“The beer I make is how I like it. Whether or not you like it, that’s not my problem.” This is what Armand Debelder, brewer at the 3 Fonteinen Lambic brewery in Beersel – Belgium told Bob Barnes. Bob writes in the October-November edition of Celebrator Beer News about his visit to 4 Belgian breweries during the month of August, and has therein a lengthy interview with Armand.

Reread this statement. How alien that is to what almost all American commercial brewers believe in: make and sell what the customer likes. Not only American brewers, but virtually all brewers in the world want to create beers they believe the customer will like. But in Belgium, it is surprising how many independent family brewers still trust their own taste, and brew beer that they like in the first place. It is of course part of the explanation why Belgian beers are so unique and complex in taste.

I remember, because I was there once, the weekly tasting session at the Van Steenberge brewery, where Mr. Joseph Van Steenberge himself, one of the Belgian brewery Godfathers and over 80 years old, still guides the tasting of his beers, and compares them with the beers of ‘the competition’. The verdict is always: “Our beer is the best”. The way Mr. Joseph Van Steenberge wants them to be.

Bob Barnes writes about 4 breweries in his article: 3-Fonteinen, Dolle Brouwers, Bavik and Van Steenberge.
You can ask a copy of the fine Celebrator Beer News magazine at: tdallfork@celebrator.com. Newsletter December- Januray 2005