Helping People is Wonderful

June 4, 2018 by info@gingertipple.com

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.”

Leiden Leeds the Kriek

January 24, 2018 by info@gingertipple.com

Glutenvrijemarkt

One of Ginger Tipple’s regular clients, Glutenvrijemarkt.com in Leiden, Holland, recently ordered the last few boxes of the Ginger Kriek 2017 vintage. This online store is the major player in the gluten free market in the Netherlands and sells gluten free beers including Ginger Tipple.

The Ginger Kriek

We make this particular beverage with regular Ginger Tipple, without hops, into which we add fresh morello cherries known as noordkrieken. These sour cherries are only available for about two weeks each July and we have to be quick.

We wash each cherry and check it for mold and holes, which could mean worms or other undesirable extras.

The whole cherries with their pits then sit in the Ginger Tipple vat for six to seven weeks while the yeast ferments their sugars and their flavours, aromas and colours impart into the brew.

The 2nd Fermentation

Before we bottle the Ginger Kriek we add some organic honey and then leave the Ginger Kriek to second ferment for two months. During this period the flavours meld and the remaining sugars ferment out to give it a natural carbonation.

The Pour

When you pour the cold Ginger Kriek into a tulip shaped glassed, you will be impressed by the synthesis of the ginger and cherries wafting past your nostrils. These aromas can only emanate from fresh natural gingers and fruits.

Most kriek beers are either sour lambics or sweet ones. Ginger Kriek is in between, very mildly sweet and a tiny bit sour.

I know I am biased when I talk about it, but it is really very good.

Buy Now

If you want to grab one of the few bottles, click on this link at Glutenvrijemarket.

Remember to drink it by the end of June 2018.

And thanks to my friends at Studio Rauw for designing the label.

One last note, it is also Kosher for Passover.

Stuttgart Flemish Beer Tasting

December 4, 2017December 4, 2017 by info@gingertipple.com

The German Approach

When the Flanders Investment and Trade Agency advertised the Flemish beer tasting event in Stuttgart a few months ago, I jumped at the opportunity. Breaking into a new market takes time, and every country is different, especially Germany. The timing was difficult, to travel 550km each way a week after returning from Kosherfest in America was tough but manageable.

Flanders Investment and Trade

This agency is efficient and we had to submit our list of invitees and descriptions of our products in German about two months before the event. The agenda included a dinner the night before the event with the Belgium ambassador to Germany. Fortunately, they were able to arrange a kosher meal for me from the local Jewish restaurant.

The tasting was held in the Stuttgart Cultural center, and I was proud to be among the 16 brewers there, especially since Ginger Tipple was placed above Duvel and Westmalle in the program!

The time before the event opened was a wonderful opportunity to meet with some the top brewers and salesmen in the Belgian brewing world.

When they came to taste this newcomer to such an event, I really appreciated their feedback.

The Ambassador

The ambassador really surprised me, first of all he liked both the regular Ginger Tipple and the Ginger Kriek which immediately makes him a good man. He looked at the label and said, “OKp, it’s pareve?” When I told him it was for Passover the replied that he will buy some bottles to take to his friends in Cleveland with whom he will be celebrating the Seder.

The Presentation & Tasting

The Agency invited a German beer specialist, Irina Zimmerman, to present all of the breweries. At least she could pronounce my family name properly.

I did not make any secret of being Jewish etc. and Mrs Zimmerman was very interested in the kosher aspect. However, there were some guests who did not come to the Ginger Tipple stand, even though the trade attaché and Mrs Zimmerman strongly recommended that they do.

Perhaps they don’t like ginger 🙂

As I had to drive back that evening, I was unable to really enjoy the beers on presentation, although I was given a few complimentary bottles.

In Conclusion

Unfortunately, only about one third of the people came and there were not many importers and distributors who are the gateway to the German market. However, most of the guests enjoyed tasting Ginger Tipple and Ginger Kriek, and the restaurants, bars and shops were all interested in ordering. One very hip bar wants Ginger Tipple at its annual craft beer festival in March.