[Trappist]

Hi,
It's always a pleasure hitting brewpub Sint-Canarus at Gottem.
A beer session from 3pm till 9pm, that's a 6 hours of pure RELAXATION.
Katrien and myself are very slow sippers, because we want to enjoy the quality beers at a maximum pleasure without getting drunk, which means taking time and caution. Essential!
We tried 3 beers each and all of them were top-notch.
Note that - already for a while - the brewery itself isn't located anymore inside the back of the brew pub.
Expansion has been done, and the bigger brewery is located a bit further away at Oude Heirbaan 142A, 9800 Gottem.

Location brewery Sint-Canarus

Location brewpub, named "De kleinste brouwerij van Gottem" (the smallest brewery of Gottem)



The chalkboard hanging on the wall gives the availability beers, food, and other drinks.
That's about 10 beers, but not all are listed!





For me a Vals Paterke (Malicious Little Monk) Dubbel Extra at 8.8 vol%.
That's a contract brewed beer for beer firm 't Drankorgel, located at far away Mol.
A nice dark bottle refermented malty sweet beer with alot of character. Great brew!





Stoute Pietou at 10 vol% for Katrien.
It's not really a stout, but more kind of quadrupel style.
Caramel roastiness and quite sweetish too.
In Dutch language, stout also means being bad or naughty, hence the name Stoute Pietou (Naughty Piet, the brewmaster (Piet Meirhaeghe)). Actually, Piet isn't naughty or bad at all. What a friendly brewmaster 
BUT..... it's a bit naughty to have used the same lettering from the Filou beer from Van Honsebrouck, and naming it Pietou with "ou" at the end.
Filou, which actually is French, but here in Flanders we use alot of French words, due to the long time ago occupation by France, means trickster. And tricksters are naughty, hence the resemblances with Stoute Pietou and trickster (Filou).
A bit complicated said, but I'm sure you get the clue here
Actually, that's the only thing that's naughty about this beer.... and Piet
All is forgiven
And BTW, this beer was gorgeous !!









Going for their flagship now.
Potteloereke at 8 vol%.
Normally, poured into that stone pot, but I preferred it from glass though.
Again, a malty sweet sensation.
Caramel flavors and a nice hoppy finish. Sweet but also a bit dry on the tongue.
Everything perfectly balanced into a fantastic Belgian beer. This is one of my favorits from Sint-Canarus.
It also has something Trappist alike, similar to Westvleteren 8 or even Sint-Bernardus 8.



Stravvere Piet for Katrien at 10 vol%.
Used to be called Straffe Piet, but the resemblances with Straffe Hendrik were too obvious, so changing the name was inevitable. It says exactly the same though, only stravvere is more kind of Flemish pronunciation.
Contains oatmeal and peated malts. Gives it that grainy flavor with typical smokey peaty aromas and flavours. Not too much, but in perfect dose.
Again, a wonderful brew !





Food is available, and we went for the Chicken paté, made at nearby chicken breading factory Gallux.
All details at https://gallux.be/
That pot went along with crispy crackers. Spreading the cheese on the crackers was ofcourse the idea and the ultimate tasting experience. Great quality paté this is 

Time for the finishing touch.....







A 12 vol% barrel aged Père Canard, aged in Filliers barrels.
That's the famous jenever from the famous Filliers distillery at Deinze.
Wow, what a mighty beer folks   
This beer has no foam. That disappeared in one shot just after pouring.
It drinks so slick and dense. No carbonation left.
Sweet, Port, malty, alcoholic, tobacco, tannins, old furniture, dried figs, well you get the idea, no.
This is an amazing beer, but as you can see, there is no label on the bottles.
It's a specialty niche product, available only at the brew taven, or occasionally at beer fests, for the real beer aficionado. (Me this is )
Notice the last picture, which was taken with the candle light in the back. Quite a clear beer this is!





Another barrel aged wonder at around 12 vol% ! (For Katrien, but ofcourse we tasted eachothers beers)
Sint-Canarus Tripel Filliers Barrel Aged.
Again barrel aged inside Filliers jenever barrels.
Again a crystal clear beer, this time blond in color.
This one had a bit more foam going on, but still a very thin layer was the outcome.
Nothing very gassy, but OTOH silky, warming, velvety softness on the tongue.
A sweetish beer with a potent strength. There you have the tobacco and tannins again.
All in perfect balance driving a beer lover into higher excitements.
The availability is the same as the previous barrel aged one. VERY limited!!!

Wow folks, if those last beers weren't a treat. I'm speechless !!!



As said, we stayed till the last people left the building.
This is a picture taken from just before closing time around 9pm.
A picture that nicely shows the atmosphere that late hours.
Wonderful !!!!!

https://www.sintcanarus.be/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063667656107
https://www.instagram.com/sint.canarus

Cheers,
Filip

[John B]

Lovely report Filip! 

One thing I've noticed in some of your reports is that a lot of the smaller to mid sized breweries seem to be located very close to what appears to be people's homes. Like those people could walk out their front door and step into the brewery seconds later. Is this true or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Over here you basically never see that. Nearly every small to mid sized brewery is located in an industrial park, surrounded by other businesses. And large breweries often are located by themselves in large warehouse type buildings.

Just an observation.I think it must be pretty nice living just a minute's walk from a brewery there in beautiful Belgium.

Cheers! - John

[Trappist]

One thing I've noticed in some of your reports is that a lot of the smaller to mid sized breweries seem to be located very close to what appears to be people's homes.

Hello John,
That's a great observation!
Indeed, many smaller and also bigger breweries are located close to people's homes.
Although we also have industry zones where many breweries are located too.
For example Bruges brewery Fort Lapin used to be housed along a street with terraced houses.
They moved last year about 1000 meters further into a small industry zone, but that's still in walking distance from the habitable areas.
Brewery De Halve Maan is still located in the centre of old Bruges too, although the bottling factory is locate inside an indusrial zone (Waggelwater) very close to Bruges https://maps.app.goo.gl/dz2xbiRgDycQahX28
Bigger breweries like Huyghe and het Anker (which actually is one brewery today) are also inside habitable areas, and there are so many other examples. Fantôme to name one.
Historic reasons also do play a big role, and that's maybe the difference with the USA.
Cheers,
Filip

[Viv]

Hi guys,

You have to consider the history of the towns and cities of both
countries. As well as the relative sizes of the 2 countries.

Belgium is small and densely populated, so space is at largely at
a premium, whilst the USA is vast in comparison.

A lot of breweries in Belgium were probably established in towns
many years ago and did so because of the local population who
would/could be employees and customers. They would have had easy
access to raw materials as well, whilst in USA there was just far more
space and things were spread out much more so they could be anywhere
and obviously they don't go so far back in history so breweries
could be built in non-residential areas much more easily. Instead
of horse and cart delivery they could use modern transportation
as well!

Cheers!



Viv



   

[John B]

Good points gentlemen, thanks for your insight.

Cheers! - John