Belgium, Part 2: The Hommelbier!

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

The continuing story of my 2024 trip to Belgium goes back 25 years earlier! From 1998 to 1999 I was the USAF Commander of a Special Detachment that maintained microwave antennas and towers across Europe. This particular tower was in Houtem, Belgium.

Since I didn’t start drinking beer until 1995, you could say that I was pretty inexperienced in what constituted great beer and the locales associated with it. This tower is only a 20 minute drive from The Abbey of St Sixtus, home of the Trappist beer, Westvleteren. I remember distinctly my guys telling me “Sir, we have to go pick up some special beer and then we’ll be back.” I didn’t realize the significance of this until years later.

However, I fondly remember this place, because my guys challenged me to climb this tower and I agreed. It took my 1.5 hours to get to the top, but you can see that I made it! I did take the elevator back down. I wish I could remember the celebratory beer I had.

I didn’t realize it would be another 10 years before I made it back to this area–by then my beer knowledge had grown exponentially. I knew that Belgium produced some of the best beers in the world and I realized I’d been right there and didn’t know it. I had a plan! I was on deployment to Stuttgart in 2009/2010. I decided that I would spend the Thanksgiving Weekend (25-28 Nov 2009) traveling to all the Trappist Breweries in Belgium–on the first full day (the 26th) we visited three: Orval, Westvleteren, and Westmalle.

Unfortunately, the Westvleteren Cafe (In de Vrede) was closed on that day. I still didn’t know the process for purchasing this beer so we walked around the grounds trying to find information. One of the folks who worked there had pity on us and allowed us to buy 4 bottles of the Westvleteren 12. He then explained to us the process … you have to call the brewery ahead of time to place your order. You were allowed to purchase two cases maximum (at the time). You had to provide the license plate number of the vehicle with which you were picking up your beer. You were to show up at your designated date/time and pick up your beer–cash only. Now that I knew the process, I was determined to get two cases!

Setting aside a lunchtime, I began calling the one number I had for the brewery (no convenient on-line ordering here). After thirty minutes of a busy signal, it finally started ringing. I let it ring. 18 times. Someone finally answered and, thankfully, they spoke English! I was able to place my order. Europeans don’t celebrate the same holidays as Americans–I was able to set my “pick up” for a Tuesday at 1000, which meant I could drive the 7 hours back in time for work on the Wednesday. What I didn’t know at the time is that this was the trip in which I would have the Hommelbier for the first time! Or how significant the Poperinge-area is for Belgian Beers. I arrived on the Sunday and had the Monday to visit the area — to include a hop farm and (finally) the Cafe In de Vrede! I stayed at the quaint (and special) Hotel de la Paix. I fell in love with the area!

Here I am drinking my Hommelbier! The photo above of the machine that says “2008” is a “Hop Pelletizer.” I’m not sure that’s what it’s called, but it is what it does. My camera battery died that morning, and the farmer let me borrow his camera (with my SD card) to take photos. Obviously his date was off. haha. I was able to get my two cases of Westvleteren 12 PLUS a couple more 4-packs with glasses at the Cafe.

The Hommelbier has become one of my favorites. I just enjoy the blend of Belgian Yeast character with the local Hops. I guess the aroma brings me back to the hop yard I visited there and how nice all the people were to me. The Hommelbier has been brewed since 1981 (Originally 15 minutes away in the town of Watou) by Leroy Breweries. It truly captures the character of the local area.

Another brewery a few minutes away from Poperinge is St Bernardus, which used to brew the Westvleteren 12 for the Abbey until they moved the brewing back to the Abbey. St Bernardus now makes the St Bernardus Abt 12 (based on the same recipe).

My next stop in Poperinge was in 2012 (I only had to wait 2 years this time). When my brothers and best friend joined me for a two-week beer tour around Europe, I told them we had to go to this location. It just so happened we stopped through on my birthday! We stayed at Hotel de la Paix and celebrated with them! Another very special time–especially having the opportunity to try beers we just couldn’t get in the US (like the Nunnebier in the photos). The next day, we hit In de Vrede and then continued our journey, solidifying Poperinge and the Hommelbier in my mind as a special place/beer.

