Last week I visited the open brewery days at WestmalleTrappist. It was a well organised event with a parcourse throughout the whole place. Lots of info on the history, but also on the brewing method and the ingredients. For instance:
Did you know their beers are brewed with the whole hopflower and not with pellets?
The Art Deco copper brewing system from the twenties was amazing to see, as well as the huge new brewing room.
I also spotted some barrels of fresh yeast, ready to be picked up by the Trappist brothers of West-Vleteren. Did you know they pick up fresh yeast at Westmalle before every brew?
It was great to look around and see how it all works for them. At the end there was an enjoyable tasting with their homemade cheeses. Yum!
Last weekend the Heritage Days were taking place and especially for this year’s theme Hoppiness hosted eight workshops about the influence of the interwar years and Art Deco on Belgian Beer Culture. I prepared this workshop together with my colleague Helene from Hoppyz. She did the same workshop in French and English at her house, while I hosted in Dutch and English.
What a pleasure it was to dive into our history and taste three beer styles from those years with so many visitors on both Saturday and Sunday.
We tasted:
– Fresh 20 month old lambic straight from the barrel from Brasserie Cantillon, Brussels oldest brewery.
– Silly Scotch brewed for the first time in 1918 from Brasserie de Silly, who celebrated their 175th anniversary the same weekend.
– Palm Speciale brewed first in 1929 by Brouwerij Palm, in the speciale belge style that was brought to live by Belgian brewers at the beginning of the 20th century to compete with foreign ales.
A big thank you to Urban Brussels for organising this beautiful weekend and to all those lovely people that joined!
Have a look inside the impressive Maison des Brasseurs on the Grand Place of Brussels (build in 1698)!
Tour & Tasting at Maison des Brasseurs
Included in your ticket:
– Guided tour of the Brewers house
– 3 beer tasters
– Visit of the museum of the Belgian Brewers
– Expert guidance by local beer sommelier Carien.
Don’t miss out on this special opportunity!
Meeting point: in front of Maison des Brasseurs at Grand Place nr 10 a few minutes before we start. Carien will be there, wearing a green Hoppiness T-shirt.
Hoppiness will start with beer tastings for individuals!
Want to learn more about Belgian beers, Belgian breweries and Belgian beer culture? Join our classic beer tasting for a tasty introduction!
You will taste four different beer in four different beer styles. With each beer you’ll get a delicious food pairing (think cheese/ chocolate etc.)During the tasting experienced local beer sommelier Carien will tell you more about the Belgian beer scene.
Alcoholfree tickets available for the same experience without alcohol!
Heritage days /Journées du Patrimoine/ Open Monumentendagen
20 & 21 SEPT. 2025
Exciting news! Hoppiness Brussels will participate in the Heritage Days this year!
ART DECO, Roaring Twenties, Crash Years
For this 37th edition, Urban will show this artistic movement from a new perspective, as part of the 2025 Art Deco Year. We will not only delve into the movement’s well-known aesthetics and luxury, but also explore its urban, architectural, sociological, and human dimensions.
Under the theme ART DECO – Roaring Twenties, Crash Years, the event will highlight a wide spectrum of heritage: from buildings, façades, and interiors to furniture, collections, intangible heritage, and public spaces.
Hoppiness Brussels and Hoppyz have together worked out a workshop and presentation that will be hosted in both our tasting rooms. Hoppiness in Jette (NL / ENG) en Hoppyz in Forest (FR/ENG).
The subject will be:
How the Interwar Period Shaped Belgian Beer Culture
The events of the period between the two world wars had a big influence on daily life and on the Belgian Beer culture. From the roaring twenties to the popular World Exhibitions, from the American prohibition to the Great Depression: breweries were impacted immensely and had to adjust. Local beer experts Helene and Carien will be your hosts during these special workshops at their tasting rooms and take the participants through the changes of this time and the impact on Belgian beer culture. You will learn about a few beer styles that were popular then and see what happened to those styles and to the Belgian of those times.
Tickets booked up to one week in advance – email us with your desired size ( S/ M/L/XL/ XXL mens/ladies shirt) and we will make sure to have the right size for you. info@hoppiness.brussels
For those who book with shorter notice, we will have a big selection of T-shirt sizes available, but it may be possible we wont have all sizes.
Cheers to International Beer Day! I hope you’re all enjoying a good one out there🍻 I enjoyed this fruity and properly bitter Summer Pale Ale by the Balinese brewery Island Brewing for sure!
