Words and photos by Ashley Joanna
Edited by Breandán Kearney
Humans of Belgian Beer is a series of photographic portraits which celebrate a people and their culture.
There were two things in Karel Boon’s childhood that shaped who he is today; music and beer. Growing up, Karel watched his father—Lambic brewing legend Frank Boon—fine-tune Lambics in the brewery attached to their house. “I could wake up and come out of the bed in my pajamas and go into the brewery without going outside,” says Karel. “It was always a part of the house. So this place has always felt like home.”
But in those early years, it was music that had his heart. Young Karel would spend five hours a day practicing the same songs and trying to balance the same notes, over 100 times each. He was particularly drawn to the expansive symphonies and virtuosic piano music of the Romantic Era; to the contemplative, meditative, almost otherworldly compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven’s late period; and to the way in which Sergei Rachmaninoff, as an accomplished pianist himself, fully explored the expressive and technical possibilities of the instrument in his music.
After music, he became fascinated with computers, a world of systems which required their own fine-tuning and balance. He even started his own YouTube channel, reviewing computer hardware such as cases, headsets, battery packs, keyboards, and mouses. It was as if beer was nowhere in his future.
Karel’s brother, Jos, began working at the brewery and Karel started attending beer festivals for fun with his family. He saw that the beer his family brewery was creating was special and realised quickly how unique Lambic was.
“Working in the brewery was always in the back of my mind,” says Karel. “Even when I was pursuing different interests.”
Karel went to a University for Economic Sciences and specialised in marketing and production planning and logistics. After a 6 month internship with the Trappist brewery Chimay, Karel began officially working as the head of Marketing and IT for Boon Brewery with his father and brother.
“Music and beer are both about fine tuning and balance,” says Karel. “When we talk about brewing beer, we always speak about having the complex beer taste balanced. And with piano playing, you are watching the movements of your fingers and focusing on the weight you put on the key. You must find a balance to make the note sound correct. And when you get it right, it’s fantastic.”
You must find a balance to make the note sound correct. And when you get it right, it’s fantastic.
Karel Boon
