regular 8.5% ABV Ginger Tipple and the 4.5% version, Ginger Tipple 4. Also, the stronger Tipples were older, two years as opposed to two months. The Tipple 4 was considered more refreshing while the regular Ginger Tipple came over as more of a “drinker’s” drink.

Thanks to Caspar and Lindsy at the Wijnhuis for their help in initiating and organizing the event. Hopefully we’ll be back next year.

 

The Family Grows

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Welcome to Ginger Tipple 4

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We have just started to sell Ginger Tipple 4, the lighter version of our regular Ginger Tipple. Its alcoholic content by volume is below 5% which makes it a beverage which is easier to drink in larger quantities.

It is interesting that although the ingredients are identical, just with less organic sugar, and the process is the same, the resulting flavour is quite different.  The scientists explained to me that the higher alcohol in the regular Ginger Tipple brings out the flavours from the hops and ginger more effectively than at a lower strength.

Meeting Demand

You have to listen to what your customers are saying about your product, especially with a new concept like Ginger Tipple. While they did not notice the strength of the alcohol when imbibing, many customers found the regular Ginger Tipple at 8.5% ABV too strong.  Even I do not always want to drink a Duvel or other strong beer, and prefer a regular strength beer, especially during a barbecue or picnic.

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A Happy Tippler

What’s in a name?

For the time being, we are calling the new brew Ginger Tipple 4, primarily because we could not come up with a better name. We considered Tipple Junior, but older drinkers would be put-off. Then there was Tipple Lite, but people might compare it to Millers’ or Budweiser’s light beer; we are in a better class.

As there is a growing trend for drinkers to opt for lower strength beers, we wanted to emphasise the 4% range, even though at 4.85% it should technically be called Ginger Tipple 5!

Again, many thanks to the great guys at Studio Rauw for designing the label.

Where can you buy it?

Ginger Tipple 4 is only available from the brewery, but from 15th March you will be able to purchase it from Van Ecclepoel in Herentals, and then from the shops which they supply.