Video: Jean Van Roy, Cantillon’s owner and brewer, speaks about the reason he started Zwanze day and about the beer released for the 2019 edition.
Jean Van Roy, Cantillon’s owner and brewer, was busy at the upstairs bar at the brewer on Zwanze day, 28 September. There was the usual hubbub of beer nuts in the bar at 13h. Sitting across from him were three of the owners/brewers from Brasserie de l’Ermitage, which is just down the road.
They were having a couple bottles before they open in an hour or so. It is a typical day but not so typical. To celebrate Zwanze Day, Van Roy dusted off a few gems from the cellar, available for drinking at the brewery: 50ยฐN-4ยฐE 2017 and 2018, Menu Pineau, Nuit Bruxelloise, Drogone Lambic, and Zwanze 2017 and 2018 editions.
I drank the 50ยฐN-4ยฐE editions and the Drogone Lambic with Stavros, a local fan of gueuze, who had brought along some lovely Belgian snacks to go with the beer. The delicacies were Kip Kap, diced and pressed meat made from pickled pig cheeks and gelatin, and tรชte pressรฉe ร l’ancienne, head cheese made with beef fat. Others at the table share some other their Menu Pineau and Nuit Bruxelloise with us, including Dave, a Cantillon fan from Manchester, who seems to spend six months in the place: I love beer culture when people share and partake alike in drink and stories.
Zwanze hype
Zwanze Day is celebrated at select bars around the world. Cantillon releases a new brew and the selected bars sell tickets to the event, when the beer is poured at a set time. Here in Brussels, Zwanze was celebrated at Moeder Moeder Lambic Fontainas and Moeder Lambic Original. A ticket cost โฌ7 and gets you a glass.
I went the Moeder Lambic Original event, mainly to avoid the crowds at the Fontainas bar. The beer was poured at 21h. It is usually from the barrel, but this year something was wrong with the keg, so we were presented with pours from a bottle.
It is a tasty Zwanze 2019. Van Roy says he used a small quantity of smoked malt because he wanted to keep the flavor of the beer balanced, without overpowering the traditional characteristics of the lambic.
The beer was blended after two years of barrel aging, on 26 January 2018, then conditioned in the bottle for 20 months.
“This beer has developed the classic flavors and aromas typical of a gueuze, a subtle woodiness, a slight fruitiness and a dry finish with a fine acidity,” he says. “The delicate smokiness principally on the palate, brings a touch more complexity to this beer, without smothering the typical character of our lambic.”
Sailing away
Meanwhile the guys from l’Ermitage are also there for another reason. This was the day they were launching la Vente d’Est from Brasserie des 4 Vents, a side project by Van Roy. Vent d’Est is a blend of the wort of l’Ermitage’s Noire du Midi with Cantillon’s 3-year-old lambic.
At the l’Ermitage launch the brewery also featured their Chai 1 (Saison + Cantillon Lambic blended and aged in a white wine barrel), and Chai 2 (a blend of Noire du Midi with Cantillon’s Kriek and Rosรฉ de Gambrinus).
Moeder Lambic Fontainas also featured a new beer from Cantillon, a collaboration with Luka Sanzin, an biodynamic aronia grower from Northwestern Italy. Cantillon blended the aronia with 2-year-old lambic.
Photos: Zwanze Day wanderers
Zwanze Day 2019 participants
Australia
โข Besk Bar, West Leederville
โข Bucket Boys, Marrickville
Austria
โข Tribaun, Innsbruck
Belgium
โข Moeder Lambic Fontainas, Brussels
โข Moeder Lambic Saint-Gilles, Brussels
โข Mi-Orge Mi-Houblon, Arlon
โข Rose Red, Brugge
Canada
โข Dieu du Ciel, Montrรฉal, Quรฉbec
โข Birreria Volo, Toronto, Ontario
โข Bells and Whistles, Vancouver, British Columbia
China
โข Beer&Barrel่ฐทๆจ, Shanghai
Denmark
โข Himmeriget, Copenhagen
Finland
โข Stadin Panimobaari, Helsinki
France
โข La Fine Mousse, Paris
โข La Capsule, Lille
โข Brasserie du Mont-Salรจve, Neydens
โข Au Poรชle de la Bรชte, Toulouse
โข Le Sur Mesure, Nantes
Germany
โข Cafรฉ Herman, Berlin
โข Mon Petit Cafรฉ, Stuttgart
Great Britain
โข Cork & Cage, Birmingham
โข Sixยฐ North, Aberdeen
โข Moor Beer, Bristol
โข Beermerchants Tap, London
โข Brownhill & Co, Leeds
Italy
โข Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fร , Roma
โข Abbazia di Sherwood, Caprino Bergamasco
โข LambicZoon, Milano
โข The Drunken Duck, Quinto Vicentino
โข Malto Gradimento, Reggio Calabria
โข Ottavonano, Atripalda
โข Birre & Mondo Crudele, Crema
โข Storie di Pinte, San Lazzaro
Japan
โข Wine no Oozisama, Nara
โข Kiya, Nagoya
โข Popeye, Tokyo
Norway
โข Nรธgne ร, Grimstad
Netherlands
โข De Bierkoning, Amsterdam
New Zealand
โข Garage Project Wild Workshop, Wellington
Russia
โข Eric the Red, Moscow
Spain
โข Masia Agullons, Sant Joan de Mediona
Sweden
โข Zum Franziskaner, Stockholm
Switzerland
โข Biรจre Cafรฉ Au Trappiste, Bern
United States
โข Alewife โ Long Island City, New York
โข Armsby Abbey โ Worcester, Massachusetts
โข Avenue Pub โ New Orleans, Louisiana
โข Bagby Beer โ Oceanside, California
โข Beachwood BBQ โ Seal Beach, California
โข Brick Store Pub โ Decatur, Georgia
โข Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar โ Denver, Colorado
โข De Garde Brewing โ Tillamook, Oregon
โข E9 Brewing Co. โ Tacoma, Washington
โข Fonta Flora Brewery โ Morganton, North Carolina
โข Green Bench Brewing Co. โ St. Petersburg, Florida
โข Hill Farmstead Brewery โ Greensboro, Vermont
โข Holy Grale โ Louisville, Kentucky
โข Jester King Brewery โ Austin, Texas
โข Monkโs Cafรฉ โ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
โข Novare Res Bier Cafรฉ โ Portland, Maine
โข Redlight Redlight โ Orlando, Florida
โข Row 34 โ Boston, Massachusetts
โข Russian River Brewing โ Santa Rosa, California
โข Sante Adairius Portal โ Santa Cruz, California
โข Scheraโs Restaurant and Bar โ Elkader, Iowa
โข Side Project Brewing Cellar โ Maplewood, Missouri
โข The Sovereign โ Washington D.C.
โข Spuyten Duyvil โ Brooklyn, New York
โข Thin Man Brewery โ Buffalo, New-York
โข The Veil Brewing Co. โ Richmond, Virginia
โข Hopleaf Bar โ Chicago, Illinois
โข Yazoo Brewing Co. โ Madison, Tennessee