Each year, in the East Flemish town of Zottegem, something happens.
It’s a beer festival called the ‘Bierhappening’ and it’s coordinated by BLES, De Bierliefhebbers van de Egmontstede (literally, the beer lovers of the Egmont city).
BLES are a beer club and affiliated member organisation of Zythos, the Belgian association of beer consumer groups. BLES activities include themed tastings, visits to Belgian breweries and organising their own beer festival.
BLES is one of the oldest of the 45 beer clubs in Flanders – it started 21 years ago in 1993 – and it is the second largest beer club in Belgium.
And BLES is my beer club.
THE BIERHAPPENING BEER FESTIVAL
The Bierhappening Beer Festival is BLES’ main event.
It attracts more than 1,700 visitors and is growing every year. For the 2014 edition which took place on 11 October, 21 breweries and beer firms offered over 100 different beers, with half of those coming from the tap and half coming from the bottle.
The festival incorporates not only a wide range of beers, but a great selection of local specialty food, including Breydel Bacon from the Flemish Ardennes, Zottegemse Koekelaring, tasty dry sausages and local pies, as well as their delicious BLESkaas, a young spicy and hoppy cheese produced by St. Michaelshoeve in Michelbeke.
“We aim to please the beer lovers with some nice new catches,” said BLES Vice-Chairperson David Le Roy. “But really we organise the festival for the local community. It’s our mission to help the people from this region to experience new tastes. We don’t want to preach to those who are already part of the beer religion but we are delighted that more than 1,700 people find their way to our festival so we can convert them. We never had a crowd as big as we had this year.”
THIS YEAR’S BLES BEER
One of the unique things about the Bierhappening is that BLES brews a special brew for the festival every year.
This year, the BLES beer was brewed at Brouwerij De Graal and was named ‘Mijn Bier @Annum 2014’.
There was a previous BLES beer called ‘Mijn Bier’ or ‘My Beer’, and the 2014 version is a return to that recipe but with a more intense hopping regime.
It includes in its title the word ‘Annum’, a Latin reference to the annual brewing of this one-off festival beer by the club, but also a nod to the Ahtanum hop variety which was used in the brew.
The Ahtanum hop was named after the place of the same name, located near the famous Yakima Valley in the US state of Washington, a region which produces three-quarters of all American hops. It’s similar to Cascade or Amarillo but has fewer alpha acids. As a result it imparts a less bitterness but it packs a similar grapefruit and piney punch.
MIJN BIER @ANNUM 2014
‘Mijn Bier @Annum 2014’ is an easy drinking golden coloured ale of 6.5% ABV.
Overall, it’s an accessible and full-flavoured beer which has been designed to be poured at a festival for people with widely varied palettes but a common geekery towards new world hops and fruity yeast profiles.
