Den Stillen Genieter

Readers of my blogs know that I love to visit Den Triest in Kapelle-op-den-bos when it is open on the first Sunday of each month. Usually when I am there, an older man with long white hair is sitting at the bar silently enjoying some of Mar Struyf’s brews. Little did I know that he was Den Stillen Genieter, Dutch for the silent enjoyer.

Mechelen

For many decades until December 2014, Gerard Walschaerts ran a beer bar in central Mechelen which sold over 800 different beers. The bar was called Den Stillen Genieter. This spring, he reopened in a new location, however, with only a selection of 300 beers.

A couple of months ago, when I was at Den Triest, Gerard stopped me as I was leaving and gave me his business card. He had heard about Ginger Tipple and was interested in selling it in Den Stillen Genieter.

To keep it short, we visited Gerard one afternoon and he liked all the Tipples we presented him. He ordered and we delivered!

Boulevard

I could not resist the opportunity to try one of the many beers on tap and drank a Boulevard Tropical IPA with my son. Even though I use hops and experiment with them, it never ceases to amaze me how some brewers manage to produce amazing flavours without adding fruits and other additives. In this case, we really enjoyed the refreshing grapefruit and passion fruit flavours from the hops.

Many IPAs are not much more than dishwater with lots of hops, but Boulevard knows how to make an excellent ale. This is one of the reasons why Duvel-Moortgat invested in them a few year ago.

My only criticism? The foam was too perfect, but then I am jealous of beers with a great head, because Ginger Tipple’s foam does not last very long.

The City is Worth a Visit

Mechelen as a destination is an interesting city. For a period it was the capital of Belgium and Holland and vied over the centuries with Antwerp, Leuven and Brussels for commercial and religious dominance. Its Gothic cathedral, St Rumbold, at almost 100m dominates the skyline and the last of its 12 gates, the impressive Brusselsport, dates from the 13th century. The military Casern Dossin was used by the Nazis in World War II as a transit camp for Jews, gypsies and others before they were sent by train to the extermination camps. There is a new and informative museum on that period nearby.

For the younger visitors, there is the Technopolis science museum and a toy museum.

And of course, for refreshments between attractions there is always Den Stillen Genieter!

Helping People is Wonderful

I first met Marc Struyf 3 years ago. I was developing Ginger Tipple and I found out that he was one of Belgium’s leading hop expert. He travels each autumn to America’s main hop growing area, Yakima Valley to try out their latest varieties, and gets there before the big Belgian breweries.

He also grows some hops nearby and there is a big event each September when they are harvested.

He invited me to visit him on a Friday afternoon in late May. The weather was perfect and the garden of his brewery is idyllic. His microbrewery, Den Triest, is located in a small rural town near Brussels called Kapelle-op-den-bos,

We sat in the garden and after I explained to him what I was trying to achieve, a ginger beer with hops which had to be Kosher for Passover, and possibly organic, he suggested which hops to use, and even gave me some samples.

The Beers

And then we started tasting his beers. They are among the best you can ever taste. As a hop expert, his IPA is supreme. There are a number of skills to brewing an excellent IPA. Most importantly, the underlying ale has to have body and flavour. Too many IPAs are dishwater with lots of hops. If you taste his regular beers, the blondes, bruins, doubles etc, you will taste the excellence in his brewing.

Then there is the dry hopping, when the hops are added towards the end of the fermentation or after it. Besides the selection and proportions of the hops used, there is the timing. Again, a lot of IPAs have a nasty kick from leaving the hops in for too long.

Kriek

Another of his wonderful beers is his Kriek. Most of the cheaper krieks are sweet. The high-end lambic krieks are very sour. Marc achieves that perfect balance of a pleasant sourness with only an undertone of sweetness. Of course, the colour is wonderfully natural.

Marc taught me how to take our Ginger Kriek to a higher level, using a technique not found in textbooks.

The Bar

Marc brews mainly in 200 litre tanks and sells his brews in 75cl bottles, mainly for export. His bar is open on the first Sunday of each month. So if you want to taste his beers you have to catch one of the 12 days a year it is open.

The healthiest way is to go there by bike as there are a lot of few bike routes in the area.

Ginger Tipple

I get particular pride when I hear from other brewers who work with Marc that they tasted Ginger Tipple when they visited him. Yesterday, one of his regulars approached me and said that he had heard a lot about my ginger beer from Marc and wants to sell it in his bar in Mechelen – he stocks over 300 beers.

When I went to pay, I looked in the kitchen and saw on his shelf of favourites a bottle of Ginger Kriek, I beamed with pride.

What I like most…

When I thanked Marc for his help and told him that his advice was perfect he replied “I am happy for you .
Also for my self , helping people is wonderful.”