The Toer de Geuze is an event which takes place every two years in which members of HORAL, a group of Lambic breweries and blenderies in Belgium, open their doors to the public for a whole weekend. The Toer de Geuze was scheduled for 2021. But because of COVID and the restrictions on travel and on hospitality, it couldn’t go ahead.
To fill the gap, a new event was proposed, the Toer de Geuze At Home, showcasing each of the Lambic breweries and blenderies in specially filmed videos, as well as a series of interactive live sessions during which the public could ask questions of the brewers and blenders.
HORAL teamed up with Visit Flanders, Toerisme Vlaams Brabant, and a live event streaming company called Bitstream to set up a small studio in one of the most respected beer cafes in Belgium for Lambic: Cafe In de Verzekering Tegen De Grote Dorst in the village of Eizeringen. Lieselot Caura of Beer Secrets hosted the event and I moderated the live sessions with the brewers and blenders. We had perspex screens between us, wore our masks religiously between streams, and to follow Belgian COVID guidelines, we didn’t share any beer during the event. We wanted it to be safe, and it really was.
You can watch all the individual videos in their entirety on the Toer de Geuze At Home website: https://toerdegeuze.be/
We’ve also produced three podcasts for the Toer de Geuze At Home so you can listen to the audio highlights of the live-streamed conversations.
You can download and listen to these podcasts below, or you can access all of our podcasts on our Listen Page. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing to The Belgian Smaak Podcast.
There will be another Toer de Geuze next year, this time in real life, as each of the HORAL member Lambic brewers and blenders opens their doors to the public for a weekend. The dates for the next edition are 30 April – 1 May 2022.
PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS
DAY ONE: Listen to clips from the conversation with Bruno Reinders of Mort Subite, with Thomas Vandelanotte of Timmermans, with Dirk and Geert Lindemans of Lindemans, with Jo Panneels of Lambiek Fabriek, and with Gert Christians of Oud Beersel.
DAY TWO: Listen to clips from the conversations with John Matthijs of Hanssens Artisanaal, with Karel Boon & Jos Boon of Boon, with Pierre Tilquin of Tilquin, with Karel Goddeau of De Cam, and with Pauwel Raes of De Troch.
MEGABLEND: Listen to the conversation with Frank Boon of Brouwerij Boon, in which we discuss the 2021 HORAL Megablend.