Once again, I didn’t realize it would be so long before I was able to visit Poperinge again. However, when my wife and I decided to visit Europe in 2024, I knew I had to share this special place with her! What an awesome time we had in Poperinge. We stayed again at the Hotel de la Paix (where else?) We stayed two nights and both nights enjoyed a great dinner in their cafe. Luckily for me, Leroy Brewery had a marketing event going with the Hommelbier! For each beer you bought, you received a “scratch-off” card with an opportunity to win prizes. I ended up winning twice (or would that be four times since I had the beer too?!) Oh, and the empty glass was a gift when I asked where to buy one!

With the extra time we had in Poperinge, we rented bikes and toured the area. I tried very hard to line up a tour of the Leroy brewery — they closed their original brewery in Watou and had consolidated their operations in Boezinge (still only 13 minutes away). I couldn’t do it, so we booked a tour at St Bernardus! While I was slightly disappointed in the brewery tour, the rooftop cafe was awesome. We did ride by the old Leroy Brewery. Oh, we also rode by In de Vrede (who knew it would be closed on a Friday. Oh well) … all in all, another great trip to Poperinge and the surrounding area!

I’m not sure when, but a sixth trip to Saint Sixtus would be cool … until then, I will enjoy drinking my own version of the Hommelbier in my sweet Hommelbier glass …

Stay tuned … up next — Chimay & Orval!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Belgium: Still a Beer Lover’s Paradise (Part 1)

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

My wife and I traveled to Belgium in August last year. It was not primarily a “Beer Trip.” We were visiting War Memorials (mainly in the Flanders area) and Biking, Bird-watching, and Hiking around the country-side. However, if you also happen to love beer, you can easily scratch that itch wherever you happen to be in Belgium!

I will say that this beer (TwoTribes Nomad) was made in London, but it set the tone for me as we traveled through the “Chunnel” to Brussels. Once we picked up the rental car, we made our way to Bruges. The car stayed in the parking garage the next two days as we explored the city and surrounding area. I had the advantage of previous “beer-oriented” trips to Belgium, so it was nice to visit things I hadn’t seen the last time.

Because we were there in High Season, there were a LOT of people. But with a little planning, you can avoid most of the crowds (especially if you are biking/hiking). Of course, we did hit the great beer places, too (here’s that post). None of them were “waiting list to get in,” but a couple were pretty full. The service was great and the beers tasty!

We left Bruges early on the third morning … once we were traveling towards Ypres, there were no crowds–the roads were nice and the scenery was stunning. We stopped at almost all the Canadian Memorials as we made our way deep into Flanders.

The poem “In Flanders Fields” was written in this area by a Canadian soldier: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. It was very moving to tour these sites …

We made our way to Ypres for lunch — and it so happens they have beer there, too!

St Arnoldus was great … the bar is very linear with an awesome patio in the back. I figured I might as well have a flight of St Bernardus at St Arnoldus!

We toured the Flanders Museum and, after a couple of birding stops, made our way to Poperinge! (To Be Continued)

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

112. t’Brugs Beertje, Bruges, Belgium (#79)

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

I’m up to 79 places on the Growler List visits … What a concerted effort! But I am determined to complete as much of the list as I can — all in the name of good beer drinking!

I was able to visit t’Brugs Beertje, number 112 on the list, during a recent trip to Belgium. With around 300 different Belgian beers, it’s a pretty good place to find a winner–the Orval in this picture was a 2013 version … tasty (and was made the last time I visited Orval, which made it even more special)! This place is definitely worthy of a spot on the list.

But, really, if you are going to visit Belgium, I would recommend the other spots on this list first: 1) Orval, 2) Halve Maan Brewery, 3) Cantillon … maybe even the Grand Place in Brussels. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great bar … but that’s what it is. There are other bars in Bruges that we found to be as intriguing and well stocked with beer:

Le Trappiste Brugge

27 beers on tap and a pretty extensive bottle list. Cool cellar bar.

2. De Garre

This place, down a narrow alley, is well worth the visit!

Very cool venue, excellent beers, and great presentation!

There are so many good places with great beer in Bruges. Even sitting on the patio of our hotel, we enjoyed a refreshing beverage and checked out the views.

