| “My great-grandfather was
the first brewer here, around 1880. At that time, there was
a maltery and brewery with copper brew-kettles,” said
Karl Verhaeghe, present owner of Brouwerij Verhaeghe, the family-owned
brewery that produces several of the world’s classic Flemish
oud bruin (old brown) ales. Karl continued, “Of
course, a lot of things have changed since then. The Germans
took away the original brewhouse in the First World War, and
the maltery has been closed for many years as well.”
Located in Vichte, West Flanders (near Kortrijk), Verhaeghe
is perhaps best known in the U.S.A. for its Duchesse de Bourgogne.
“The Duchesse,” as it is often called, is created
through a lengthy process. After a primary and secondary fermentation,
the beer is aged in oak casks for 18 months (a third fermentation)
and then blended with an eight-month-old ale. Duchesse has
a red-brown color and a malty, fruity character. This beer
has a pleasantly refreshing mild acidity, light sourness in
the finish and 6.2% abv.
“We try to retain as much of our brewing history as
possible here. Some of the large oak barrels used for aging
[maturing] our brews date back to the 1890s. We still have
the large koelschip [open fermenter], which dates
to the time the brewery first opened, though it is not used
anymore,” Karl said.
| "Some of the large oak barrels used for aging [maturing]
our brews date back to the 1890s." |
“Our present brewhouse dates to 1962, and we get our
water from a very old well that is over 160 meters deep. It
is very soft water, excellent for brewing!” Karl told
me. “The yeast strain we use for our ales dates to the
1970s,” he said, smiling.
Karl continued: “We brew about 6,500 hl of beer per
year at present, and we export to many countries in Europe
as well as Canada, Japan and the U.S. About 90 percent of
our production is bottled, and about 10 percent is kegged.
We use Belgian hops from Poperinge in our oud bruin ales,
as these hops have a spicy character but low bitterness.”
Another one of the gems in the Verhaeghe lineup (perhaps
my favorite of the bunch) is Vichtenaar, a delicious Flemish
oud bruin. Vichtenaar undergoes the same primary
and secondary fermentation as Duchesse de Bourgogne; however,
the beer is unblended. It is aged in oak casks for eight months
and then bottled. The result is a red-brown ale with light
acidity from the oak maturation and a fruity, slightly sweet
and sour taste. This is a real session beer, given its impressive
character at a not-overpowering 5.1% alcohol.
Echt Kriekenbier is another interesting and flavorful brew.
It is created with sour cherries, local to the region of the
brewery, which are added into the oak casks where Vichtenaar
is maturing. This is then blended with one-, two- and three-year-old
oak-aged beer to obtain a well-balanced brew that is not too
sweet or too tart. The interplay of flavors creates a very
pleasant light acidity, sourness and fine cherry character
in this 6.8% abv beer.
Karl told me he first came to the U.S. in 1982: “I
saw much of the East Coast on that trip. I still come over
every so often, as I think it is very important to see how
our beers are being promoted, represented and sold in foreign
markets.”
He continued, “We also utilize independent ‘quality
control’ testing. The University of Leuven has a panel
that tastes our brews from time to time. We feel it is more
objective than solely tasting the beer ourselves at the brewery.”
The Verhaeghe family has been in Vichte since 1817 and owns
about 15 pubs in the area. One of them is Den Hert, located
very close to the brewery. It is a fine place to taste the
excellent beers produced just down the street. See specialtybeer.com
for more info. |
