Today was one of the greatest days of our beer-loving life.

We traveled to Harelbeke for a tour of Bavik Brewery hosted by Yves, one of their brewers. This is a family owned brewery and we got to meet the youngest generation, Albert, as we toured the property. 

Bavik is the 8th largest brewery in Belgium with half of their production going into kegs. The brewery owns over 1200 pubs that serve their products. While many Americans do not recognize Bavik Pilsner, they do know their other brands such as Wittekerke and Petrus. The brewery also bottles water, soft drinks, and table beer (1.5% alcohol beer sold to school children, retirement homes and hospitals). The brewers were happy to meet us as they have learned the Wittekerke in cans is very popular in Florida. Petrus is on fire now in America with their popular Old Pale Sour Beer.

Bavik can best be described as 'tradition meets innovation'. Brand new steel brew kettles are sitting next to old cooper kettles. They take the time to brew their Bavik Pils to original gravity instead of brewing it to a higher alcohol content and cutting it with water like many other brewers do. They also do not pasteurize the pilsner in order to keep it fresh and protect it from the heat, hitch is a big risk for a brewery because they need to maintain perfect sanitation. While on the flipside, the huge oak barrels that Petrus Old Pale is aged in need natural microorganisms to eat the sugars and create the sour beer.

The popular Old Pale was originally made to be blended with the Old Bruin to give it a sour flavor. It was the famous late beer writer, Michael Jackson, who convinced them, after 3 years of begging, to bottle it on its own. Due to the growth in demand of the brewery, they are adding more and more modern equipment to increase production and with more consistency. 

Then after another wonderful lunch of beef stew and French fries, we headed into Kartrijk for a walking tour of the town. Beautiful medieval buildings and structures dot the town along with an 800 year old church that is currently being renovated. We have seen many historic buildings under renovation during our time in Belgium so far, which reflects this country’s desire to preserve history and tradition.

After the tour we stopped in a local pub for a quick beer and then went on to dinner.

There was an excellent meal planned—each course was prepared using different beers from Bavik. We were provided live music from a jazz band. The hospitality of our hosts was incredible, and there were several surprises for us at dinner. But more on that later.       

A final note about beer culture in Belgium:  We mentioned earlier that they brew low alcohol table beer that is served to children. However more and more young people are drinking soda and soft drinks here and they do not like the un-sweet taste of beer. This worries brewers about the future generations of Belgium beer drinkers.  

Beer Consultant Evan Kaye and Chris Brower