Galen Hasler

9.3

Unique tasty — 8 years ago

Shane Jones

9.5

One of my favorite NC beers. It's a very balanced beer, and an overall outstanding IPA — 9 years ago

John Wight

Sommelier/Wine Director Luce Restaurant

9.9

First time having it! Truly a unicorn beer! Worth the hype! — 9 years ago

Scott C

Founder / Co-director SR Wine imports

9.2

Fabulous , intense exotic fruits on the nose . Mango , hint of chili . Perfect balance , refreshing . A beautiful beer , love Garage project ! — 10 years ago

Mike Mighetto Hoefling

8.9

Bitter, hoppy, flavored of lemon and soft spice. Sad this brewery is closing. — 10 years ago

Markala Comfort

10

Smooth saison, great summer beer but still packs a punch — 10 years ago

Dan O'Brien

Owner/Winemaker Gail Wines

9.1

I loathe farmhouse beers mostly. This was fucking awesome. — 11 years ago

Michael Bedell

8.9

Sampling for next week — 12 years ago

Pax Mahle

Owner/Winemaker Wind Gap Wines, Agharta & Pax

9.8

Holy complex.....what a delicious beer...find this...drink this — 12 years ago

Joe Carroll

Owner/Wine Director Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau, St. Anselm & Gotham Artisanal Provisions

9.5

Jean Van Roy's amazing story of Zwanze 2013. When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.

Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.

Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn’t hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.

This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.

Since beers commonly referred to as “abbey beers” are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our “Cureghem” beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little “extra something” in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.

The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year’s Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard “abbey” beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago — 12 years ago

Jen

9.6

May 2017
Brussels, Belgium
Fantastic beer. One of the best ever. — 9 years ago

Jeffrey Long

9.1

This is an excellent new small Brewery in Brussels with some really well-made beers. Delta IPA was good, but the New England IPA was truly exceptional and could easily pass for a Hill Farmstead Beer. Truly outstanding. — 9 years ago

with Vanessa and Jim

Bruce Skoletsky

9.0

Noted as the best beer in the world — 9 years ago

Jenny Eagleton

9.4

Fantastic expression of fruit but lacks the lambic complexity that I'm looking for in this beer. Tasty as fuck though. — 10 years ago

Nate Redner

9.1

No orange juice so this will do. Biscuits and 'nduja gravy with fried eggs, brussels and pecorino piccantino — 10 years ago

with Luke

Matt Nicoletti

8.9

Really good beer. Slightly hoppy and lots of flavor. — 11 years ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.5

I love this beer. I love it. However frustratingly hard these are to find, the quality makes it all worth it. Toasted rye bread, lemon curd, and creamed corn. Oh so bitter, but somehow balanced. — 11 years ago

Alex Wettersten

9.4

Biased cause it's my birthday beer. — 12 years ago

Jon Maxwell

Founder Veritas Wine Consulting

8.9

Very good IPA. Floral and supper hoppy, but nicely balanced. — 12 years ago

Patrick Costa

9.1

Aromatizzata alla pesca, 3,2gradi, belga. — 13 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

This is Cobra Dawn of the Dank. Last of the four and I hate to admit is the winner over the Dogfish! Poured a hazy DANK amber color into the glass. Nose of citrus and melon, almost kind of smelled like a torqued up Hefeweizen. Great hop structure. Finished really well. Almost as well as a Stone beer. But not quite! LOL, this was still a ridiculously good beer. Great way to start the weekend! — 9 years ago

Richard Lewis

9.2

Upfront lemon with brûléed candy cap mushroom, and a sourness like a gose beer. This wouldn't be for everyone, but went perfectly with our fish tacos. — 9 years ago

with Lynne

Jake Hajer

9.1

This is the Wicked Weed brewery from Ashville, Nc. The beer is the Bedeviled, a Belgian Golden Ale. With a little haze and big body, this reminds me of a Belgian triple. Maybe like St. Martin's. 9% alc. Banana bread toast, ginger and lees. This brewery, which specializes in sours, is top notch. They remind me of Russian River. — 9 years ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

8.9

Eccentric. Grapefruit zest. Rich, tart. Botrytis. Pretty darn good with roasted Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan and bacon.! — 10 years ago

Maxence Guilluy

10

Great beer! — 10 years ago

Charles Antin

Senior Wine Specialist/Auctioneer Zachys

8.9

A nice thing about Benelux, you can just walk into a beer store and these are on the shelf. — 11 years ago

Douglas Sopfe

10

Such an amazing beer. Maybe the perfect sour — 11 years ago

Jay Towslee

9.2

Bright English - very nice — 12 years ago

Jon Maxwell

Founder Veritas Wine Consulting

9.5

Fantastic! Abbey Quadruple. — 12 years ago

Dale Cruse

9.7

Lovely Saint Winefride is back, signaling the end of winter! — 13 years ago