ANTWERP/HOVE - Last summer, thousands of visitors sampled Luc De Laet’s wares at the Tomorrowland music festival and in a pop-up restaurant in Antwerp. Next year, Luc will open his second butcher’s store at the refurbished De Koninck brewery site in the same city. An accredited butcher (keurslager in Dutch), cook and caterer, Luc De Laet likes to go for the unusual but will always remain a professional through and through. Dry-aged steak made from mature white-blue beef injected with beer that has been reduced on the hob... it tastes far better than it sounds. Luc, from Hove near Antwerp, is driven by his search for the best flavor pairings...

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BRUSSELS - In June, Jean-Louis Van de Pere succeeded Theo Vervloet as President of the Belgian brewers’ federation known as the Belgian Brewers. This was also shortly before Sven Gatz would leave his position as Managing Director of the federation to become a minister in the newly formed Flemish Government. “I am not a brewer, unlike Theo who worked for the Affligem brewery,” he apologises straight away. “But my father was a brewer and I spent my childhood in the brewery." "I saw my Dad at work, played in the storage areas, inhaled the wonderful aroma of malt... That magic has never lost its grip on me. Also, even as a child, I had our table beer with meals and that gave me a taste for beer.” The Antwerp-based Van de Perre brewery, owned by Jean-Louis’s grandfather, ceased trading in 1961...

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MONS / LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE - In September 2000, Brasserie Dubuisson unveiled its Le Brasse-Temps café-brewery in the university city of Louvain-la-Neuve. Three years on, a second brewpub bearing the same name was introduced in the Walloon city of Mons ('Bergen' in Dutch). François Mertens was recently appointed Manager of Le Brasse-Temps Louvain-la Neuve in partnership with two others. François is now in charge of three establishments in Louvain-la-Neuve and knows how to do business in this city. He explains: “Here, most people stay around for a few years before moving on again. That is very typical...

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OSTEND/OOSTENDE - We witnessed it with our own eyes. There was more than just one solitary message in a bottle washed up on Ostend beach. Far more than that... an entire armada of bottles came ashore, all bearing the mysterious name, ‘PoppoLou’, in elegant handwriting that had been only slightly faded by the sea. After we had rinsed and uncorked one of these bottles, we could smell the aroma of the North Sea. But then, to our surprise we discovered that this bottle did not in fact contain North Sea water...

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ANTWERP/ESSEN - The trees are clad in the most vivid colours imaginable and the first strong gust of wind send the leaves swirling to the ground. The brewers know what is in store for them. They are attuned to the rhythm of the seasons and rush to their brewing kettles to start preparations for the annual Christmas beer. At this time of year, beer lovers are eagerly looking forward to the new harvest of brews that they will enjoy relaxing in front of an open fire. Aficionados of Belgian beer are well aware that they have to book their tastings and place their orders without delay. These are genuine limited editions and once they’re gone they’re gone...

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