Stretching to the west of Brussels the Valley of the Zenne might look like any other part of the Flemish Brabant. An undulating landscape of agricultural land with a scattering of villages and small towns with massive churches. It is a pretty, if seemingly unremarkable place where the River Zenne flows through fields filled with crops. Yet something magical happens in this place, for this is the land of lambic.
It is the wild, airborne yeasts known as Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Brettanomyces Lambicus that are at the heart of the magic that unfolds in the Zenne Valley. They are the critical ingredient in Belgium’s legendary lambic beer. The spontaneous fermentation created when yeast finds its way into wort, the sugary liquid that becomes beer, makes lambic both unique and one of the most ancient of all beers.
Lambic is famed for its distinctive sour taste – let’s just say that it’s not for everyone – and is often made with fruit. Cherry, or kriek, is the most common, but raspberry, rhubarb, apricot and gooseberry all find their way into these delicious brews. A few years ago there was a possibility that lambic and the sparkling Gueuze that’s made from it, would disappear from the world as consumer tastes changed.
Luckily, it was kept alive by enthusiasts and is now having a revival. The countryside of the Zenne Valley is now dotted with lambic breweries and on a recent sunny day I thought it was time to join up some of the dots by bike. The names 3 Fonteinen, Boon, Lindemans, Oud Beersel and Brussels’ Cantillon may not be well known, but they were all marked on my map as I set off along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal towards Halle.
Halle is a pretty town with a history dating back to well before the Romans and a Grote Markt dominated by the 14th century Basilica of Saint Martin. I passed through on my way to the village of Gaasbeek where, nearby, the 800-year old and very picturesque Gaasbeek Castle sits on a hilltop. The castle has just reopened after renovation with an audiovisual exhibition of supernatural historical tales. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwards, I sat in the courtyard and ate a Mattentaart with a glass of Lindemans Oude Gueuze – the first of the day. I strolled around the castle fruit gardens, woods and lakes before getting back on the bike to visit the actual Lindemans brewery. I’d hoped to take the tour but you have to go as a group or pay €70 to go alone, so I walked around the exterior where there was some nice brewery ‘street art’.
I stopped at the Kasteel Groenenberg en route to the villages of Vlezenbeek and Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, where the pretty Sint-Pieters kerk sits in the middle of the pleasant town centre. A short cycle away is Coloma Castle. Dating from 1515, the castle is set in lovely parkland with a rose garden. A few kilometres later I was passing through Halle again to reach the tiny village of Lembeek, home of the Boon brewery.
The owner, Frank Boon, is credited with being the man who saved lambic from becoming an historical footnote when, in 1972, he started to blend lambics into gueuze. The beer garden was the perfect place to enjoy a traditional lambic and a speciality gueuze. Both were tremendous. I’d clocked about 60km on the bike by this time and had another 20km back to Brussels, but had planned a stop in Lot.
A village next to the canal, Lot is home to the 3 Fonteinen brewery. There’s a restaurant and a large beer garden with tables and deckchairs. In 2009, a dodgy thermostat led to a beer explosion that destroyed much of their stock and they almost went out of business. Their revival is almost as miraculous as the wild fermentation of lambic.
An Oude Gueuze Cuvée with some bread and cheese and I was back on the canal cycling to Brussels. There was just enough time to stop off at the Cantillon brewery, to pick up some Rose De Gambrinus raspberry gueuze to enjoy on the balcony on a warm summers’ evening.
And now I have a kriek craving!
I have to confess, I’m not a fan of the cherry in beer, but have tried the raspberry geueze and it was excellent.