Discovering Belgium’s Brewing heritage online
With more than 1,000 beers from 160 breweries available in Belgium, and such rich consumer choice, the problem for newcomers to Brussels is where to begin to sample the country’s rich brewing history and heritage. Two Belgian entrepreneurs Dario Ceccarelli and Paul Pilavachi have come up with the perfect solution by starting an online shop called Belgibeer which offers home delivery of rare craft beers.
From its distribution warehouse behind the port of Brussels in Laeken, the online shop sends to your doorstep a hand-picked selection every month of the best beers from small or medium-sized Belgian breweries. You can buy a one off order or take out a subscription for 3 or more months.
They also organise tastings and events, like a monthly barbecue. This enables you to discover new breweries and sample different craft beers from breweries located in hidden places most people have never heard of. Whilst Belgium has many famous international branded lagers and pilsener style beers, there are also many other unknown beer types to discover and craft breweries don’t use mass production industrial processes. By buying their products, consumers help support and preserve these authentic, small and independent breweries.
Belgibeer’s online service has so far proved to be more popular with ladies than with men, at least in Belgium. Female customers buy monthly subscriptions for the men in their lives as special gifts, and with deliveries every month, it is a great way of making sure that there are warm repeat memories. But the company will deliver anywhere they are permitted to do so by the national laws of the delivery address. The business has been developing fast, and next month they are moving their headquarters to Tubize near Halle to the South of Brussels.
The brewery of the month selected for the August deliveries is the family owned Brasserie Caulier which is established in the village of Bon Secours in Hainaut since 1933. The brewery uses hops from Poperinge in Western Flanders, malted barley from Beloeuil in Northern France, locally sourced water and sugar from sugar beet grown in the region, and fresh yeast cultivated at the brewery. The company is highly innovative and encourages employees to develop a new beer every three months, which are served in distinctive bottles with a retro-style flip and “pop” top. Their range includes Le Paid Dieux which is only brewed during a full moon once a month, honouring a tradition of the nearby Paix Dieux Abbey, and the Bon Secours Brune which was elected the World’s Best Brown Beer in 2008. Their flagship product is the blonde Bon Secours, a refreshing beer with a strength of 8% ABV.
With only three months left before Saint Nicolas, if you are looking for an original present for that special person in your life, why not consider gifting them months of pleasure with a voyage of discovery of Belgian craft beers through Belgibeer?