We didn’t even make it to Halve Maan this trip …

I loved #112 … the bar is quite eclectic, and the beer selection was phenomenal. What a treat to visit Bruges, and this place in particular. If you have a chance to visit here, these places are well worth the visit. Make sure you spend some time walking around the city and taking in the sights — this will make the great beer taste that much better! 🙂

Beer Mentor

La Prugna — A Lambic-style Beer with Plums

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

As stated in a previous post, I started brewing a lambic-style beer in December 2021. In December 2022, my friend gave me a bag of Italian Plums from the tree in his backyard … I used a couple of gallons of my wild-fermenting lambic-style beer as a base and, bottled in March 2023, La Prugna was born! Another 6 months later (October 2024), and it was ready to drink. Here it is March 2024 and I’m down to two bottles remaining. However, no need to worry that I will run out … I’ve bottled the next batch! This batch is from the December 2022 wild-fermenting lambic-style beer. Unfortunately my friend’s plum tree didn’t produce in 2023–again, no worries–I was able to obtain some locally grown plums again!

Here’s a couple of photos of the “initial pitch” of plums … It’s sitting in my “Lambic Cellar (under the stairwell).” It looks pretty plain with some initial fermentation activity — this was from 13 Dec 2023.

In the background of the photos you can see my “wood staves” to be added to my lambic (my simulated cask staves …)

I pulled the fermenter out of my Lambic Cellar a couple of weeks ago planning on bottling it, but it kept fermenting. I felt the gravity could go a touch lower, so I left it sitting in my “brewery.”

You can see the plums are pretty “squishy” looking — I know I got full sugar conversion on them, even without cutting them up or pulping them. I didn’t pit them either — my friend thought it would help with a “tannic” characteristic.

I bottled it on 16 March 24. Ended up with close to 1.75 gallons (about 18 33cl bottles). Really like the color and the flavor of this Fruit Lambic — the brett is evident but well supported by the plum. Now to wait 90 days or so for it to carbonate …

I hope you enjoy the process discussion!

Beer Mentor

Ziggy Brau: The Beers!

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

My “new” brewery is now more than two years old … and I’ve been brewing away on it!

The Brewtools B40 — their smallest (40L) integrated system — has really worked well for me. I will say that every comment I’ve seen on reviews are spot on — if you don’t know the process you are using and you don’t have a good idea why you do certain things in the process, you will be a little challenged. The only issue I’m having (currently) with my system is mash efficiency — it has been in the60 to 70 percent area … I’d like to get it up closer to 80 percent. I’m changing up my grain crush now to see how that goes. In the meantime, I’ve been using the recipe scaler on the brewfather app and it is helping me hit my targets.

My focus the last couple of years (as mentioned previously) is on German and Belgian-style beers (and a couple of miscellaneous American-styles). So far I’m having excellent success with my process, my equipment, and my ingredients—only one of my recent beers didn’t turn out the way I wanted.

Here is my current library of beers:

Belgian-style Blond (second/third editions of this one!). I brewed the first iteration of this beer on the day my grandson was born! April 11, 2021. Version 2 and 3 were right around his birthday as well. [ 1a — is a Brett one off from my extra wort]
(Double) American-style IPA (fourth iteration). I brewed the original version of this for my wedding and have continued to make it.
Belgian-style Pale Ale. I made two of these right in a row. The first one not so great, but the second one was nice. It is coming up again on the radar!
Barrel-aged Imperial Stout (Yum — 3rd iteration!). This beer has been great–I’ll do a whole post on this one later.
Belgian Lambic-style Ale. This is a continuing experiment — I just brewed the third version of it and will be making a Gueuze out of it at the end of this year! Oh, I also make a Fruited-Lambic with locally-grown plums.
German-style Pilsner. This is a mid-winter beer for me to make — so it can lager into the early spring summer. This year I’ll be substituting the following beer for it instead.
German Eis-bock. Another entry on this beer (quite involved). lol.
Belgian/Monastic Dark Strong Ale –– also known as a Belgian Quad. This beer turned out very well (and has aged very well).
Monastic-style Dubbel and Tripel. These two were also good. The Tripel was a little under-carbonated — I put it in the cold storage too soon. Flavor was nice. Both do overs!
Baltic Porter — I brewed this beer last year on my second grand-child’s birthday! Yum.
Belgian-style IPA — I brewed this one to make a clone of the Poperinge Hommelbier. It’s close — I need to work on my dry hopping … flavor and color are awesome.
American Brown –– I made this one and it ended up having Brett in it. Still tasted good, but want a do over as well. haha.
Orval Clone — my favorite beer — my clone is so close in flavor–I’m just off on color now–next iteration should dial it in!
Sahti — My experimental Finnish beer — next on tap for brewing! Stay tuned.