Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book II), Part 59: Czech and Slovak beer & Hungarian Bull’s Blood wine (Euro Beer Travel 1995, Part II).
Contrary to legend, I had no premeditated plan to take three European trips in 1995. Openly scheming toward such a hat trick would have made me seem greedy, whereas luck is sometimes better than conspiratorial skill. The excursions happened, and I’m glad they did. Taken together, they comprised 30 days of continuing beer education that immeasurably influenced the ongoing revolution at Rich O’s Public House.
It transpired that David Pierce, Ron Downer and John Dennis already had been planning to visit Belgium in autumn of 1995, and my nudging this trio into a quartet seemed ethically and mathematically appropriate. Frequent flier miles sealed the deal, and I found myself yet again at the airport, having packed my bag in a jiffy because it wasn’t ever emptied after the Czech/Slovak/Hungarian jaunt only two months before.
But rest assured, I did do some light laundry first. If ever a trip justified a tax deduction for being work-related, this was it. Our days in Belgium resembled coursework: “An Introduction to Belgian Beers, Breweries and Drinking Venues.” The brief, glorious Sticke Alt clinic in Düsseldorf was like a bonus for early class registration.
I’d been to Belgium previously, finding it a fascinating place with a rich history, friendly people and fine food; it’s also a beercycling paradise, as I would come to experience later. By 1995 my knowledge of beer and brewing had caught up with the existing stock of esoterica accrued from European history studies, deepening my overall grasp of context and setting the stage for an enduring love affair with Belgian-style beers, set happily against a backdrop of brilliantly crisp and sunny autumn weather and almost completely absent the rain that can turn European fall itineraries soggy.
In fact, it was so warm in October of 1995 that the Lambic brewers were being forced to wait longer than normal to begin their batches. Since then they’ve probably become sadly accustomed to these warmer conditions.
Thankfully, ours was a foursome armed with just the facts, ma’am: CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide to Belgium and Holland, written by Tim Webb,...Read more
