Beers I’m looking forward to – De Dolle Stille Nacht

Most travelers flying into Brussels’ main airport will have flown over the small West Flanders village of Esen.

Not many people will know that it is home to the De Dolle brewery one of the new wave of craft brewers which Belgium is becoming famed for.

Founded in 2008, by three passionate home brewers Romeo Bostoen and the brothers Kris & Dr Jo Herteleer, who took over a rundown, very traditional brewery.

They called themselves The Mad Brewers – De Dolle Brouwers – and set about breathing new life into the brewery.

Today, only Kris is still involved with the brewery, and he is famed for his knowledge about the history and tradition of Flanders many great beers.

One of the great traditions of Belgian’s beer culture is the brewing of Winter/Christmas beers – usually richer and stronger than other beers in a brewer’s portfolio. They are an affordable extravagance and the perfect partner for a dark night and a roaring fire.

Stille Nacht (Silent Night) was brewed for the first time in 1982 and fans of the beer recommend that you should always buy more than one of bottle of each vintage of the beer – one bottle is for drinking now, the others for storing and to see how they evolve over time.

Originally brewed at 8%, it is now brewed to 12% alcohol and goes on sale once a year at the start of December. The beer is bottle conditioned, which means if it is stored in a cool dark place it can “last forever”.

Golden in colour, it swirls with aromatic Nugget hops grown in nearby Poperinge. Smooth and complex, the beer is full of pear, banana and apple flavours with a luscious overlay of sugar and spice.

Is makes a perfect partner to a venison stew, which if you can spare it, is made even better by the addition of some of the beer to the gravy.

http://www.dedollebrouwers.be.en