Belgium. No other country has a wider variety of native styles, or a larger impact on modern craft brewers. Belgians have spent centuries developing the world’s finest beers by brewing with combinations of top fermenting or wild yeasts, warm fermenting temperatures, and adjuncts as diverse as fruit, candi sugar, orange peel, coriander, black pepper, and star anise.
All November, local brewers Magnolia Brewpub and 21st Amendment are once again putting the BRU in Brussels. The breweries have prepped a total of twelve Belgian-style beers as part of their annual BRU/SFO Project. Each brewery is currently tapping four Belgians, and will add another for the next two Mondays. Travelers to either pub can pick up a passport and have it punched each time a new beer lands on their coaster and receive a commemorative glass at the end of their flights of liquid fancy.
Here’s the schedule of stopovers:
21st Amendment Currently on tap: Via – Belgian Single, Drunken Monk – Strong Dark Abbey ale, Gnome Noir – Oaked Belgian Stout, Leuven Life – Belgian Pale Ale 11/12: Baby Horse – Belgian Quad 11/19: Double Tripel – Belgo-American IPA
Magnolia Brewpub Currently on tap: Saison de Lily – Belgian Saison, Chocolate George – Belgian Stout with cocoa nibs, Deep Ellem – Abbey-style Dubbel, Gris Gris – Grisette11/12: Sunburst – Belgo-American IPA11/19: Tweezer – Abbey-style Tripel
And, as if that’s not enough reason to shout "À votre santé," renowned Belgian beer importers Vanberg & DeWulf are sponsoring an event called the Coast to Coast Toast (C2CT2) on Thursday, November 15th. At last report, seven local establishments–Abbot’s Cellar, Amsterdam Café, Beer Revolution, Toronado, La Trappe, City Beer Store, and Monk’s Kettle–will take part in this national event by serving some classic and rare examples of Belgian-brewed ingenuity. See the Vanberg & DeWulf's website for the list of beers they distribute and the individual participants' sites for what beers they have on hand mid-month.