I make no to attempt to hide my
deference to Duvel. It is in
my opinion a beer without peers. No other beer reconciles big and strong with
clean and precise anywhere near as well. I’ve known Duvel (in the biblical
sense) for around 20 years and that statement is as true today as any before.
I’ve held off going to Moortgat for years because I feared it
could be an anti-climax. When
Jean-Marie said he could get me in and introduce
me to Hedwig Neven I realised, this had to be my time.
My cab driver from Mechelen was a chirpy Fleming who
delighted in my
‘allo ‘allo policeman Flemish accent and sentence construction.
There weren’t many sentences constructed but sufficient to keep him smiling for
the next 10 miles. I’d seen the picture of the Duvel “ripening” warehouse many
times since I first saw it in
MJ’s great beers of Belgium but still driving past felt
like gazing on the face of god.
I was quite conscious of how much I was shaking when I
arrived in the suavely minimalist reception area. Still a bit deflated from the
cabbie’s hysteria at my Flemish I walked up to the reception desk feigning
confidence to ask “dyspeakenglish?"
“A
little” replied the receptionist. Thinking quickly and keen to impress I said “Meer
dan mijn Vlaamse!”. The receptionist gave me the
‘allo ‘allo police officer
look so I announced myself in slow English and asked if Hedwig was coming out
to play.
Unfortunately Hedwig had been summoned to La Chouffe to help
sort a problem with their bottling line so I had the pleasure of meeting Sven
Dekleermaeker. Sven has been brewing in Belgium for about the same time as I
have been brewing in England. He has done a tour of the big boys (Inbev and Alken
Maes) before joining Duvel Moortgat in 2008. When I asked him, jealously “do
you love it?” He replied unequivocally “yes”.
I have to admit to having found the prospect of meeting Hedwig and the tour at the same time a little intimidating so it was good to be able to relax into the tour to a
degree, relaxation in the context of high excitement that is. I won’t bore the
reader with the forensic technical detail of the brewery. Suffice it to say it
is big (more than 1 million hectolitres) very well engineered (
Steinecker,
Krones etc) and just generally inspiring.
Sven did seem a little thrown by my enthusiasm and thirst
for knowledge and at one point asked me if I was in fact there for a job
interview. He must have liked me because I got to see the part of the operation
not usually enjoyed by visitors, the warm conditioning warehouse where the
Duvel sits ripening at 22
oC. It was cavernous space with millions of
immaculate cases of Duvel stretching as far as the eye could see. Bewildering,
breath-taking, beautiful.
The magic words I was waiting to hear since the bottling
hall left Sven’s lips at about 4PM “And now I propose we drink some beer”. Away from the tour I had the chance to get to
know Sven better. In his spare time he organised trips for brewers to visit
other breweries and asked me if I would like to join them the next day. Unfortunately
my travel plans were fixed. This was the only disappointment of the day! We talked
about oxidation, detection limits of iron ions and the Belgian brewing scene.
He was kind enough to call me a freak in reference to my knowledge of beer and
Belgian brewing! I don’t think he was expecting me to take it as a compliment.
There was a 30 minute spell in the sunny courtyard behind
the tasting bar, as Duvel followed Duvel and brewing conversation flowed where
I reached the pinnacle of happiness in my life so far. I usually decide how to
feel on the basis of practicality but this was emotion in its purest form. A
sparkling Jacuzzi filled with Duvel. Sven is right I am a freak.
I have invited Sven back to Rock to collaborate on a brew
and he is checking on the commercial aspects. I’ll let you know when he gets
back to me.
