Brewers around Bruges create a beer discover box

A beer discover box, with beers from around Bruges.

These are very difficult times for bars and restaurants, as well as for small-scale craft brewers. 6 local breweries around Bruges are now working together and have created a beer Discover Box. The brewers initiative goes by fitting name “Brewers around Bruges“. In the beer Discover Box you can find 12 beers in total, each brewer has carefully selected 2 of their favourite beers for the discover box.

The Beer Discovery Box

With every brewer selecting 2 of their own beers, the box includes 12 different beers of very different styles. You can expect the traditional Belgian style beers such as the Cuvée Soeur’Ise (a tripel Cherry beer), the Ichtegem’s Grand Cru (a Flemish red/brown sour beer) or the Koeketiene (a classic Tripel). Of course, as these are 6 craft brewers you can also expect some unique styles which you might not expect in Belgium: Champagner Weisse (a Wheat beer using Champagne yeast) or the some of the IPAs which are included in the box.

The full list of 12 beers which are included in the beer discovery box are:

  1. Cuvée Soeur’Ise a tripel cherry beer by Brewery De Leite
  2. Enfant Terriple a tripel beer by Brewery De Leite
  3. Master IPA an india pale ale by Brewery Viven
  4. Champagner Weisse a wheat beer using champagne yeast by Brewery Viven
  5. Keyte Blond a Ostendse tripel beer by Brewery Strubbe
  6. Ichtegem’s Grand Cru a Flemish red/brown sour beer by Brewery Strubbe
  7. Linde a cherry beer by Brewery Rostune
  8. Amber an amber beer by Brewery Rostune
  9. Koeketiene a tripel beer by Brewery Maenhout
  10. Ferre a quadrupel beer by Brewery Maenhout
  11. Lieve a Belgian Kölsch-stylebeer by Siphon Brewing
  12. Damme Nation an india pale ale by Siphon Brewing

The box costs €24 (£21.60) and shipping to the UK will set you back €18. A total of €42 for 12 carefully selected Belgian craft beers. You can buy the beer discovery box directly with the De Leite brewery. If you do get your hands on these craft beers, please do let us know what you think of them!

Buy your “Brewers around Bruges” beer discovery box here.

Explore the Belgian Craft brewers around Bruges

1. Brewery Strubbe

In the shadow of the church in Ichtegem you can find the Strubbe Brewery, a brewery that has belonged to the Strubbe family for generations. Beer production is still done in an artisanal way, although with modern production methods. They also like an Ichtegems brewed beer abroad. A large part of the beer production is shipped abroad, including Italy, Germany, but also Japan and even America. The success story of the Strubbe brewery is therefore one that reads as a real story in which a great passion and unbridled enthusiasm for beer brewing was made generation after generation.

2. Brewery Maenhout

Brewery Maenhout is an artisanal brewery, located in Pittem.

At the end of 2009, Thijs Maenhout and Birgit De Rammelaere started the brewery in the former company buildings of the broth factory Gerdox, between Tielt and Meulebeke. They started with a 2nd hand brewing installation that had a capacity of 5 hl. Bottling and labeling was done completely manually, bottle by bottle. In 2014 it was time to expand and automate, they moved to a new location in Pittem in order to increase the capacity.

The new brewery entered service in early 2015. This has a capacity of 1200 hectoliters per year. Investments were also made in a counter-pressure bottling line that makes it possible to fill 2000 bottles per hour and guarantees good quality. There is also a test installation with a capacity of 60 liters. New beers are developed and there is also room for one-time, seasonal beers.

3. Brewery Rostune

Brewery Rostune, located in Beernem, is probably the smallest but the nicest brewery in Belgium. They brew exclusive beers in an open kettle in a traditional way and on a limited scale. The beers are unfiltered and contain only natural ingredients such as barley malt and hops. In our permanent range there are 4 different beers: Amber, Dubbel (Dark), Wannes (Blonde) and Linde (Cherry).

4. Brewery De Leite

De Leite brwery is located in Ruddervoorde and Luc, the founder of the berwery is also the founder of the Brewers around Bruges Initiative.

Luc Vermeersch started experimenting in 1997 in a house in the garden with a small brewery, capacity 30 liters, which he had bought in Finland. After 10 years of brewing and experimenting, he took a year of brewing course. During this training, the idea of a larger brewery grew. De Leite brewery was completed in April 2008. After 3 years plans were made for expansion. In February 2011, even larger boilers were installed.

5. Brewery Viven

Located in Sijsele there was a chapel which was used for brewing local beers. In 2003 Tony Traen took over the Chapel of Viven from Willy de lobel. Since then, the Chapel of Viven has undergone some developments. A brand new look, an improved recipe for the Monastery of Viven and a new name. Viven Chapel and Viven Monastery were christened Viven Blond and Viven Bruin for short.

Tony did not let go of the idea of applying our Flemish brewing art to non-Flemish beers and together with Dirk Naudts of the Proef brewery he developed the promising recipes of the Viven Ale, Viven Porter, Viven Imperial IPA and Viven Master IPA. No everyday beers that still appeal to every beer connoisseur.

6. Siphon Brewing

A small Belgian brewery located on the grounds of a four-generation-old family-run restaurant in Damme. Managed by a team of 4, they brew classic Belgian styles with a twist, as well as international styles not common in Belgium. The beer is brewed on a steam-heated three-kettle 5 HL brewhouse with a maximum monthly production capacity of 55 HL. All of the beer is brewed and packaged by the team in this converted sheep shed in Damme.

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